i'm having just insane problems with sendmail BUT i started postfix to run as a service and now i CAN use the mail command.

i test to see if i could SMTP with my server and i can, i opened Outlook on Windows and created a new account (called it a POP3 account) with my name and password on the computer then tried to send an email to my hotmail account. hotmail DID recieve the message so i know it works.

ok then, my forum needs and SMTP server and the server my ISP has is broken so i need to provide my own (which i have), how can i make it so my computer can be accessed with no user name and no password to be used as an SMTP server?

I don't recall that SMTP uses username/password information. Are you
referring to POP3?

nope, i can't connection through POP3 but i can connect through SMTP.

btw what kind of server is Postfix anyway? would that be a POP3 account i have or would be IMAP or HTTP or what the heck is it?

postfix == SMTP

SMTP daemons only route email from one server to another. They do not
allow an email client to view/delete email. Your email client reads/deletes
email using POP3 but sends email via the SMTP.

if you're running mandrake 7.x you can install imap-2000c which has
the POP3/IMAP services. should work on redhat too.

will this RPM with Mandrake 8.2 install the correct IMAP stuff?
imap-2001a-4mdk.i586.rpm

oh and do i have to set anything up for IMAP or would simply running it allow me to remotely view my mail? if i start IMAP (as a service?) can i just go to Mozilla Mail and start setting up an IMAP account or would i have to configure anything?

imap-2001a-4mdk.i586.rpm is POP3 and imap

After install that rpm, you'll want to do alittle configuring.

in /etc/xinetd.d/ change the line "disable = yes" to "disable = no" in
imap. Restart the xinetd daemon "/etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd restart"

Should be able to pull up mozmail and go.

rverlander is right, imap-2001a does imap, secure imap (imaps), and secure pop3 (pop3s) as well as pop2 and 3. choose wisely :-)