docs/diploma

annotate thesis/tex/0-preface.tex @ 409:ca763bd8c809

Added tag final version which I handed in for changeset ee7211546c02
author meillo@marmaro.de
date Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:55:32 +0100
parents e57129f57faa
children
rev   line source
meillo@274 1 \clearpage
meillo@8 2 \chapter*{Preface}
meillo@98 3 \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Preface}
meillo@8 4
meillo@370 5 This thesis is about \masqmail, a small mail transfer agent for workstations and home networks. In October 2007 I had chosen \masqmail\ for my machines because of its small size though it was a ``real'' mail transfer agent. \masqmail\ served me well since then and I have found no reasons to change.
meillo@402 6 \index{masqmail}
meillo@8 7
meillo@400 8 Unfortunately, the \masqmail\ package in \name{Debian}, which is my preferred \NAME{GNU}/Li\-nux distribution, is unmaintained since the beginning of 2008. Unmaintained packages are likely to get dropped out of a distribution if critical bugs appear in them. Although \masqmail\ had no critical bugs, this was a situation I definitely wanted to prevent.
meillo@402 9 \index{Debian!masqmail package}
meillo@302 10
meillo@356 11 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! :-)
meillo@302 12
meillo@366 13 \quad
meillo@366 14
meillo@370 15 The overall goal of this document is to revive \masqmail\ in usage and development. \masqmail\ was not developed further in the last five years although the world of email has changed during this time. Hence quite some work needed to be done.
meillo@366 16
meillo@370 17 I decided to start at the basis and analyze the environment and \masqmail\ throughout to end up in concrete plans of what should be done and how it should be done to turn \masqmail\ into a modern mail transfer agent again.
meillo@366 18
meillo@374 19 The actual implementation of the proposed changes will follow-up this thesis. Here solutions are identified, described, discussed, and recommended but not implemented. I have been working in the code and have fixed bugs during the time I worked on the thesis, though.
meillo@101 20
meillo@356 21 \quad
meillo@101 22
meillo@392 23 This document is primary written with an audience of \masqmail\ developers and 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, too.
meillo@101 24
meillo@393 25 However, at least basic knowledge about Unix and C programming is a prerequisite for chapters three, four, and five. \person{Kernighan} and \person{Pike}'s ``The \NAME{UNIX} Programming Environment'' \cite{kernighan84} is a valuable source to gain information about Unix. Programming in the C language is best learned from \person{Kernighan} and \person{Ritchie}'s ``The C Programming Language'' \cite{k&r}.
meillo@402 26 \index{c}
meillo@402 27 \index{Unix}
meillo@352 28
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meillo@8 35
meillo@316 36 \section*{Organization}
meillo@33 37
meillo@370 38 The document consists of six chapters, each covering a delimited part of the overall topic and building upon the content and results of previous chapters. The first three chapters lead into the topic and create a solid base where the second part builds upon. The chapters four and five form the central part of the thesis as they focus on \masqmail.
meillo@8 39
meillo@370 40 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 known.
meillo@352 41
meillo@392 42 Chapter 2 \textbf{analyzes the market} of electronic communication and email. This chapter gives sound reasons for the sense of future development of \masqmail\ by showing that email will remain an important technology in the future. It tries to identify future trends, too.
meillo@352 43
meillo@370 44 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 the most important ones are presented and compared.
meillo@352 45
meillo@352 46 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.
meillo@352 47
meillo@370 48 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.
meillo@352 49
meillo@352 50 Chapter 6 \textbf{summarizes} the most important results and closes the thesis.
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meillo@98 56
meillo@280 57 \section*{Conventions}
meillo@280 58 The following typographic conventions are used in this thesis:
meillo@150 59
meillo@304 60 \begin{enumerate}
meillo@316 61 \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.
meillo@150 62
meillo@304 63 \item For names of persons \textsc{Small Caps} are used.
meillo@304 64
meillo@356 65 \item File and path names, contents of files, and output from programs are displayed in \texttt{Typewriter font}.
meillo@304 66 \end{enumerate}
meillo@150 67
meillo@302 68 References to external resources are marked using one of three styles, distinguished by the type of resource.
meillo@210 69
meillo@302 70 \begin{enumerate}
meillo@400 71 \item References to books, articles, and documents of similar kind, look like this: \cite{kernighan84}. The letters represent the author(s) (here \person{Kernighan} and \person{Pike}), while the number represents the year of publication (here 1984).
meillo@150 72
meillo@370 73 \item Websites are different from documents as they are less some text written by some author but more a place where information is gathered. Website may also change from time to time, thus the date of access is given to indicate the version to which was referred. References to websites have such appearance: \citeweb{masqmail:homepage}.
meillo@210 74
meillo@370 75 \item \name{Request for Comments} are those documents that define the Internet. They are referenced directly by their unique number. For instance: \RFC\,821.
meillo@302 76 \end{enumerate}
meillo@402 77 \index{rfc}
meillo@234 78
meillo@302 79 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.
meillo@150 80
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meillo@98 85 \section*{Acknowledgments}
meillo@356 86
meillo@389 87 First, I want to thank \person{Oliver Kurth} for writing \masqmail; I build upon his work. My second thanks goes to professor \person{Markus Sch\"affter}, my advisor. He was the one who made this thesis possible by putting faith in me and this topic. I very much enjoyed the time with him.
meillo@356 88
meillo@389 89 I thank \person{Christian Langbein} and professor \person{Volkmar Kese} for teaching me important lessons about structure. You are so right, it is all about: structure, structure, structure.
meillo@356 90
meillo@389 91 My \person{Dad} and my friend \person{Julian Forster} took time for me so I could explain various parts of the thesis to them; this was important, thanks. \person{James Stenard} was of great help in questions about the English language, thanks. \person{Roger Schietzel} double-checked all web addresses and \NAME{ISBN}s for validity, thanks for covering this bulky task.
meillo@356 92
meillo@407 93 \person{Henry Atting}, \person{Joachim Breitner}, \person{Marc Geis}, \person{Jochen Roth}, and \person{Hans-J\"org Schaaf} (in alphabetical order) had a look at my thesis and returned comments and suggestions---each one was valuable. Thank you all.
meillo@389 94
meillo@389 95 Not to forget is everyone who discussed with me on mailing lists and in private communication, and my family for backing me.
meillo@389 96
meillo@392 97 There is also an institution that needs to be praised: The \name{W\"urttembergische Landesbibliothek} in Stuttgart; it was the most productive place to work and the most impressive one, too.
meillo@389 98
meillo@389 99 \quad
meillo@389 100
meillo@389 101 But the most support I did receive from \person{Lydi}. I am deeply grateful for your patience and sacrifice during the last months; for your motivation and encouragement; and for the ease I found in your arms. \quad Thank you!
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meillo@389 104 \vspace{6ex}
meillo@389 105 \hspace*{27em}\textit{markus schnalke}
meillo@389 106