Replace sendmail with postfix?

[Ivan Ferreira]

Since I started to work with Linux, I used sendmail as MTA, also, normally I teach this MTA to my students. Now, after a couple of years, I'm wonder if it's time to move to postfix.

It's supposed that postfix is more secure than sendmail (by default), and the configuration is very, very easy (this will help when teaching).

The only thing that stops me from moving is the time that I have been working with sendmail.

I need some votes, what do you think?

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Shalom Ivan,

I find sendmail to be extremely frustrating, but have developed a good system with use of the access file to keep it secure.

Because I know it and have been able to make it secure, I'm loathe to learn another product.

Its very frustrating what steps I have to go through to make sendmail validate outbound senders (I can do that now).

Maybe postfix is worth a look.

SEP

[Steve_160]

I'm no expert on setting up mail. I usually have to get help with it.

That said, a few years ago I switched from sendmail to postfix because the security was supposed to be better. Then one day I found that spammers were using all my bandwidth using postfix to relay their trash. The guy I go to for advice said it was a problem with postfix, so I switched back to sendmail to stop it.

[Manuel Wolfshant]

Take this with a grain of salt:

I've been using sendmail since version 8.6 or so (solaris 2.1, 1994). I was frustrated by sendmail's way of specifying parsing rules at the time ... and I still am. I was also frustrated by its continuous line of security problems, but now I am not.. because I have switched to postfix in 2001. I have spent a few hours reading the docs (I think its documentation is a lot more clear and more flexible then sendmail)... and I do not regret a bit.
Both in term of ease of use and security, I think postfix beats sendmail. After all, there has been no real security problem with it (as in getting root priviledges which more the once sendmail offered to whoever bothered to ask) since 1998 or so.
Postfix is used as main MTA by several major linux distributions. Configuration is indeed quite simple and default values are more then OK in most of the cases I have dealed with. Actually, for small companies, I have found that less then 5-6 lines need to be modified from the default.

But then again, YMMV.

[Vipulinux]

Hi Ivan

I have used sendmail, qmail and postfix. I have seen that sendmail takes care of huge mailboxes very easily. The config is somewhat difficult but sendmail is very robust.

If the no. of mailboxes in your server are not going above 300. I suggest you can use postfix without any issues.
However is the mailboxes are going to be above 500 stick to sendmail/qmail.

Hope thsi helps.

Cheers
Vipul

[Manuel Wolfshant]

FWIW: I have 10k+ users in postfix and haven't had any problem so far. not even with batches of messages sent to 20K+ recipients at once (a newsletter sent by the marketing droids)

[Huc_1]

I am no expert on MTA's I have set up/"manage" a few sendmail, so I am not very well placed to point in one direction or an other... but if i ever decide to manage my mail's from home as things stand today I would use postfix.

I would do that because it work "out of the box", well that is it is just a minimum setup to get it rolling, and as mention in other reply the documentation is more understandable to me also.

As a teaching material, it seem's better to me because your time is probably to short so you get to cover more details. and have more lab time.

Jean-Pierre