[svlug] non-religious? count me in!

[Rafael]

On Tue, 6 Feb 2001, Bill Jonas wrote:

> On Tue, Feb 06, 2001 at 01:18:42PM -0800, Rafael wrote:
> > I feel sorry for people who torture themselves with vi /etc/sendmail.cf.
> 
> Why in the world would you want to do that?  That's just asking for pain.
> Much better (if you're going to use Sendmail) to use the sendmail.mc
> mechanism.

Yes, replace one "language" with another, that's progress? Just because
something is being done for centuries it doesn't mean it's OK today.

Why not have

options {
        directory "/var/mail";
        domains {
                domain1;
		domain2;
                };
	aliases {
		file "/etc/aliases";
};

rewrite_rules {
	file "/etc/mail/domains";
}

mail_filters {
	file "/etc/mail/mydomain";
	spam "/etc/mail/bad_guys";
}

HUMAN READABLE files! Why the hell do I need to learn macros, another
language just to edit a config file? Learning vi to edit a decently
designed config files is enough. Not to mention that I DO NOT WANT
additional tools and security holes on my mail server. /lib, /usr etc is
enough to worry about.

editing sendmail.cf and expect immediate results is like sitting on a
broken glass with pants down waiting for a relief.

H?P?Return-Path: <$g>
HReceived: $?sfrom $s $.$?_($?s$|from $.$_)
        $.by $j ($v/$Z)$?r with $r$. id $i$?u
        for $u; $|;
        $.$b
H?D?Resent-Date: $a
H?D?Date: $a
H?F?Resent-From: <$g>
H?F?From: <$g>
H?x?Full-Name: $x
# HPosted-Date: $a
# H?l?Received-Date: $b
H?M?Resent-Message-Id: <$t.$i@$j>
H?M?Message-Id: <$t.$i@$j>

etc.

Machines are supposed to help us, not make life more difficult. And no,
I'm not looking for GUI or learning macros to edit a config file. vi
/usr/local/exim/configure works for me.

> 
>     I treat the .cf file as a binary file. you should too. 
>             --Eric Allman, author of sendmail, on sendmail.cf

And nobody should ever edit binaries unless the partition was wacked or
you are writing a new file system. At least not regular sysadmin work.

> -- 
> Bill Jonas                | "In contrast to the What You See Is What You
> bill at billjonas.com        |  Get (WYSIWYG) philosophy, UNIX is the You
> http://www.billjonas.com/ |  Asked For It, You Got It operating system."
> http://www.debian.org/    |  --Scott Lee, as quoted by Lamb and Robbins
> 

   O__  ---- Rafael Skodlar
  c/ /'_ --- Linux Imagineer since 1994
 (*) \(*) -- There is a tunnel at the end of light.