Re: IMAP, Webmail, and listserv email server questions

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Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 00:51:11 GMT

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 12:52:41 -0600, David Douthitt wrote:

> On 3 Nov 2003 09:46:26 -0800, matthewkitchin2@hotmail.com (Matthew
> Kitchin) wrote:
>
>>I am about to build a mail server to house a few email accounts for
>>some family and friends.
>
> I did just that, but used FreeBSD instead :-)
>
>>I currently have a redhat box running
>>sendmail and Mailman. I am going to be replacing this box. I'm looking
>>for IMAP, webmail, and listserv. I want to be able to access the same
>>inbox, sent items, etc whether I am using IMAP or web based email. I
>>was curious what everyone thought the best components are to put this
>>together. I am pretty familiar with redhat, so some version of redhat
>>would be my choice. I'm not particularly partial to sendmail, and I'm
>>willing to learn another mail server. I've read about SquirrelMail,
>>and I think it looks like a great product. Mailman has been simple to
>>use. I assume Apache will be the web server of choice. 1.3.X or 2.0.x?
>>Any special versions perl, PHP, etc? What do you think? Any tips,
>>hints, tricks, etc would be greatly appreciated!

There are so many choices, so this may not be an easy decision...But
that's way better than having no choice...

In no particular order...
For SMTP - sendmail, postfix, qmail, exim....
For Imap - Cyrus, UW-Imap, Courier, Dovecot....
Webmail - Squirrelmail, Silkymail, HORDE/IMP...
List Manager - Mailman, Majordomo....

There are others for each category, these are just the ones I'm most
familiar with...

>
> Red Hat Linux is no longer available. Either you have to choose the
> bleeding-edge technology of the Fedora Project or the $800+ Red Hat
> Advanced Server.

Not to split hairs, but you can get WS for $180, and ES for $350...Yeah,
still alot, especially compared to free :-)

>
> My leanings on the Linux side are towards SUSE Linux; on BSD, I like
> FreeBSD.
>
> My mail server runs Postfix (fantastic!) and Cyrus IMAP. I run imap,
> pop3, imaps (imap over SSL), and pop3s (POP3 over SSL). I also
> recommend SquirrelMail, which works quite nicely with Cyrus.
>
> Apache is recommended. I also recommend abCache, which accelerates PHP
> (which is used by SquirrelMail).

In particular, if using a Webmail app with PHP, Apache 1.3.x may be a
better choice than 2.x. Until recently, PHP support for 2.x has been
limited. I think it's gotten better, but support for 1.3.x is probably
better.

To the OP....
Not that it matters, but my personal favorites are postfix, squirrelmail,
dovecot and mailman, all running on FreeBSD, or Slack. Again, just my
preferences.

My suggestion would be to check the servers/projects suggested and
any others you find or people mention, and see which *you* are most
comfortable with...Even just the setup/install procedures, since making a
mistake there can be, umm, dangerous for a publicly accessible machine.

Also keep in mind that you said this was for "a few email accounts for
family and friends..." Some things like Courier may provide
features/scalabilty that you don't need. UW-Imap is *very* simple to
install/configure, but doesn't provide all of the features, and doesn't
seem to scale as well...But if you don't need the performance, it may be
fine for you.

-- 
- Matt -

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