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Mail handling methods

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Mail handling methods
Thank you for your new script! I think it will be the greatest email system around. Just want to ask some question on the mail handling part, as it is the most important thing for the web-mail service.
You had mentioned three methods:
1. All mail @youraddress.com goes to a catch all account.
2. POP/imap account.
3. Route mail directly into the program.

Which is the most secure method?
About 3, is there any document that talks about the direct route from sendmail and qmail to a application?

Also about the email system, can it handles several domains without serveral copies?

Thanks for your time!

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Re: Mail handling methods In reply to
This is some speculation since I have not seen the final release, but there are two options that I have seen in beta:

1) catch all
2) POP

The third option sounds like it's a Qmail option, not a sendmail one, since Qmail allows easy re-direction of mail to all sorts of end users, files or other programs. I haven't seen that in operation but it would be neat if it exists! You can get an idea of what qmail can do at their home site:

ftp://koobera.math.uic.edu/www/qmail.html

That's an FTP site that works like an HTTP site, but I can't encode the working URL here. You'll have to cut/paste it.


The most secure would probably be the catch-all option, since you are not invoking any sort of mail program at all, and only routing out the mailer at the end. Security would be dependent on the security built in to the mailer, which is usually simpler, and thus more secure, than larger programs such as POP. The POP option requires you to set up pop accounts, which of course means unix security (or possibly configuring Qmail), and involves user-input system logons.

The third I don't know.... but with the Qmail support, it may do some suprising things. It's probably a cross between the first two using virtual Qmail features/users. I'd like to see it. I actually missed the 3rd option when I read the announcement and had to re-read it a few times to find it. (Just like MySQL over the other SQL databases, Qmail offers features not found in sendmail -- and probably vice-versa.)

>> Also about the email system, can it handles several domains without
>> serveral copies?

This is probably a licensing issue. With the 3rd option, if it is a Qmail option, this might be enabled by default, or might be possible since Qmail can deliver to virtual domains (not to just user accounts or aliases).

I'm waiting to see this release, and what Alex has done, since it promises to be a really neat plug-in type option for Links SQL enabled sites. (It will run stand alone, of course, but I see it as a great add on to overall site development.)

I guess we'll see more on Monday if he can kill that Java Script issue :)

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Re: Mail handling methods In reply to
Hi,

To expand a bit on what pugdog said:

1. About the security: if setup properly I wouldn't be worried about any of the methods. To decide which one is best for you, you should consider:

a. Do I want my users to be able to check mail from home as well as on the web? If the answer is yes, then you need to use the each user == POP account option.

b. On my current system is each pop account a unix user? If yes, then I would not user the POP account option, but rather a catch/all or alias.

c. Do I expect a lot of mail through this system? If so, then you shouldn't use the route mail directly option as it is more server intensive.

d. Are you integrating with another product, or want users to sign themselves up whenever they like? If yes, then the catch-all is probably the best option.

As for the direct route, we don't have anything yet. In qmail you can add:

.qmail-default

file for your domain that has:

| /path/to/batch/incoming.pl

which will route all mail into the program directly. A similiar function can be done in sendmail using aliases folder (setup very much like majordomo).

2. As for several domains, as is no, the program only works off one domain. We have added this to our enhancement list (which is at about 30 new features already) and you will probably see it in a later version.

Cheers,

Alex

--
Gossamer Threads Inc.
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Re: [Alex] Mail handling methods In reply to
Does the Catch-All method interfere with the majordomo installation using the Catch All method? I assume it does. If so can the two work on the same server? Work Around?

Thanks

John