Re: tlug: Re: tlug-digest V1 #781

[Karl-Max Wagner <karlmax@example.com>]

> I do have two machines hooked together with ethernet right
> now.  One is running Linux,and the other Windows 95-J (to be
> NT Workstation-J whenever I can get around to installing
> it).  However, they are both also directly connected to the
> Internet.
For practising purposes it is better if both machines run Linux
or BSD or another UNIX flavour.
> What I need to do here is basically get the Linux box to act
> as an SMTP server for the Windows box (and to send mail from
> itself, as well, of course).  What brings me to this is that
> while my machines are plugged in, the only SMTP server I
> have access to from here is the one at Geocities, where I
> maintain my personal e-mail.   Trouble is, they are going to
> do what we and most other ISPs already do: shut off their
> SMTP servers to outside access in a few weeks.
For sending you don't need a server: if you use e.g. Netscape
Mail you have the MTA already integrated. Your MTA in fact takes
the mail from the spoolfile of your MUA, looks at one mail after
the other, looks up the MX of the mail destination and transfers
it directly there using an SMTP link. There is no need for an
intermediary SMTP server or the like.

The only time you need a server is for incoming mail if you have
no permanent Internet connection, in order to fetch mail using
POP. There most ISP allow only their clients to have an account
on their MX. Some block even POP access from outside for
security reasons.

However, they cannot block SMTP to the outside world for
incoming mail, because that would prevent mail delivery from the
outside world altogether ! Some, however, block mail relaying,
but this is of no consequence to you anyway.
> 
> So where that leaves me (unless I can convince our network
> operations people to set up some kind of work-around for me)
Not necessary ( See above ).
> So what I want the Linux machine to do is accept e-mail from
Not necessary. Your WinBox can do that alone.
The only thing you can do is using your Linuxbox as an MX.
However, that requires an entry in the naed configfiles.

A good book concerning that is "DNS and BIND", published by
O'Reilly Associates and "Linux Network Administrator's Guide" by
Olaf Kirch, also published by O'Reilly Associates. The latter is
also available in electronic form at the Linux Documentation
Project Sites.

Once again: emailing on the sending side is COMPLETELY
autonomous and does not require any help by a server. You just
need an electronic P.O.Box for reception, which is called MX
(mail exchanger).
> If I put in Q-mail (is there an .rpm available?), what
> happens to sendmail?
Well, having both installed is probably not a good idea.
However, the principle is the same.

In fact, in your case sendmail is completely unnecessary. At a
personal installation it is only required if you use a MUA
without integrated MTA (e.g. elm), in this case sendmail is your
MTA (this is what I do here). However, Netscape mail comes with
an integrated MTA, so you don't need a separate MTA any more. So
sendmail is not required.

However, it is fun to play with. I have about 6 machines here
and that allows interesting experiments.

Actually, sendmail relies heavily on DNS. So, if you start
studying sendmail, you better start studying BIND as well.

Glossary:

MUA : Mail User Agent: the thing you write and view your mails
with.

MTA : Mail Transfer Agent: the thing that takes the mails you
wrote and gets them where you want them to be sent.

MX : Mail Exchanger: your electronic P.O. Box, from which you
fetch your incoming mail (normally using POP2 or POP3).

BTW, here I use a Libretto 30 with PCMCIA Modem and Slackware
3.1, elm as a MUA and sendmail as a MTA. Mail fetching is done
using popclient (POP3).

                           Greetings from Munich
                           Karl-Max Wagner
                           karlmax@example.com
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