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Date:      Sun, 10 Dec 2017 14:49:02 -0700
From:      Adam Weinberger <adamw@adamw.org>
To:        sgk@troutmask.apl.washington.edu
Cc:        Matthew Seaman <matthew@FreeBSD.org>, freebsd-ports@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Procmail Vulnerabilities check
Message-ID:  <EC0F9F41-4A57-4A8F-A7B4-67D954182DDA@adamw.org>
In-Reply-To: <20171210171122.GA48536@troutmask.apl.washington.edu>
References:  <fb3d23c5-e32d-452a-a0c3-c3cb12340054@cloudzeeland.nl> <a66d1c33-e405-d9e8-d9c3-2738b5e66887@cloudzeeland.nl> <alpine.BSF.2.21.1712080956580.41281@wonkity.com> <20171208180905.GA96560@troutmask.apl.washington.edu> <alpine.BSF.2.21.1712091013310.35694@aneurin.horsfall.org> <20171209012522.GA42506@troutmask.apl.washington.edu> <alpine.BSF.2.21.1712091451300.35694@aneurin.horsfall.org> <fe88c5e6-155d-dd64-96d5-8f394c41d92f@FreeBSD.org> <20171210171122.GA48536@troutmask.apl.washington.edu>

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> On 10 Dec, 2017, at 10:11, Steve Kargl <sgk@troutmask.apl.washington.edu>  
> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 01:21:13PM +0000, Matthew Seaman wrote:
>> Hence the current sendmail in base is neither fish nor fowl: way
>> overpowered for almost all installations, but with significant
>> limitations for a machine providing a full-blown mail service.
>> Personally I agree with his reasoning: unless the primary function of
>> your FreeBSD machine is to be an MTA, you really don't need any more
>> capability than to either deliver to a local mailbox, or forward all
>> e-mails to a smart host.  Certainly you don't need anything capable of
>> receiving incoming e-mails.
>
> I disagree.  FreeBSd used to pride itself on being a complete operating
> system oout-of-the-box.  Lately, a smaller number of developers are
> moving FreeBSD to being a kernel with a bunch of add-on software.
>
> dma(1) does not support a .forward file and by extension vacation(1).
> Without .forward, then those of use who use procmail(1) (subject of
> this email thread) in .forward and by extension spamassisin are
> hosed.
>
> Chapter 27 of the FreeBSD Handbook would need to be rewritten before
> sendmail can be removed.  It is assumed that sendmail is installed
> with base.

Hi Steve,

I agree with you about the merits of FreeBSD providing a complete system  
out-of-the-box. But of all the mail servers out there, sendmail is the most  
archaic and arcane. Sendmail is used primarily by people who are intimately  
familiar with it over a long history, and simply isn’t a great choice for  
people getting into mail servers. I’d rather see sendmail installable  
through ports, and replaced in base with a better solution. Sendmail is too  
difficult to configure correctly; we should keep it trivial to install  
(i.e. ports) for those who prefer it, but it shouldn’t be our primary  
recommendation for users looking for a new MTA.

DMA is a phenomenal program and is totally sufficient for a large  
percentage of our user-base. I wasn’t aware of the lack of .forward  
support, and I completely agree that that’s a very detrimental omission.

# Adam


--
Adam Weinberger
adamw@adamw.org
http://www.adamw.org




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