[CLUE-Tech] Sendmail problems: I'm going nuts.

[Matt Gushee]

On Fri, Aug 23, 2002 at 04:18:00PM -0600, Jeremiah Stanley wrote:
> Matt (and all), I don't mean to start a holy flame war here but I have
> to make a request to all Linux users and hobbyists.
> 
> > Yes. Get rid of sendmail and install a modern SMTP server like Postfix
> > or Exim. 
> 
> This seems to me to be more for the CLUE-Opinion list. It doesn't fit on
> either the CLUE-Talk list or the CLUE-Tech list because it doesn't
> _discuss_ any negatives or positives on a technical basis.

Okay, I apologize for ranting. 

> > I only run Exim for myself, so I'm not sure how good it is as a "real"
> > mail server, but it is an awful lot easier to configure than sendmail.
> 
> Now, this is a good reason to use one over the other. Ease of
> configuration is a problem for alot of people starting out with
> networking and Linux.

And, in the case of Sendmail, many experienced users too. I'm a
developer, not a sysadmin, and I don't want to spend any more time on
administering my own workstations than I have to.

> But, you didn't tell us why it was easier to setup
> for you. Perhaps the default config is more geared towards your usage?

No, no default config has ever worked for me with either Sendmail or
Exim. It's a matter of whether the config files are readable, and I
thought the unreadability of Sendmail config files (for those who
haven't bought the Sendmail book) was too notorious to need discussion.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I find Exim config files to be much
more readable. For example, compare:

  relay_domains = foo.com    [Exim]

with

  .YZfoo.com                 [sort-of Sendmail. I know it's not exactly
                              that, but it's a lot like that. The point 
                              is that for Sendmail, there's no way of 
                              knowing what the names mean without weeding 
                              through the manual]

> > One of the reasons I switched from RedHat to Debian was that (at that
> > time) sendmail was the default SMTP program for RH, and Exim was the
> > default for Debian. I was completely fed up with sendmail config
> > problems. I've been very satisfied with Exim, and even in the unlikely
> > event that I go back to RedHat Linux, I am never, ever going back to
> > sendmail, and that's a promise.
> 
> Now this is my real beef. I see so many messages on both mailing lists
> postulating that A distribution is by far better than distribution B for
> X reason plus Y.

That wasn't my point at all, though I can see how it might have sounded
that way. The point was that my frustration with repeated Sendmail
problems was great enough to be a major factor in my decision to switch
distributions. So why should you care about my frustration? Maybe you
shouldn't, except that in my time using Linux, I have seen an awful
lot of mailing list messages from people going crazy over Sendmail--and
everyone I know who has switched to something else is happy they did.
FWIW.

I'm almost done, so bear with me for one more paragraph. I started using
Linux 5 1/2 years ago--before it was fashionable. In general, I've tried
to do the right thing. I read the docs, I tweak stuff trying to get it
to work, I invest time when I can in trying to understand *how* things
work, or don't, and do my best to share what knowledge I have with the
community. As far as I know I have never, ever demanded that volunteer
developers "fix" a program just because it didn't behave the way I wanted
it to. However, I am passionate in my like or dislike of a few things
related to Linux, Sendmail being one of them. That's based on personal
experience, witnessing the struggles of others, and the fact that of the
real sysadmins I've known, I can recall some saying they hated Sendmail,
some saying they preferred something else, and none saying they
preferred Sendmail to the alternatives. So I have a strong feeling that
people can make things easier on themselves by using something else if
possible. But maybe the fact that I don't have much knowledge of the
technical ins and outs means I should just keep my mouth shut.

Whether I should or not, I will. You will never again see a comment from
me on a system administration issue. Satisfied?

-- 
Matt Gushee
Englewood, Colorado, USA
mgushee at havenrock.com
http://www.havenrock.com/