Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 14:11:20 -0800 (PST) From: Robert Clark <clark@open.org> To: TERO Paul <Paul.Tero@atsic.gov.au> Cc: "'freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG'" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Dial-in and Dial-Out ISP Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980103125352.408F-100000@orthanc.off.net> In-Reply-To: <98Jan3.012036est.28741@firewall.atsic.gov.au>
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Paul, There may be many ways to handle this one. For example, I use usermode ppp to connect to my ISP, and then launch fetchmail to grab my incoming mail from a POP3 server at my ISP. Once this part of the process is done, I tell sendmail to distribute the just recieved mail, and send any pending outbound mail. Next, I use ppctl to close the ppp session. (This all runs in a cron job.) Once the mail is in my home system, I either read it in pine at tHe console, or read it in a POP3 reader on my W95 system over my home network. Advantages: Doesn't require setup by my ISP, and they can't say no, because I never asked. As far as the ISP is concerned, I'm just another Windows user. Because I'm only online for mail transfers as long as is necessary, I can either handle a great deal of mail, or save a good part of my 30hrs online tIme per month for grabbing FreeBSD packages, surfing, or doing other nonmail things. Disadvantages: As its now setup, I only fetch mail for one user (I have only the one email address). This is a limit of my personal arrangement, and not a limit of the technique. If there were several POP3 mailboxes I wanted to check, I could just run fetchmail once for each user. Other scenarios worth a look: I have nothing against uucp except ignorance (my own). In order to Be your own 'poSt office', ie tO be able tO allocate email address at will, might requiRe tHat you have your oWn 'post office' name. Uucp plays intO tHis as well, but again I only know tHat uucp is a tra6nsport. DEpending on what tYpe of transport yOu used, this approach could involve quitE a few pieces. ONly slightly less flexible, and perhaps less work, would be to find an open minded ISP, who could do yOu tHe favor of providing an alias for each of tHe people you would like tO provide mail tO. In this way, the people yOu help would be called 'person@yourISP.whatever'. YOUr ISP would haVe and alias entry tO route tHe mail tO your syStEm 'outinthebush.yourISP.whatever'. YOur ISP would also need a version of SMTP that is capable of ETRN. Or, tHis might be tHe role of uucp. (SMTP Is much like a postman on a route. Your postman (Or letter carrier for you anti sexists) expects your home tO be exactly at tHe address on The envelope. If yOur house is indeed an RV, and you've up and moved somewhere else, tHe mail at best goes back to sender. POP3 is more like a 'post office box' where yOu don't have an unchanging or know address, and just want to stop by and pick up your mail. THe analogy can go fairly deep. YOUr home's mailbox doesn't usually have a lock on it(?), but 'PO boXes' usually do(?).) AN ETRN CApable SMTP is much like leaving a note for tHe postmaster tO keep your mail at tHe postoffice while you are away on holiday. ONce yOu are back, yOu send a note tO tHe postmaster saying so, and tHe postman delivers all YOuR junkmail in tHe normal manner. Fetchmail is able tO trigger ETRN CApable SMTP. So, with this scenario: Fetchmail can keep track of the times of the day you would like it to go get the mail from your ISP. Also, fetchmail can monitor the status of the ppp link to autmatically grab mail when the link is up for some other reason. When sendmail brings tHe link up for example. Using the expense parameter of sendmail, you can have sendmail doing local delivery as a daemon, *AND* also bring up dialondemand ppp on a schedule, or when a piece of outbound mail has been waiting tO go out for a preset tIme, or a combinatIon of the two. Sendmail can also rewritE tHe return addressEs of mail originatIng at your sitE, So tHat mail channeled through your ISP has your ISP As its 'from' address. Usermode PPP makes connectIng tO your ISP to do tHe actUal transfers eAsy and speedy. A pppgetty allows your users to log into a text mode tty, or automatically hit kernel mode PPP for a W95 friendly connection. Kernel mode PPP handles user's ppp connections nicely. QPopper allows your users to use Netscape, Eudora, Pine or other POP3 compatible clients read their mail. Pine on you system, will allow the text mode users to read their mail. FreeBSD is the nice, stable, efficient, well supported OS to run it all on. The code is good, the only limits are ours. Thanks [RC] On Sat, 3 Jan 1998, TERO Paul wrote: > Hi, > > I'm wanting to set up an low-cost internet (mail-only at this stage) > node for various "bush-communities" here in the centre of Australia. > > It seems that FreeBSD is the way to go. > > However, the concept that I have is similar to Netmail and BBS nodes > that toss and scan for mail. > > I want the communities to be able to dial into this node to either > collect and/or receive email. The node will then be scheduled to dial > into a live internet node (say twice a day) and exchange my clients > email. > > This way I don't have to pay for expensive live internet connections in > an environment where there is little traffic and low line speed > available (as low as 1200 baud in some circumstances). > > Your thoughts please. Is this possible with FreeBSD? > > Thanks in advance. > > Paul Tero > IT Officer > ATSIC, Alice Springs > Australia. > >
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