server choice on slackware 12
 

Hi

I need to setup mail, http and file server on slackware 12.

I was using SuSe Enterprise server 10 till now. On the start I did not know much about the mail, http and smb protocols. SuSe makes it easy to me to configure those services.

But I have no Idea whats exactly going on in it.

I know slackware better than suse. And now I decide to use Slacke instead.

What could be the better choice for mail server?

The rest is clear (apache and samba).

It should be on windows based network.

Thanks for advices

There are many opinions as there are options, but I tend to stick to the ol' sendmail. The config file is a beast, but beyond that it will do exactly what you want and nothing you don't.

I run postfix on my Slackware servers without issues. Easiest way to install is to grab the latest package from linuxpackages.net, install, configure and if it's a little outdated, it's as easy as downloading the latest build, extract and run the upgrade option to upgrade. Makes life easy and it's so much easier than Sendmail to maintain, configure. I'm still not sure why Patrick hasn't included Postfix as an alternative or default MTA, it's probably the easiest package to build a Slackware package out of as well.

Sendmail isn't the most secure mail server out there and it's also difficult to configure, and there are many alternatives, like: postfix, getmail, fetchmail, qmail. Seach for more on freshmeat or sourceforge.

I beg to differ. Sendmail security has greatly improved since it's humble beginnings (it was, after all, one of the first MTA's back when everyone on the Internet could be trusted, way back when) and it's as secure as any other mail server out there. And I don't Sendmail is that much more difficult to configure if you're using the m4 config files. Yes, if you're writing your own sendmail.cf file from scratch (I've done this), then it's a pain. But the m4 config files are not that bad.

Also, getmail and fetchmail are not true mail servers. They are used to retrieve mail from another POP3 system to deliver it to local users, but they rely on a real MTA to send outbound mail.

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but... oh well.
At my work we use Exchange but were looking for alternatives. Unfortunately they use public folders and share calendars quite a bit. A Linux alternative that we demoed and liked very much was called Postpath. What's nifty is that in the exchange system manager it shows up as an Exchange server and outlook doesn't need a plug in to recognize it either (which a lot of other exchange alternatives out there do).

Beyond that, i would use Postfix/Webmin combo if i could.

I believe that there is a reason why sendmail is the default MTA on slackware.
I've been trying qmail last week (I read lot good things about it).
Postfix with cyrus - I have been using several years on my SuSe servers. It is the default on it and I have no problems with it.
I don't know if OPEN SuSe uses the same.
I think that the best choice is the default sendmail.
There are several things which I like to use on the server:
Web based administration of virtual domains and users.
SPF spam prevention.
Monitoring.
Webmail.
Greylisting.
The qmail looks very well.
So I have to make a choice qmail or sendmail?

Have a look at Zimbra. I downloaded it a while back to try it out for a web server I'm developing for the sales people and it is very Exchange-link while using Open Source software.

And it is supported by Yahoo, so you can be sure that its development won't be abandoned.

Ya we saw that one too. Last time i looked at it though it required you have an outlook plugin installed on the client machine in order to have it see zimbra as an exchange server. Postpath didn't which makes the transition much easier.

LOL and im not sure if i trust anything supported by Yahoo :P

It's OSS. Go and check the source if you don't.