[cobalt-users] Re:Manual Sendmail.cf RBL SpamCop/ORDB

[Charlie Summers <charlie@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 8:28 PM -0400 8/24/02, Jason Hung is rumored to have typed:

> Thanks
> for your concern.

   My concern is NOT for you; it is for those others reading this list who
might try to alter their sendmail.cf file directly when 1) it is STRONGLY
discouraged by sendmail.org, and 2) requires more knowledge than most Cobalt
operators currently have. The vast majority of Cobalt operators are NOT
sendmail gurus.

> For now, I've found it to be reliable. I had compiled the configuration
> for my own server, but a friend asked for advice on manual
> configuration.

   I maintain it is irresponsible for you to to post those specific
instructions to the list, since even a misplaced line feed can render the
sendmail.cf file (and by extention sendmail) useless (as you noted, word-wrap
is a problem, although the problen in your post is the way you have
SquirrelMail set up; it isn't the reader's client that caused the #error
lines to wrap, it's _your_ client).

   To those reading this; I strongly urge you NOT to manually alter your
sendmail.cf file without spending enough time at sendmail.org to at least
understand why this is such a bad idea.

   Some of us _do_ occasionally manually alter sendmail.cf; but we understand
why we shouldn't, understand what we are changing, and accept the risks
involved. Any responsible person would NEVER suggest that someone _else_ do
something like this without also spending the time understanding the risks.
But then, I also routinely urge people here to read the great information at
sendmail.org so you _can_ rise above the standard Cobalt defaults, and
recommended that in the original post that Mr. Hung decided NOT to link,
available at
http://list.cobalt.com/pipermail/cobalt-users/2001-August/051543.html .

   One more thing; in that old posting, I specifically noted:

> However, please...if you aren't comfortable working as root, if you aren't
> used to editing config files, if you are nervous about screwing with your
> mail system, PLEASE find someone who is to do this for you.

   ...and that's drop-dead serious when dealing with m4. If you aren't
comfortable working as root, the way the large majority of Cobalt users are,
this goes about a thousand times more for screwing with sendmail.cf. Do NOT
do it.

> I advised users who were not comfortable with working directly on the
> sendmail.cf file to use m4 for sendmail configuration compilation:

   Sending them to a file specifically for the Cube, and one that was
incomplete, closing with an unresolved error.

   You may have the last word if you choose, since I will not encourage you
farther by continuing this thread.

         Charlie Summers