[oclug] Need help installing postfix on my home server

[Piotr R. Sidorowicz]

Yes Brad, I realize Zimbra is a serious overkill, but the install is 
very much automated and takes care of a lot of details that a newcomer 
to the MTA scene will likely not know. Although the basic install of 
postfix or exim on Debian is easy, one soon finds that the configuration 
details are a bit complex, particularly if it is to be an externally 
accessible MTA.

If Rob were to need to expand the use to pop/imap, non-system user 
authentication, etc. the setup complexity would grow quickly. This way 
he'd have all that in one shot.

I agree that the fact that Zimbra as a non-distro package has 
shortcomings. I just thought an integrated package might save him a lot 
of tweaking under the hood.

Just another option to consider.

Piotr

Brad Barnett wrote:
> Uh, Piotr, I have to intervene here.
> 
> First of all, the guy wants a simple daemon to send alerts to an email
> address, hosted who knows where!  Instead of installing one program, in a
> very simple way, you are suggesting he installs dozens of programs,
> daemons, and pieces of software!
> 
> That is, after all, what Zimbra is.
> 
> Not only is Zimbra more complex, in that Zimbra is an MTA + dozens
> of other programs, Rob likely does not even want 99.9% of Zimbra's
> functionality!  Good grief man, he wants an MTA, not an MTA, plus a pop,
> imap, alert, webmail, calendar, and a dozen other apps!
> 
> Your suggestion is a colossal way to waste disk space, memory, and CPU
> cycles! 
> 
> On top of this, Zimbra will require constant manual updates in order to
> stay ahead of security issues, which would be handled automatically by
> apt-get upgrades in a native OS environment!
> 
> As well, not only will the user have to have a grasp of how email works,
> answering more questions during install than for postfix alone, they will
> also be dealing with a non-distro environment! Everything will be
> segmented away from the OS!
> 
> Log files will appear in /opt, daemons will be running outside of
> runlevel scripts, docs won't appear in easy to find locations, and a
> Zimbra setup could easily be turned into mush by an inexperienced user.
> 
> By comparison, an exim or postfix setup using apt + ubuntu is a piece of
> cake, and Zimbra is a confusing myriad of landmines waiting to go off.
> New MTA admins should run for the hills, instead of considering setting
> up Zimbra.
> 
> Note, that I have no problem with Zimbra, I've rolled it out before.  It
> is a fairly good setup.  However, using it in the wrong place, for the
> wrong reasons, in the wrong way, is just plain silly.
> 


-- 
Piotr R. Sidorowicz, PhD         phone: 613.822.2094
1819 Rideau Rd	                  voip: sip:prsidorowicz at ekiga.net
Gloucester, On, Canada, K1X 1E1  email: prsidoro at mavericsolutions.ca