[cobalt-users] Re: SendMail DNSBL config question (raq4)

[Charlie Summers <charlie@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 4:39 PM -0400 7/16/03, wcstaff is rumored to have typed:

> I have checked the code and it is exact, including the tabs. Any thoughts?

   Yes. Go immediately to sendmail.org, and start reading up so you have the
foggiest notion of what you're doing when you add lines, how to run sendmail
so you can _see_ when it fails instead of waiting to discover that, "all
users cannot send" (!?!?), realize that making a back-up of the stock
sendmail.cf for restore makes a lot more sense than, "remov[ing] what [you]
added" (make a miskate without a backup, you'll have NO MAIL), and basically
educate yourself on sendmail BEFORE you do something that is discouraged by
the entire sendmail development team - manually alter the sendmail.cf file.

   (*sigh*) It isn't that you should never muck with the sendmail.cf, IMHO;
I've done it myself on occasion, and I'd hardly claim "guru" status. But I
believe it is irresponsible for _anyone_ to suggest "cut-and-paste" changes
to a file this important and this complex without also suggesting that you
spend the time educating yourself on why this is such a bad idea. Especially
on a Cobalt, where you also risk stepping on the GUI. If you're going to do
something dangerous, you should at least understand how dangerous it IS, so
you can minimize the risk as much as possible.

   I haven't been scanning this thread, only skimming, and some of the list
mail doesn't reach me anyway, but what I _have_ read is mildly terrifying,
since it appears many people are diving into this on production machines with
no real understanding of the complexities based on partial (and in at least
one case, completely innacurate) information. Much of what has been suggested
can already be accomplished through the m4 system (which is MUCH safer), and
the rest may or may not make valuable additions but should NEVER be performed
on a production machine without at least some understanding of sendmail.

   Don't misunderstand - I think it's GREAT that some Cobalt users are
actually diving into the guts of the thing, instead of relying on pre-built
packages designed to work the way someone ELSE wants your machine to
work...this is exactly what I've been encouraging for a very long time. But
it's also dangerous to do without spending a little time climbing up the hard
side of the learning curve - unless you seriously want to take the chance of
not receiving email, you shouldn't try taking shortcuts here.

         Charlie Summers