We need a new subject- bug fixes

[Tim]

an unattributed author:
>>>> What, every machine has to accept incoming mail connections for
>>>> E-mail to work? You need to come into the real world, where most
>>>> people get their e-mail from a POP or IMAP server.
 
Les Mikesell:
>>> How do you think it got there?

Tim:
>> Not by the average user using any SMTP server on their own equipment,
>> that's for sure.

Les Mikesell:
> Is that your impression of the only way Linux is used?

You talked about e-mail as we know it, you didn't specifically say just
e-mail on Linux users boxes, and fired off that retort at the
unattributed author about how they got their mail from their POP or IMAP
server.  Why do you think that most Linux users have their own
public-accepting SMTP server?

But anyway, I seriously doubt that *most* Linux users run a
public-facing SMTP server, I'd expect far more support questions if that
were the case.  I strongly believe that most people, using Linux or
otherwise, get their mail from external mail servers.  Quite apart from
working out how to configure their system, there's other considerations,
as outlined next:

I, also, seriously doubt that most Linux users are in a position to be
able to run their own public-facing SMTP server, even if they wanted to.
Fixed user-IP addresses are not the most common of things, and that's
almost required to run your own SMTP server.  Sure, you can use a
dynamic IP with some DNS systems, but that's asking for trouble whenever
your IP changes during the transition period.

I do run an internal SMTP server, and I didn't find that as hard to
configure as you like to make out.  Certainly not much harder than other
services I've configured.

-- 
(This PC runs FC4, my others FC5 & FC6, in case that's important
 to the thread)

Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.
I read messages from the public lists.