[Mailman-Users] mail server recommendations?

Sendmail is quite capable of doing the job. However, many people
find it difficult to configure and manage.

For smaller sites, or sites wishing to have a simpler
configuration file, I find that postfix generally works very well.
It has one of the simplest configuration files that I have ever seen,
and comes configured out-of-the-box to be just about the perfect MTA
for a mailing list.

I've also heard good things about Exim, but my own experiences so
far have been less positive with it than with postfix. Note that
Exim is not designed to be a drop-in replacement for sendmail,
whereas postfix works very hard to function correctly in this role.


If you'd like to learn more about postfix, you may want to check
out the article at
<http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid/08/25/1125223&mode=thread&tid6&tid2&tid•>,
and read the pages that they link to.


You should also read the Mailman FAQ, question 4.2 "Which MTA
should I use with Mailman?", at
<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&fileúq04.002.htp>.

I tend to agree. Feature-wise, Sendmail is still the most
powerful MTA AFAICT, but most people can make their lives easier
by choosing a less complex one, like Postfix or Exim.

Cross Smail off your list; it is way old, and possibly obsolete.
Qmail has fanatical devotees, but is not a 'drop-in' replacement
for Sendmail, and also has a 'non-free' license. I'd cross them
both off your list. YMMV.
Postfix is also designed, like Qmail, from the ground up with
security in mind. I'm told the source-code is a joy to look at,
but don't quote me on that as I'm no authority :-)
I think you want to double-check this; you may be thinking of
Qmail here. AFAIK Exim, like Postfix, is structured to be a
drop-in replacement for Sendmail, but verify this for yourself.
FWIW I use both Exim and Postfix, and they both work fine. If I
were to set up a new server right now, I'd go with Postfix. I
just wish it had Exim's license ;)

Have Fun,
Raymond

I will third the suggestion to check out Postfix. I've used it on
both very large scale systems (multiple mail machines, 30k+ users per
cluster of machines), as well as on my own workstations. It's easy to
configure, but flexible, fast, performs well, secure, and it's author
isn't a raving loon *coughQMAILcough*.

It has a good user community, and the postfix-users list is generally
very helpful. Wietse himself (Postfix's author) posts to the list
frequently, and provides some amusing entertainment at times.

There may be certain features that it lacks, but I haven't ever run up
against them, and I imagine most people will find the same thing.

I've not run Exim since version 3.x, but I've heard good things about
the recent releases of Exim as well.

I've run larger scale systems. On the clusters of machines I've
run, handling traffic for ~1m users, you start seeing issues that
Wietse has not foreseen, and because of the scale of the problem is
difficult for him to replicate. In those cases, the thing that
matters is whether or not you can get him interested in helping you
to solve your problem.

However, if you're not anywhere close to that size, you're not
likely to have those kinds of problems.
I have. See above.

That said, for smaller sites, I still think it's the better
choice for many people.