RE: [cobalt-developers] admin@ email aliases on RAQ3 domains

["Hosting Sales" <hosting@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, there is, but you won't like it.  Been there, done that.  You can
enter the right routing by editing the mail aliases so admin@xxxxxxxxxx
gets routed to user 'theboss' or whatever instead of 'admin'.  The only
problem is that the next time you add a user to the system, your changes
will be wiped out.  Sun has extrapolated the concept of reserved (or at
least well-known) user names into reserved (or at least well-known)
mailbox names, a rather unnecessary action.  We have found other
problems with the mail stuff when adding (or editing a user) that are
related to this as well.

We were thinking about writing a script to back-correct the aliases, but
we finally decided this was just one more reason to give up on the
Cobalt GUI.  It has its good points, but it has too many bad ones (like
this one).  The one that drove us over the edge is that the GUI (which
is really just a tool that manipulates some files and runs some scripts)
is so interwoven into the fabric of the operating environment that you
can't do anything with these machines unless Sun wants you to AND
provides the software.  Otherwise, you end up breaking the GUI. This
kind of subverts the user-supported open software concept just a tad.
Comments like "installing software from anybody but Cobalt Networks can
void your warranty" sounds more like Microsoft than Sun Microsystems.

Check the number of people on this forum asking, for example, for PHP4
for the RAQ3.  It's available and has been for a long time for Linux
users, but try to put it on a RAQ3 and kiss the GUI goodbye.  We did
exactly that and we're much happier now.  As another example, we wanted
to upgrade to Apache 1.3.20 instead of the 18-month old version
installed on the RAQ and the latest sendmail with SMTP AUTH.  This
involved replacing literally dozens of modules, most of which, it
seemed, created conflicts with installed software, most notably the GUI
and its attendant parts.  Grrrrrrrrrrrr!  It was a tedious and time
consuming process, but I am no longer bound to Sun's incarnation of Bill
Gates.

I might add that I run my RAQ3 remotely.  It is a leased machine located
about a hundred miles from where I am, but I've been able to do whatever
I need to do without the Sun GUI.  Instead, I use WebMin, some scripts
we've developed to meet our needs, and ssh for real-live command prompt
sessions.  I admit we were extra careful when we updated ssl.

BTW, to short circuit those who want to ask, "Well, if you wanted a
straight Linux box, why didn't you get one?"  Fair enough, there are two
reasons.  First, I didn't know (or expect) the extent to which the GUI
permeates the RAQ3 environment.  A toaster is an appliance; a
web/mail/ftp/etc. server is not.  I've been a software developer since
the mid 60s, and I can spot a marketing-driven design when I see one.
Second and most important, is economics.  I was able to lease the server
with 512 MB of memory and an 18 GB hard drive for less than half the
cost of a "conventional" [i.e., non-appliance] server.  And, after all,
Sun makes damned good hardware IMHO.

Since I am (more or less) retired now and do this stuff more for
amusement and a mental challenge than for income, cost was VERY, VERY
important to me.  If I had physical access to the machine, I would have
partitioned the hard drive, installed the latest version of RH Linux,
and essentially just cloned my in-house server which is much easier to
work with, is far more up to date, and has a broader variety of user
tools that work, out of the box.

Excuse my rant response to your simple question.

Jack

-----Original Message-----
From: cobalt-developers-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:cobalt-developers-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gareth
Watkins
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 11:20 PM
To: cobalt-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cobalt-developers] admin@ email aliases on RAQ3 domains

Many of my clients use admin@xxxxxxxxxx as their general email address.

On my RAQ3 this alias is directed to the server's administrator.
Is there a way to override this setting ?

thanks
gareth 

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