that's more like it elix! you explain yourself better, you get your message
across, people don't get offended, and most of all....threads like this are
avoided. Please keep it up.
I thank you for your concern about our as well as the whole internet's
security.
At the moment, I am just at the point of evaluating things. Lucky for me, I
have an open deadline so I intend to spend lots of time with qmail/linux
before I put it in the production line. It's my butt on the line so I know I
have to do good. Of course I intend to make it as secure as possible. In
fact, I received lots of suggestions and one of them is to use OpenBSD which
I gathered is very secure even when the default installation is used. I
will also not install X in that box.
Don't worry, I am going to follow your advice, I am going to take my time,
learn the OS well, secure it (of course gurus like you are always around to
help me out), then install qmail, learn a lot, secure it, have it tested
(and if you and the other gurus out there are not busy, you may want to help
me test my system...pro bono of course, I can't afford to pay you :) ), and
if all goes well I can put it in the production line. I am also not known
to whine, I've always looked at myself as a gentleman who knows how to
accept "his faults even if it's his butt who will be fried".
>You miss the point, Andrew.
>
>People like you install Linux and qmail all over the world.
>They insert the CD and follow the newbie instructions in the manual and
>leave a ton of security holes wide open.
>
>Then, hackers break into their machines and the poor admins don't even
>know what hit them and claim Linux is insecure. Or, even better, they
>remember the only software they installed was qmail, so they say that
>qmail is insecure.
>
>And in many cases, those hacked Linux boxes are used as relay for
>distributed denial of service attacks.
>
>Thus, you are not only a threat to your own data and users, you are a
>threat to the whole Internet. Unless you let someone do the
>installation for you who knows what he is doing.
>
>If you want to install qmail (or any other MTA) on a server with an
>operating system you are not familiar with, then spend a few months
>becoming familiar with it. This is not like a vacuum that you plug in
>and it works. This is more like a Boeing 747 where some helpful
>salesguy has hidden all those confusing pilot knobs behind a friendly
>wizard to increase sales.
>Felix
