Re: Request for "maildir" support

[Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@ccs.neu.edu>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

>>>>> "TN" == Thomas Neumann <tom@smart.ruhr.de> writes:

TN> qmail features a new mailbox format called "maildir", which is
TN> different from std. UNIX mailbox files, different from MH folders
TN> and different from whatever you care to name.

So much for standards :).

[...]

TN> Secure: Security isn't just a goal, but an absolute requirement. Mail
TN> delivery is critical for users; it cannot be turned off, so it must be
TN> completely secure. (This is why I started writing qmail: I was sick of
TN> the security holes in sendmail and other MTAs.)

I would suggest someone inform this person about Eric Allman's v8
sendmail, 8.7, which is about as secure and reliable as you can get
these days.  And, when a weakness is found a patch is made available
immediately.

[...]

TN> Even better, not only can a user safely read his mail over NFS, but
TN> any number of NFS clients can deliver mail to him at the same time.

Ahem.  This is bullshit.  NFS is infamous for it's inability to do
exactly this, and no matter what you do to get around it you will still
have file locking problems somewhere if you attempt to read the same
mailbox or file from two different points.

TN> Efficient: On a Pentium under BSD/OS, qmail can easily sustain
TN> 200000 local messages per day---that's separate messages injected
TN> and delivered to mailboxes in a real test!

Now, how many Intel boxes are going to have 1000 users on it?  Or who in
their right mind uses an Intel box for a mail hub?  Besides, anyone with
a modicum of clues running large mailing lists uses a caching MTA like
v8 sendmail with bulk_mailer, which I have found to work exceptionally
well.

[...]

TN> Simple: qmail is vastly smaller than any other Internet MTA. Some
TN> reasons why: (1) Other MTAs have separate forwarding, aliasing, and
TN> mailing list mechanisms. qmail has one simple forwarding mechanism
TN> that lets users handle their own mailing lists.

Users handle their own mailing lists != "simple", from my experience
both as a Majordomo list and server administrator.

TN> (2) Other MTAs offer a spectrum of delivery modes, from fast+unsafe
TN> to slow+queued. qmail-send is instantly triggered by new items in
TN> the queue, so the qmail system has just one delivery mode:
TN> fast+queued.

Besides, v8 sendmail gives you the best of both worlds, allowing fast
and safe "immediate" delivery or queued based on machine load.

TN> (3) Other MTAs include, in effect, a specialized version of inetd
TN> that watches the load average.

v8 sendmail does it internally.  All you need to do is configure a
couple of options in sendmail.cf

And then there's simple fact that in a "unified" system if one little
thing breaks the whole thing goes down, whereas in an "modular" system
if the mailing list manager breaks you can take it down without entirely
disabling mail.

TN> qmail's design inherently limits the machine load, so qmail-smtpd
TN> can safely run from your system's inetd.

Try this when your machine's load is up around 6, you have "fast+unsafe"
as the default, and you get about 200 messages from a batch somewhere,
and honestly tell me that your machine isn't going to throttle itself.

This whole thing reminds me a lot of SMail and how it absolutely failed
in many ways to "fix" perceived "problems" in sendmail.  Not that I am
saying that the format should not be supported, just that I will stick
with an MTA that is written and maintained by someone I know knows to
write and support a reliable, secure MTA.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.3
Charset: noconv

iQCVAwUBMTsKcZ6VRH7BJMxHAQGNkgP/X3dA5pwuvsJnl5p6vsJxwVvlpBQM9igE
lEAXBfhYH1OkvGB8+kzlqy5xic1IGPtioyq2tTu2pLCj+AO5ZiJL+FEYkIsgh8nW
+t7yiH221nc3m+l0REX/5emAeiVWu3fJo0V32L/whjOKKnIC6lGSBQ69OfY4MSIU
rcS3ogfjIEg=
=mHV8
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
-- 
Rat <ratinox@ccs.neu.edu>          \ When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today!  \ returned to its special container and
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox/ \ kept under refrigeration.