SMTP Not Working

Steve Lamb pmmail@rpglink.com
Fri, 24 Sep 1999 11:10:08 -0700


Friday, September 24, 1999, 10:51:04 AM, Nuclear wrote:
> There are apparently 2 solutions:
=>> Use another SMTP server, (i.e. the one from my ISP)
> I have concerns about this, specifically privacy and monitoring. PGP
> is not an option, because the other end may not have it, I'm not always
> dealing with computer-savvy people. Can the SMTP server monitor who and
> what I send out?

    Who, yes.  What, not easily, but it is possible.  OTOH, here are the stats
for the past 10 days on my system:

Exim statistics from 1999-09-14 07:36:06 to 1999-09-24 11:02:49

Grand total summary
-------------------
                                                       At least one address
  TOTAL               Volume    Messages    Hosts      Delayed       Failed
  Received              12MB        4687      182     126  2.7%      8  0.2%
  Delivered             58MB       24088      344

    As you can see, my system passes a fair amount of messages and all this
represents is my personal mail, the PMMail mailing list and one other small
mailing list that is rarely used.  I can gather statistical data on who sent
what to whom from my logs, but unless I want to have a nice HD stash around
somewhere compiling the *what* is harder.  In 10 days my system moved 70Mb of
data in and out in just mail.  7Mb a day.  Mail systems at ISPs which are
serving thousands upon thousands of users move Gb of mail in a day.
Basically, you get lost in the noise.  It is possible, I just don't see anyone
doing it without a strong reason.

=>> Implement my own SMTP server. From what I gather, this is possible with
> "sendmail". Fortunately, I am still happily running that dead OS, OS/2,
> which comes with sendmail. How do I configure PMMail/2 and/or sendmail to
> talk with each other?

    Uhm, I'm not sure but what I can tell you is that the sendmail in OS/2 is
not *THE* sendmail.  IE, it isn't the sendmail that most variants of unix come
with.  It is an IBM hack (I am being kind) that has the same name and might
provide a bare functionality of the real sendmail.

-- 
         Steve C. Lamb         | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
         ICQ: 5107343          | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------------