[thelist] Mac Mail Server Software

[Adrian Simmons]

Alex Ezell wrote:

> Could anyone recommend good software for running a full (POP3 and
> SMTP) mail server on OS X?
Do you need a gui? OSX runs all the heavyweight unix mail software. In 
fact sendmail (will handle the smtp for you) is included by default. 
[Note: sendmail has a reputation for being a pig to configure]
Personally I use Postfix (which I installed using Fink 
<http://fink.sf.net>) for smtp, and Apple is reputedly using postfix 
instead of sendmail in panther, so postfix is probably a good choice.

For a pop server, try qpopper <http://www.eudora.com/qpopper/> free from 
qualcomm, the makers of Eudora.

You might also like to take a look at procmail (included in OS X by 
Apple), this is an MTA (mail transport agent) very handy for filtering 
mail, particularly for tagging (or removing) spam or mail carrying virus.

Further to the spam problem you can integrate tools like SpamAssassin 
<http://spamassassin.org/> and Razor <http://razor.sourceforge.net/> 
having procmail automatically run all mail through these handy filters 
before delivering it to your mailboxes.

This will cost you *time* with all the separate programs, text based 
config files etc, but will cost you no money :)
It's also a pretty robust setup.

Adrian