Paul Theodoropoulos writes: > i don't think djb makes any bones about the fact that qmail is meant for > serious MTA usage. sites on non-static IP addresses are not serious MTA > sites. that's my opinion, but i think it's borne out in practice as well.
I would NOT run a mail server handling many independent domains on dynamic IP. But the reality in the UK is that if you want static IP on ADSL they charge you three times as much. You and I know that they need exactly the same number of IP addresses for ADSL whether they are statically or dynamically assigned and that the difference in cost of configuring the server to provide static rather than dynamic is so small as to be immeasurable. But static IP is more useful than dynamic IP (as here, for instance) so most UK ISPs charge all the market will bear. The fact is the medium-sized enterprises need their own mail server and ADSL to handle the volume of mail. And the fact is that static IP with ADSL if freaking expensive here. These are the realities. You may not consider this a serious usage of MTA but the people concerned do. And I agree with them. They have a problem caused by UK ADSL providers and it is a problem which needs a solution. If ADSL weren't so flaky here, it wouldn't be a problem, but it is. > anyone who intends to transport significant amounts of mail, reliably, > does not do so on a dynamic IP. ADSL is *expensive* here. ADSL with static IP is *freaking expensive*. What do you suggest as an alternative? Hint: "It can't be done so just stop getting e-mail" is not an answer our customers are going to accept. Part of the problem is that another company is dealing with their Exchange server and that company is a dumber than George W's little finger. But we're not in a position to influence their choice of who does what, expect if we annoy them enough that they stop using us for anything. > but its rather like complaining that a semi-truck trailer makes a poor > minivan. How about pointing out that both have wheels and while minivan comes with the tools that allow you to change punctures, the DJB semi has features that prevent you EVER changing a puncture? > >And if it weren't for DJB's stubbornness, its usage might actually > >be growing instead of steadily declining. > > citations? We run a qmail mirror and traffic is declining. Look at just about any comparison of *nix MTAs and qmail is near the bottom. I know a couple of ways of identifying qmail even when the greetings message has been changed and patches have removed other obvious identifications and by my reckoning Hotmail no longer uses qmail (but probably still doesn't use Exchange). > I wouldn't want to entrust my important email to anyone who is unwilling > or unable to deal with the 'steep' learning curve of qmail. You are a techy. As am I. Microsoft sell something that people can install on a machine in their office to handle their mail. An idiot can install it. Microsoft promise (hah!) that it is reliable. You can pay peanuts to a monkey to install it. While you and I may want people who know what they're doing to install a reliable MTA, most of our customers want the features offered by Exchange and do not understand the hidden costs but see that they even the toilet cleaner could install it. > disclaimer, i am in business providing bulletproof email services. i use > qmail and vpopmail. Most people BELIEVE that Exchange is bulletproof, because Microsoft tells them so. The simple fact is that "actually is bulletproof but is missing functionality that their checklist says they have to have" versus "is a pile of steaming manure but *claims* to be bulletproof and has all the features on their checklist even though they will never use them" is a foregone conclusion. They go for Exchange. > you can have my qmail when you pry it from my cold dead servers. so to > speak. ;^) Sadly, my increasingly pointy-haired boss cares less and less about reliability than about giving customers what they think they want. He is probably right: there are very few customers intelligent enough to understand the technicalities but there are lots of cusomters taken in by MS bullshit. -- Paul Allen Softflare Support
