RE: Sendmail takes long time t start

[Kalum / Grendel <kalum lintux cx>]

On  Fri, 23 Mar 2001, Bill Farrell commented thusly,

> Don't panic...sendmail configuration is nothing less than strong, arcane
> magic.  

Please panic, sendmail configuring is beyond most of our heads, and we
have better things to do with our time, so its time to panic and get a new
MTA, for example to setup postfix will only take 10 minutes, and it has a
simple configuration file which is extensively commented so people know
what they are doing.

Why should anyone especially newbies go to the hassle of learning how to
configure sendmail when even gurus cant so that properly, the learning
curve for sendmail is so steep that it isnt worth it, just say a bit f* #
you to sendmail and install a MTA like postfix or qmail which makes
sendmail obsolete. Newbies love postfix.

>It depends upon a lot of "other" things being configured correctly
> before its own configuration will work.  Personally, I don't think ANYONE
> really, truly, thoroughly understands the thing. 

You are inded correct, and so why on earth should we ask people to use it,
let alone ask them to configure it? Sendmail is just a huge amount of
leftover junk from the past which is totally useless security wise
actually it is a liability running it, and it wastes a huge amount of CPU
power, memory and sysadmins time too. Even the author of sendmail has
admitted that it has to be rewritten from scratch so why use such a thing.

> But when it works, it's a

It doesnt work very often does it, mainly because it is soo complex and
hard to setup :)

> charm.

MTA's like postfix or qmail will charm you with less effort on your part.
  
> My suggestion is to check out http://www.sendmail.org
> <http://www.sendmail.org>  and read everything you can get your hands on.

My suggestion is to remove sendmail altogether from your system, and
install a REAL MTA like postfix, which would make such a difference. 

Why should you waste time reading "everything that you can lay your hands
on" (and thats asking too much considering the size and complexity of
sendmail)  at sendmail.org, when all you have to do is get rid of it, and
install a much more better and userfriendly designed MTA.  

> sendmail is an extremely flexible and powerful package, but, boy-oh-boy, is

Sendmail is a extremely flexible, and powerful package, IF you can figure
out how to get it to do what you want, which most often is not the case,
either because neither you nor anyone else knows what to do, or else its
too complex and you dont have the time to invest in it.    

> it ever unforthcoming about telling you what's wrong when it isn't quite
> right.

So why on earth should we persist in using it then. 

Best Wishes,
Grendel


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