[plug] Running Qmail - Script and messages

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Mon, 20 Sep 1999, Subba Rao wrote:
> On Sun, 19 Sep 1999 23:54:26 +0800 (WST), Greg Mildenhall wrote:
> >IIRC, this is a Slackware system, right? I'd probably be inclined to move
> >to a distribution with a more automated approach to package installation
> >until I got to know some of the basics of Unix systems. I consider myself
> >pretty competent and experienced with Unix, but I still use and prefer a
> >system on which I can install and configure qmail in one command line + a
> >bunch of fairly easy questions with sensible defaults.
> It is not  a Slackware issue at all. I have installed several other packages
> without a glitch. Qmail documentation is the problem. 
No, I'm not saying it's because of a broken Slackware package, just that
you are having trouble doing manual installation of software and that you
would escape a lot of that kind of trouble (not just with qmail, but in
the future) if you used a distro with a package management system. In my
experience, there are a lot of packages out there that require Unix
know-how to install, and it is a lot easier to accquire that know-how on a
system that begins in a working state for you to break as you go. :)

Which distribution is right for you is always a personal choice, but I
would not recomend Slackware as a system for learning about Unix - though
jumping in at the deep end is sometimes a useful technique, those little
inflatable armbands probably result in less drowning incidents, and you
can try a lot more new stuff when you know you'll still be floating.

> Qmail web pages and documents preach it is the wonden, thunder, easy to
> configure than sendmail, more secure than sendmail, best thing since
> sliced bread and on and on.....
Well, if you read the Microsoft website, you'll find similar, but you
don't have to believe it. :)

> What they should also say is "Qmail's installation documentation really
> reallly sucks"?
Well, I shall reserve comment until I've tried it, but thank for the
heads-up.

> I am in the middle of somework now. Once that's done, I will work on a
> different HOWTO install Qmail. I will keep you posterd.