# Mail



## Buggzy... (Mar 10, 2018)

I have a little experience with sendmail and have heard in the past it was a security problem.
I would like to take up the learning curve if you think it's worth it tho.

But:  Don't I need an upstream mail service provider?  I can't just get email directly on my
computer with sendmail unless I'm running apache or have some type of hosting service
running - correct?

I want to get away from gmail and the whole Google Data Mining Empire!!!!!
As well I would prefer something with a dedicated mail program rather than a browser based
email program.

I did a little search ... tons out there: encrypted and all ...
I'm thinking about reddit ....
But sometimes it saves a lot of time if u ask people who've been there done that first.

Any advice??


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## drhowarddrfine (Mar 11, 2018)

Buggzy... said:


> I have a little experience with sendmail and have heard in the past it was a security problem.


Don't listen to reddit headlines.


Buggzy... said:


> I would like to take up the learning curve if you think it's worth it tho.


My company has been using sendmail for years. It interfaces with applications we use better than other mail software and can do anything any other mail system can do.



Buggzy... said:


> Don't I need an upstream mail service provider?


No.



Buggzy... said:


> I want to get away from gmail and the whole Google Data Mining Empire!!!!!


sigh Dump your credit card, bank account, electric bill and never take out a loan, too.



Buggzy... said:


> I'm thinking about reddit


Don't do that.


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## ShelLuser (Mar 12, 2018)

Buggzy... said:


> But:  Don't I need an upstream mail service provider?  I can't just get email directly on my computer with sendmail unless I'm running apache or have some type of hosting service
> running - correct?


If you plan on using something then it helps to read up on the parts which you plan on using so that you'll understand what it does. In this case... Why would a webserver (which is used to host websites) be some kind of requirement for e-mail?

But most of all: why would you want to run your own mailserver in the first place? It's not something you just install and expect it to work. It'll take careful configuration and maintenance.  Also expect your server to get attacked by 3rd parties which will try to abuse your services. At the very least they'll try to send junk e-mail through your server in hopes that this might work.

For the record; you most likely will need some kind of mail service provider, but it depends on your Internet connection. The problem is that many mail servers out there will not accept mail from servers which can only identify themselves with an IP address vs. a full hostname. There are even mailservers which will plain out refuse to talk to another mailserver if that server doesn't have a real reverse hostname. Something which is most common for a regular Internet connection.

In those cases it would definitely help if you have an upstream provider which you can use as a relay host; so that it would handle sending of any e-mails for you.



Buggzy... said:


> I want to get away from gmail and the whole Google Data Mining Empire!!!!! As well I would prefer something with a dedicated mail program rather than a browser based
> email program.


Well, you could always get Hotmail / Outlook. A mailclient like Thunderbird provides native access to use this provider from within the program so you wouldn't need any browser.

Running an MTA can be fun, but it should not be taken too lightly.


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## SirDice (Mar 12, 2018)

Buggzy... said:


> I can't just get email directly on my computer with sendmail unless I'm running apache or have some type of hosting service running - correct?


No, one does not include or depend on the other. You can have a mail domain without a website or a website without a mail domain. 

Setting up a local mail domain doesn't require anything, just some elbow grease and time to configure everything. I would start with that, so you understand the different components that make up a complete mail system. Just set something up for your local network and play with that. Once you understand the various components you can think about connecting it to the big bad internet.


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## usdmatt (Mar 12, 2018)

If you've not done anything with it before then personally I would suggest using Postfix instead.

I would agree with ShelLuser on not taking it lightly. It's one of the more awkward Internet services to maintain. Probably not too bad if it's just your own email, but then as mentioned without an outbound relay you may find your emails end up not accepted or in the Junk folder with some (notably Gmail/Office365) recipients.


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## Buggzy... (Mar 12, 2018)

Thanks everyone for the advice.  Yes it does sound like a waste of time to try and run
your own mail server given that most of the main systems are going to drop your mail or
route it to spam or worse.  then of course their is the malicious use of your system
which would happen ... even little old me is being probed by bots looking for who knows
what!!

thanks everybody!


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## usdmatt (Mar 13, 2018)

Not trying to put you off entirely, just that managing mail servers can be a pain.


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## SirDice (Mar 13, 2018)

usdmatt said:


> just that managing mail servers can be a pain.


Your mail-server can be a pain for someone else too 

It's really easy to set up a mail server, it's also very easy for spammers to find and abuse it. That's why I suggested setting it up on a local network (not connected to the internet) first. That will give you enough playground to learn the basics, you have to start somewhere if you want to learn.


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## drhowarddrfine (Mar 13, 2018)

I will immediately shutdown all our mail servers.


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## Lamia (Mar 13, 2018)

SirDice said:


> It's really easy to set up a mail server, it's also very easy for spammers to find and abuse it. That's why I suggested setting it up on a local network (not connected to the internet) first. That will give you enough playground to learn the basics, you have to start somewhere if you want to learn.


It took not more than 2hours for Sorbs to add my IP to their list as an open relay. That is the only blacklisting I have to date. And I keep thinking and working hard to remove the IP address from their DB. It was a hard lesson learnt. Setting up a mailserver to work in a local network first may be a good thing to do. You can do that till you get all the services working with optimum protection then you can put it on the Internet.


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