Mercurial > docs > diploma
annotate thesis/tex/0-preface.tex @ 358:bab625cdd64e
spell checking
| author | meillo@marmaro.de |
|---|---|
| date | Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:36:53 +0100 |
| parents | 1bee308d0f1c |
| children | 0850f0a9dbb3 |
| rev | line source |
|---|---|
|
274
56cc2f5755f8
cleardoublepage -> clearpage (as the document is single sided)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
253
diff
changeset
|
1 \clearpage |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
2 \chapter*{Preface} |
| 98 | 3 \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Preface} |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
4 |
| 356 | 5 This thesis is about \masqmail, a small mail transfer agent for workstations and home networks. In October 2007 I chose \masqmail\ for my machines because it is a small but ``real'' mail transfer agent. \masqmail\ served me well since then and I found no reasons to change. |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
6 |
| 358 | 7 Unfortunately, the \masqmail\ package in \debian, which is my preferred \NAME{GNU}/Linux distribution, is unmaintained since the beginning of 2008. Unmaintained packages with critical bugs are likely to get dropped out of a distribution. Although \masqmail\ had no critical bugs, this was a situation I definitely wanted to prevent. |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
8 |
| 356 | 9 Using my diploma thesis as a ``power-start'' for maintaining and developing \masqmail\ in the future was a great idea. As it came to my mind I knew this is the thing I \emph{wanted} to do. --- I did it! :-) |
| 101 | 10 |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
11 |
| 356 | 12 \quad |
| 13 | |
| 14 The overall goal of this document is to revive \masqmail\ in usage and development. \masqmail\ was not developed in the last five years, but the world of email changed during this time. Hence quite some work needed to be done. | |
| 101 | 15 |
| 358 | 16 I chose to start down at the basis and analyze the environment and \masqmail\ throughout to end in concrete plans of what should be done and how it should be done to turn \masqmail\ into a modern mail transfer agent again. |
| 277 | 17 |
| 356 | 18 The actual implementation of the the proposed changes goes beyond this thesis. Here are solutions identified, described, discussed, and recommended but not implemented. I did work in the code and have fix bugs during the time I wrote on the thesis, though. |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
19 |
|
96
8db526d7a678
reorganized preface and introduction (feels better now)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
93
diff
changeset
|
20 |
| 356 | 21 \quad |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
22 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
23 This document is primary written with an audience of \masqmail\ developers or developers of other mail transfer agents in mind. But users of \masqmail\ and everyone who is interested in email systems in general may find this thesis an interesting literature. |
|
96
8db526d7a678
reorganized preface and introduction (feels better now)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
93
diff
changeset
|
24 |
| 356 | 25 However, at least basic knowledge about \unix\ and C programming is preconditioned in chapter three, four, and five. The required knowledge about \unix\ can be gained from \person{Kernighan} and \person{Pike}'s ``The \NAME{UNIX} Programming Environment'' \cite{kernighan84}. Programming in the C language is best learned from \person{Kernighan} and \person{Ritchie}'s ``The C Programming Language'' \cite{k&r}. |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
26 |
| 33 | 27 |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
28 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
29 |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
30 |
| 356 | 31 |
| 32 %fixme: << hikernet >> | |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
33 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
34 |
| 356 | 35 %fixme: how to get the masqmail source code |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
36 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
37 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
38 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
39 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
40 |
| 33 | 41 |
| 42 | |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
43 |
| 316 | 44 \section*{Organization} |
| 98 | 45 |
| 356 | 46 Six chapters structure the document. Each one covers a delimited part of the overall topic and builds upon the knowledge and results of the previous ones. The first three chapters lead into the topic and create a solid base where the second part builds upon. Chapter four and five are the central part of the thesis as they focus on \masqmail. |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
47 |
