Reasons behind defaulting atd and sendmail

[Les Mikesell]

Michael Cronenworth wrote:
> 
>> For sure. But the original statement it is true when "configuration"
>> means "configuration of the MTA or MUA".
>>
>> Let me clarify: In my case, on my desktop at work and on my home
>> machines, I can do a default installation of Fedora and then send mail
>> without knowing anything about the ISP. (Yes, I know that won't work for
>> everyone, but it wfm in multiple settings).
>>
>> Some MUAs ("mail" included :-) send via sendmail by default; others
>> require the user to specify "sendmail" for outbound mail. But when
>> "sendmail" is selected in Evolution, no more configuration is required;
>> when "SMTP" is selected, seven additional fields appear for the user to
>> figure out (server, authentication, encryption, ...).
>>   
> Most USA ISPs block outgoing SMTP except through their SMTP server. Even 
> if it is not blocked, again, *spam filters* will not accept your e-mail 
> you sent from sendmail. You run into SPF requirements with some domains. 
> I've stated this a few times already. I have personal experience with 
> this (the domain I'm emailing from is just one example I could provide).

I don't see how this has anything to do with whether you configure 
sendmail to send as required for the system or whether you configure 
every possible smtp sender and user agent separately to meet the 
requirements.  If you ever have more than one sender, configuring 
sendmail once takes care of them all.  If you ever work offline, 
sendmail will automatically queue and retry when the network is up.

> That's great you arn't blocked and you don't send mail to people 
> authenticating your IP address, but I promise you you are the minority.

Sendmail can be configured to send through an ISP relay - or pretty much 
anywhere, including using SMTP authentication and SSL.  I'd agree that 
this is more difficult than necessary and should have the same 
fill-in-the-form GUI that an MUA would have for the same items, but not 
that the functionality isn't there or isn't needed.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com