Postfix
I currently run qmail 1.03 as my mail server on my server. The core code has not been updated for almost 10 years. However, there are patches out there to enable things like TLS, SASL, spam filtering, blacklists, whitelists, SPF, DKIM, and other technologies. The problem with these patches is that sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. If you run into a problem with a patch, it’s not always obvious which patch caused the problems. There are also issues that multiple patches may conflict with one another, or break core functionality. The core qmail system is well written, and works wonderfully. However, to get the features that are needed in today’s email world, patches are a necessary evil.
There are also sometimes three to five different patches that all claim to be able to do the same thing. Which patch to choose? Do you install one, test it, find that it fails, and then move on to the next? Bah. What a pain. Especially considering that these are source code patches. This means that you need to extract the base code, apply your currently running patches, apply the new patch, compile, fix any errors (if you can), and then do the install with hopes that it works. It’s not an easy process, and if you are not an exceptional C programmer, it is nearly impossible to overcome any problems that you run into.
I’m done with all of this. I’m moving to Postfix.
Postfix is still currently maintained and developed by the original author, Wietse Venema. This instills a great deal of confidence in the product. Witse is also still very active on the Postfix mailing lists, and is genuinely helpful and considerate when helping people that have issues with his software. A vast majority of the time, it is user (or, in this case, administrator) error, but when a bug is revealed, there is typically a patch posted to the mailing list within a few hours. Then the patch is incorporated into the core product for release when there are sufficient code changes to warrant a whole new version.
Postfix can also handle all of the features that are necessary in the modern email world out of the box. Sure, there are some serious configurations that must be done in order to make it work, but that’s true of any server.
I have Postfix installed, and I’m steadily working my way through the configuration process. Once I’m done, I’m going to shutdown qmail, fire up Postfix, and see how it runs. Hopefully I won’t have too many issues, but if I do, I know that the Postfix mailing list will be there to assist me with my issues.
qmail, you have been part of my life for 7 years now, but it’s time to part ways. I wish you the best.
