Rick Moen via luv-talk wrote:
Quoting Rohan McLeod (rhn@jeack.com.au):
-Trent is pointing out the huge number of 'gotcha's', which would be involved in that path Care to guess who you reduce that 'large number' to a very small one? You just eschew _obvious_ mistakes. E.g.:
1. SMTP servers require static IP addresses that are from a decent provider (one that doesn't block outbound ports) and allocated from a static IP address netblock. 2. SMTP servers require valid rDNS that matches forward lookup. 3. SMTP servers require correct, strongly asserted SPF RRs. 4. SMTP servers must not have their distro default MTA configurations manually sabotaged to accidentally create an open relay. 5. SMTP servers should have data that matter backed up because all data that matters should be backed up.
You might object: not obvious to everyone. True! They are not immediately obvious to someone newly arrived at the notion of running his/her own SMTP server, _but_ OTOH they are pretty much the first things an interested newcomer will find in basic cautions and documentation, _or_ said newcomer will immediately hear on a LUG mailing list if he/she asks 'What requirements should I meet in order to run my own SMTP mail server?'
Happily, LUV offers that exact variety of assistance. Quod erat demonstrandum.
That reduces Trent's 'large number' to a very small number, namely one:
1. SMTP servers in 2018 need manual, post-install work by the local sysadmin to make the MTA configuration spam-resistant, otherwise the rain of it will annoy until you decide to do that work.
That's indeed non-trivial work -- but worth the effort, and not brain-surgery.
Rick many thanks for your encouragement and apologies if I sounded as though I was abandoning, the DIY spirit of the hacker community (original sense); what do you think of my idea that first I try to acquire the domain name, then have it hosted by a third party, then at some later time try immitating your example ? regards Rohan McLeod