Re: My email is rejected by some sites

From: Joerg Rossdeutscher (ratti_at_gesindel.de)
Date: 12/16/03

  • Next message: Wesley J Landaker: "Re: My email is rejected by some sites" 
    To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 22:13:35 +0100

    Hi,

    Am Di, den 16.12.2003 schrieb ScruLoose um 21:36:
    > On Tue, Dec 16, 2003 at 09:08:12PM +0100, Joerg Rossdeutscher wrote:
    > > Am Mo, den 15.12.2003 schrieb Wesley J Landaker um 02:55:

    > > A mailserver can harm _others_.
    > >
    > > I said that yesterday, and today I find this mailinglist full of
    > > nonsense since one guy is not able to configure his procmail. Now got
    > > what I mean?
    >
    > But his procmail rule would do exactly the same damage whether his mail
    > is routed through a smarthost or sent direct from a local mailserver, so
    > I don't really see how this provides any support for your position.

    Yes - but it shows a normal user should use as less "harmful" technology
    as possible.
    I wouldn't say a mailserver at home is useless at all, but if someone
    tries to setup a mailserver and doesn't even know that a lot providers
    reject dynIPs, I'd say: This person is the wrong one to connect a
    mailserver to the net.

    > Your argument is based on the assumption that an ISP can always be
    > trusted to set up a mailserver right, and the home user (sysadmin of a
    > home LAN, etc.) never can.
    > I've seen enough counter-examples to convince me that this assumption
    > has no merit.

    The assumption is not "always" and "never" - but it is "very often" and
    "not so often". This should be compared to the risks of a useless server
    just for fun. The next time there's a security hole in one of the famous
    SMTPs, what do you think, how many of them will fix it soon?

    > Frankly, the "no e-mail from dynamic IPs" solution sounds like Microsoft
    > reasoning. "Take power away from the user, they can't be trusted with
    > it."

    I'm not interested in M$, nor do I use their stuff.

    > The philosophy of Debian and Linux and open-source in general has a lot
    > to do with giving power to individual users/administrators.
    > There are _lots_ of aspects of a computer system that can be destructive
    > (to others, not just locally) if they're misconfigured. The Linux way
    > of dealing with this is to package things with sane defaults, and
    > educate people to configure their systems properly. Your solution is to
    > take away useful functionality for fear that it might be abused.
    > On a Debian forum, don't be surprised if you meet stiff opposition to
    > this idea.

    There's nothing bad in giving the power to the users. That's why I use
    linux. Nevertheless there's a responsibility in using that power, i.e.:
    Don't expose services to the net that you don't need. On your machine -
    play what you want, break it, crash it, have fun. But when connecting to
    the net - be responsible.

    If you have use in a mailserver: Do it. But I often have the feeling
    that people just like to have a server "like a /real/ server! kewl!"
    with lots of useless risks. Having ftp online for getting a file once a
    year. Hell. After 6 month they don't even remember /which/ ftpd they are
    running. Compare that to a guy whose whole-day-job it is to read
    security bulletins and care for machines. Yes, not all providers work
    that way. But many more than homeusers.

    Bye, Ratti 

    -- 
 -o)    fontlinge  | Font management for Linux  | Schriftenverwaltung in Linux
 /\\                                  http://freshmeat.net/projects/fontlinge/
_\_V    http://www.gesindel.de     https://sourceforge.net/projects/fontlinge/



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  • Next message: Wesley J Landaker: "Re: My email is rejected by some sites"

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