[GLLUG] Postfix or Exim?

[Marshal Newrock]

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:26:30 -0500
Matt Graham <danceswithcrows at usa.net> wrote:

> > 3.  Ease of administration (initial configuration not withstanding)
> 
> I have exim+spamassassin running for a small business.  Postfix was 
> easier to configure, but exim appears to be a lot more flexible in 
> terms of the things you can do.  It should be possible to have exim 
> deliver mail to ~/maildir/ instead of /var/mail/$USER with a simple 
> directive that's published in the README that comes with exim.  I
> don't remember how you do that with Postfix.

Change the home_mailbox config entry, if using local users.
 
> > 5.  Marketability:  This is a bad reason to pick technology I know,
> > but I am kind of curious which of these are most widely deployed
> 
> qmail may be more widely deployed than postfix or exim, actually.
> Not sure though, just saying based on what the non-work mail provider
> I use uses and the mail/webhosting place that we were forced to use
> for a while uses.

If anyone were using qmail, I'd recommend steering far away from that.
It's "secure" because it has no features, and it doesn't even make up
for the lack of features with performance.  It doesn't even support
the most basic of anti-spam features, not accepting mail for
non-existent users.  Naturally, there's third-party patches and
scripts to add this, but having had to deal with a qmail server
recently, I can tell you it's not worth the effort.
 
> > I read some comparison articles on the two MTAs, but
> > it usually seems like it's a wash.  What might tip you in favor of
> > one versus the other?
> 
> Sane error messages in the logfiles, reasonably easy/automated stats 
> collection, minimal screwing around needed once it's set up, and a 
> config file that doesn't look like an explosion in an EBCDIC
> factory. That's just me though.

That last bit makes me think you have something against sendmail.  :)
I agree, though, I like human-readable config files.

I'll just add here that qmail's logging sucks, too.  I'm not sure it
can deliver a message without logging at least 10 lines.  To a couple
different files.

-- 
Marshal Newrock
Ideal Solution, LLC - http://www.idealso.com