Quoting Robert Brandtjen ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
> On Wednesday 27 March 2002 10:48 am, Chuck Yerkes wrote:
> > No you don't need to pull down source code and you
> > shouldn't have to read the sendmail.cf.
> 
> not all installations install the sendmail source code,

true

> without it there is 
> no m4 and therefore no ability to create a new .cf file - without which, you 
> cannot enable relaying.

False.

You rely on a false assumption and make a jump that's just wrong.
I look on SunOS (5.8 and 5.9), there are the m4 files.
I look on BSD (any BSD), there are the m4 files.
I look on my OS X box, there are the m4 files.
I look on Redhat and ... well you get the notion.


As I said, you don't need the source code for sendmail to generate
m4s.  Most OS's provide the m4 information you need.

And reading the cf files:  To quote from the sendmail.org folk:
"the cf file should be treated as a binary, the m4 data is the source"

Just as I don't really rip into the networking source code to use
routing - I just use netstat and route - I don't really need to (or want
to) rip into the sendmail.cf "assembly code" to use sendmail.


That said, I have done it in detail and it's one of the reasons
I know sendmail excessively well.

My mechanic just tore apart my engine that had low compression
and rebuilt the top end.  He's intimate with the engine.  Me?
I use the accelerator, brake and clutch and know the principles of
it.

If you want to be a mechanic, by all means, decontruct the sendmail.cf.
The sendmail C code is also one of the more clear programming projects
(compare and contrast with named, gcc, many others).  If you want
to be a good mechanic, understand that code - toy with the code
that implements multiple queues.  But these are not required to use
the product.

/usr/share/sendmail/README (BSD) contains the instructions for m4
files.  You will find your systems' .m4 file under there.


If that's too icky for your and/or you want a happy GUI, webmin
will do adequately for light weight work, Sendmail Inc's Switch
product is a more detailed MTA management tool.

chuck

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