| 356 | 48 Chapter 1 \textbf{introduces} \masqmail\ to the reader. It presents the properties, goals, advantages, and problems of the program. Basic concepts of the email technology are also described and later assumed to be know. |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
49 |
| 358 | 50 Chapter 2 \textbf{analyzes the market} of electronic communication and email. This chapter provides a secure basis by showing that email will remain an important technology in the future. It tries to identify future trends too. |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
51 |
| 356 | 52 Chapter 3 \textbf{deals with mail transfer agents} (\MTA{}s) which are the most important entities of the email transport structure. \MTA{}s are defined, classified, and important ones are presented and compared. |
| 33 | 53 |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
54 Chapter 4 \textbf{focuses on \masqmail's present and future}. It is the core of the thesis. Requirements are identified and lead to a list of pending work tasks. Then possible strategies for future development are discussed. |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
55 |
| 356 | 56 Chapter 5 \textbf{describes improvement plans}, which are based on decisions in chapter four, in more detail. A proposed architecture for a redesigned \masqmail\ is presented too. |
|
352
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
57 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
58 Chapter 6 \textbf{summarizes} the most important results and closes the thesis. |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
59 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
60 |
|
3a544a333752
wrote preface (may need some minor rework)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
316
diff
changeset
|
61 |
| 98 | 62 |
|
8
1d35768e1643
first prototype of thesis (with some sample content)
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
diff
changeset
|
63 |
| 33 | 64 |
| 280 | 65 \section*{Conventions} |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
66 %TODO: check it! |
| 280 | 67 The following typographic conventions are used in this thesis: |
|
150
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
68 |
| 304 | 69 \begin{enumerate} |
| 316 | 70 \item \emph{Italic shape} is used to emphasize text, to introduce new terms, and for names, including product, host, and user names, as well as email addresses. |
|
150
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
71 |
| 304 | 72 \item For names of persons \textsc{Small Caps} are used. |
| 73 | |
| 356 | 74 \item File and path names, contents of files, and output from programs are displayed in \texttt{Typewriter font}. |
| 304 | 75 \end{enumerate} |
|
150
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
76 |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
77 References to external resources are marked using one of three styles, distinguished by the type of resource. |
|
150
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
78 |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
79 \begin{enumerate} |
| 316 | 80 \item References to books, articles, and similar documents looks like this: \cite{kernighan84}. The letters represent the author(s) (here \person{Kernighan} and \person{Pike}), the number represents the year of publication (here 1984). |
|
210
2181dc39ec06
extended typo conventions; and minor stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
150
diff
changeset
|
81 |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
82 \item Websites differ from documents as they are less of a text written by some author but more a place where information is gathered. They are only indicated by numbers, like for example: \citeweb{masqmail:homepage}. |
|
210
2181dc39ec06
extended typo conventions; and minor stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
150
diff
changeset
|
83 |
| 356 | 84 \item \name{Request for Comments}---the documents that define the Internet---are referenced in a third way, by specifying the unique number of the \RFC\ directly: \RFC821. |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
85 \end{enumerate} |
| 234 | 86 |
|
302
fb66805bc870
reworked section about conventions; minor other stuff
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
280
diff
changeset
|
87 The Bibliography is located at the end of the thesis. It also includes a list of the relevant \RFC{}s and how they can be retrieved. |
|
150
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
88 |
|
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
89 |
|
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
90 |
|
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
91 |
|
0d097f4300ce
moved typographic conventions from ch01 to preface
meillo@marmaro.de
parents:
136
diff
changeset
|
92 |
| 98 | 93 \section*{Acknowledgments} |
| 33 | 94 %FIXME: write this at the very end. |
| 95 % dont forget: proove readers, suggestion makers, supporters, ... | |
| 356 | 96 |
| 97 | |
| 98 | |
| 99 | |
| 100 | |
| 101 \vspace{12ex} | |
| 102 { \it | |
| 103 \hspace*{23em}markus schnalke\\ | |
| 104 \hspace*{23em}February 2009 | |
| 105 } |