Re: [dev] recommend suckless mail server

From: Kurt H Maier <khm-suckless_AT_intma.in>
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:53:48 -0400

On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 12:18:41PM +0200, stanio_AT_cs.tu-berlin.de wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can anyone suggest a suckless mail server?
>
> We need encrypted IMAP and SMTP. Or a suckless tool chain which achieves
> the above (e.g. instead SSL aware IMAP server, rsync a maildir from
> server machine to local machine)
>
> Thanks for any suggestions where to look into or if you share your
> experience..

qmail is what I use. I know plenty of people who have magical recipes
involving that, dovecot, and tons of other tools. There is no good
answer. Maybe Christoph will release rohrpost, if that's an actual
thing, and not just a header modification in his copy of Applemail.

I recommend you start by reading lifewithqmail or such, so you can
understand the scope of the pain in the ass you're in for. The
advantage to qmail is you can tar the whole thing up and drop it on
another machine if you need to; other MTAs tend to scatter shit all over
the filesystem.

If you can get away with it, absolutely avoid IMAP and running an SMTP
service. That will get you involved with the nightmare of extortion and
shitty programming that comprises current SSL implementations. I
recommend people just get shell access to the mailhost. The sysadmin
should just install all the MUAs supported by your operating system and
let the users use whatever the hell they're comfortable with; there are
no good MUAs. People who insist on using phones or desktop mail clients
can use things like maildirsync to bring their mail to the local system,
or else forward their mail to whatever garbage they currently use.

You can investigate opensmtpd, which the openbsd people are developing.
It's supposedly nearing a stable release. I don't use it because there
are some missing pieces I rely on; however, it may suit your needs.
Received on Fri Apr 20 2012 - 14:53:48 CEST