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new chapter 4 (split ch5); added lots of annotations
author meillo@marmaro.de
date Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:44:22 +0100
parents e050221efd38
children 8db526d7a678
comparison
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92:e050221efd38 93:a6f8a93abd64
1 \chapter{Introduction} 1 \chapter{Introduction}
2 \label{chap:introduction} 2 \label{chap:introduction}
3 3
4 4 % say what you want to say
5 5
6 6
7 \section{Transporting mail} 7 \section{Transporting mail}
8 8
9 9
10 \subsection{History of electronic mail} 10 \subsection{History of electronic mail}
11 %FIXME: shorter!!!
11 %TODO: have a quote from Bell Labs about email here 12 %TODO: have a quote from Bell Labs about email here
12 13
13 Electronic mail\index{electronic mail} (short: \name{email})\citeweb{wikipedia:email} is a basic concept in \unix.\citeweb{unix-mail-intro} On \unix\ machines, a lot of information is distributed by \name{system mail}, which is email sent by the operating system. Beside that, email is the common communication system between humans working on computers. 14 Electronic mail\index{electronic mail} (short: \name{email})\citeweb{wikipedia:email} is a basic concept in \unix.\citeweb{unix-mail-intro} On \unix\ machines, a lot of information is distributed by \name{system mail}, which is email sent by the operating system. Beside that, email is the common communication system between humans working on computers.
14 15
15 The \unix\ operating system supports email through the \name{mail user agent} (short: \NAME{MUA}) \name{/bin/mail}. 16 The \unix\ operating system supports email through the \name{mail user agent} (short: \NAME{MUA}) \name{/bin/mail}.
31 Todays email structure is basicly the same as then. The major difference is the uniformity of the underlying network, which is nearly always the \NAME{ARPANET}-based \name{Internet}. Hence lowering the importance of the transformation capabilities of \MTA{}s, that was essential to \sendmail's success---yet being the primary motivation for the program. 32 Todays email structure is basicly the same as then. The major difference is the uniformity of the underlying network, which is nearly always the \NAME{ARPANET}-based \name{Internet}. Hence lowering the importance of the transformation capabilities of \MTA{}s, that was essential to \sendmail's success---yet being the primary motivation for the program.
32 33
33 More information about the history of electronic mail can be found at: \citeweb{email:griffiths}, \citeweb{email:crocker}, \citeweb{email:vleck}, \citeweb{email:akkad}, \citeweb{email:murakami}, and \citeweb{email:tomlinson}. A good starting point for general information on internet history is \citeweb{wikipedia:historyoftheinternet}. 34 More information about the history of electronic mail can be found at: \citeweb{email:griffiths}, \citeweb{email:crocker}, \citeweb{email:vleck}, \citeweb{email:akkad}, \citeweb{email:murakami}, and \citeweb{email:tomlinson}. A good starting point for general information on internet history is \citeweb{wikipedia:historyoftheinternet}.
34 %TODO: check the websites which ones are the important ones; remove unnessesary ones 35 %TODO: check the websites which ones are the important ones; remove unnessesary ones
35 36
37
38
36 \subsection{Definition of \MTA} 39 \subsection{Definition of \MTA}
37 40 %FIXME: better title; work text over!
38 %TODO: when was the term ``mail transfer agent'' established? 41 %TODO: when was the term ``mail transfer agent'' established?
39 42
40 This thesis is about a \name{mail transfer agent} (or \index{mail transport agent|see{mail transfer agent}}\name{mail transport agent}, short \NAME{MTA}): \masqmail. \sendmail\ is one too---the most important one. 43 This thesis is about a \name{mail transfer agent} (or \index{mail transport agent|see{mail transfer agent}}\name{mail transport agent}, short \NAME{MTA}): \masqmail. \sendmail\ is one too---the most important one.
41 44
42 The basic job of a \mta\ is to transfer/transport electronic mail from one host to another. 45 The basic job of a \mta\ is to transfer/transport electronic mail from one host to another.
72 75
73 76
74 77
75 \subsection{\name{sendmail-compatibility}} 78 \subsection{\name{sendmail-compatibility}}
76 \label{sec:sendmail} 79 \label{sec:sendmail}
80 %FIXME: rewrite!
77 81
78 Allman wrote it to transfer emails between different networks, thus giving \sendmail\ mighty address rewriting abilities. In contrast to its predecessor \name{delivermail}, was \sendmail\ designed to offer greatest flexiblity in configuration; this enabled it to deal with any type of network. 82 Allman wrote it to transfer emails between different networks, thus giving \sendmail\ mighty address rewriting abilities. In contrast to its predecessor \name{delivermail}, was \sendmail\ designed to offer greatest flexiblity in configuration; this enabled it to deal with any type of network.
79 83
80 \sendmail\ was, and still is, very successful. So successful that it stands, like no other, for the whole group of \MTA{}s: \name{sendmail} actually is the \emph{de facto standard} for \mta{}s. 84 \sendmail\ was, and still is, very successful. So successful that it stands, like no other, for the whole group of \MTA{}s: \name{sendmail} actually is the \emph{de facto standard} for \mta{}s.
81 85
96 100
97 101
98 102
99 103
100 \section{The \masqmail\ project} 104 \section{The \masqmail\ project}
101 105 %FIXME: explain why masqmail is old and why it is interesting/important however!
102 106
103 \subsubsection{Target field} 107 \subsubsection{Target field}
104 Its original author, Oliver Kurth, sees \masqmail\ so: 108 Its original author, Oliver Kurth, sees \masqmail\ so:
105 \begin{quote} 109 \begin{quote}
106 MasqMail is a mail server designed for hosts that do not have a permanent internet connection eg. a home network or a single host at home. It has special support for connections to different ISPs. It replaces sendmail or other MTAs such as qmail or exim. 110 MasqMail is a mail server designed for hosts that do not have a permanent internet connection eg. a home network or a single host at home. It has special support for connections to different ISPs. It replaces sendmail or other MTAs such as qmail or exim.
144 % http://anfi.homeunix.org/sendmail/dialup10.html 148 % http://anfi.homeunix.org/sendmail/dialup10.html
145 149
146 150
147 151
148 \section{Problems to solve} 152 \section{Problems to solve}
153 %FIXME: what problems has masqmail?
154 %FIXME: what's the intention of this document?
155 %FIXME: why is it worth the effort?
149 156
150