On Saturday 24 December 2011 07:48:18 . wrote:
> On 12/24/2011 05:21 AM, Stan Hoeppner wrote:
> > On 12/23/2011 9:43 PM, . wrote:
> >> I'm very new at mail server stuff and not too technical in
> >> experience....but can follow well written instructions.
[snip]
> > After reading this and your subsequent posts, it is abundantly
> > clear that you don't have the prerequisite technical background
> > to accomplish what you want. And we can't dedicate the resources
> > to teaching you all that is required. I.e. we can't hold your
> > hand giving you step-by-step "well written instructions". We can
> > point you to the excellent Postfix documentation so you can
> > teach yourself. ...
[snip]
> > My idea, suggestion to you, would be to simply stick with your
> > ISP's mail service or any of the reputable(?) freemail providers
> > such as Google et al.
[snip]
> > I'm not intending to be rude, but simply attempting to give you a
> > healthy dose of reality.
>
> Your "healthy dose or reality" should've been provided in the
> "well written documentation" before someone attempts to set up a
> mail server.
I think this is an worthy suggestion. Perhaps a warning like this
prepended as a preface to BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README, or appended to
documentation.html:
"
Postfix documentation covers Postfix, and it aims to be complete and
unequivocal in doing so. It does, however, assume that the reader is
generally competent in managing his/her operating system, and/or that
s/he knows how and where to find such information elsewhere.
In addition, success as a mail administrator will require general
familiarity with TCP/IP networking concepts, DNS basics, the SMTP
protocol and its extensions, and usually also various other mail-
related protocols such as IMAP4 and POP3. Typically a Postfix
administrator will also be tasked to set up other software, such as
TLS, an IMAP daemon, and a SASL and its backend, to interact with the
MTA. Postfix documentation covers the Postfix side of all of this, but
it cannot be a comprehensive guide to all these topics.
Internet mail is overwhelmingly abused. Estimates of abuse as a
percentage of global SMTP traffic range from 70% to over 90% as of
2011. Any person who deploys a MTA listening on a globally available
port 25 can expect abuse attempts. Postfix is designed to be secure by
default against such attacks as open relay probes, but at some point
an administrator will have to deal with spam. The spam problem is
exacerbated by misguided attempts to deal with spam by administrators
who do not understand spam issues.
It is possible to learn these things as you proceed[1], but be aware:
mastery of email topics will require a significant investment of time.
Many businesses find it more cost-effective to outsource their mail
needs.
"
(I'd maybe omit or rewrite the third paragraph, but I am leaving it
here for sake of discussion.)
The idea is not to discourage beginners from learning Postfix and
Internet mail, but rather to give them a realistic picture of what
lies ahead.
We[2] (sly wink and nod toward Jerry!) here on the list are generally
happy to help those who want to learn, but there is no way that we
could do it all for you. Most of the concepts involved are not
difficult, but they are not optional.
Stan gave you some good pointers worth checking out, and another I
would suggest is Wikipedia.
Good luck, however you decide to go. And best Christmas and/or other
such holiday greetings to the entire list. (But a most gruff "humbug"
is reserved for spammers. :) )
[1] I did it, as I am sure many others here did.
[2] While I cannot dispute Jerry's point, my use of "we" refers to my
long-time observation of this list, and I think it's a common
view. Similarly, I think Stan's use of "we" can be defended.
--
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