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From: Stephen A. <fet...@ro...> - 2006-11-12 15:11:18
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Hello, I currently use Fetchmail, because, well... I do - no other reason. However, Fetchmail 6.2.5.5 (running as a daemon) randomly stops picking up messages (with no events in the logfile to indicate why) until I restart the daemon when everything then works ok again. So, I am considering Getmail instead. From a Fetchmail perspective, what the the Pros/Cons of using each? I don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire! And for ease of administration, I run Fetchmail as root, collecting email from all users' POP3 accounts, so I only need one fetchmailrc file. Is this good/bad etc? Many thanks, Steve :) |
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From: Rob M. <rob...@gm...> - 2006-11-12 17:01:28
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On 11/12/06, Stephen Allen <fet...@ro...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I currently use Fetchmail, because, well... I do - no other reason.
> However, Fetchmail 6.2.5.5 (running as a daemon)
You're *very* out of date - 6.3.5 is out and a lot of bug fixes have
taken place since the version you're running.
> randomly stops picking up
> messages (with no events in the logfile to indicate why) until I restart
> the daemon when everything then works ok again. So, I am considering
> Getmail instead.
You may find that updating to 6.3 fixes your problem. Alternatively
the problem may be elsewhere - without any further information it's
impossible to even guess. Certainly I've never seen fetchmail
silently fail, and I've been running it since mid way through the 5.x
series.
> From a Fetchmail perspective, what the the Pros/Cons of using each? I
> don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire!
Never used getmail, and you're asking on a fetchmail list - you're
going to get a very fetchmail centric response :)
> And for ease of administration, I run Fetchmail as root, collecting
> email from all users' POP3 accounts, so I only need one fetchmailrc
> file. Is this good/bad etc?
Very bad - fetchmail will soon (if it hasn't already) refuse to allow
you to do this. There is nothing in fetchmail that requires it to be
run as root. Create an account for it and use this account instead.
--
Please keep list traffic on the list.
Rob MacGregor
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he
doesn't become a monster. Friedrich Nietzsche
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From: Michelle K. <lin...@fr...> - 2006-11-19 19:02:56
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Hello *,
Am 2006-11-12 16:00:37, schrieb Rob MacGregor:
> > From a Fetchmail perspective, what the the Pros/Cons of using each? I
> > don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire!
>
> Never used getmail, and you're asking on a fetchmail list - you're
> going to get a very fetchmail centric response :)
...but he can ask the same question on the "getmail" list
and do analyzing (specialy the flames :-/ )
Greetings
Michelle Konzack
Systemadministrator
Tamay Dogan Network
Debian GNU/Linux Consultant
--
Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/
##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant #####################
Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886
50, rue de Soultz MSM LinuxMichi
0033/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)
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From: Stephen A. <fet...@ro...> - 2006-11-12 17:44:52
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Rob MacGregor wrote: > You're *very* out of date - 6.3.5 is out and a lot of bug fixes have > taken place since the version you're running. That was a problem with Fedora, when I first started using it - I didn't realise each version is only supported for basically a year. The legacy project is next to useless. However, I'm in the process of upgrading from FC3, to 4 then to 5 (the oldest supported version). > You may find that updating to 6.3 fixes your problem. Alternatively > the problem may be elsewhere - without any further information it's > impossible to even guess. Certainly I've never seen fetchmail > silently fail, and I've been running it since mid way through the 5.x > series. Ok, that's good to know. > Never used getmail, and you're asking on a fetchmail list - you're > going to get a very fetchmail centric response :) That's basically what I'm after. I sent a similar message to the Getmail list also. >> And for ease of administration, I run Fetchmail as root, collecting > Very bad - fetchmail will soon (if it hasn't already) refuse to allow > you to do this. There is nothing in fetchmail that requires it to > be run as root. Create an account for it and use this account > instead. I really don't know how to do this, it's in the documentation I presume? Even if I gave it it's own user/group, could I still continue running it as a daemon collecting and delivering mail for all users from a single instance and rc file? Many thanks, Steve :) |
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From: Rob M. <rob...@gm...> - 2006-11-12 17:58:17
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On 11/12/06, Stephen Allen <fet...@ro...> wrote:
> That was a problem with Fedora, when I first started using it - I didn't
> realise each version is only supported for basically a year. The legacy
> project is next to useless. However, I'm in the process of upgrading
> from FC3, to 4 then to 5 (the oldest supported version).
Yeah, I've become a fan of Gentoo as it doesn't suffer from that
problem (so you can install 2005.0, apply the updates and you get the
same as if you'd started from 2006.1).
> I really don't know how to do this, it's in the documentation I presume?
Not really, there's nothing in the documentation about running it a
root either though :) Basically, just start it as a non-root user.
> Even if I gave it it's own user/group, could I still continue running
> it as a daemon collecting and delivering mail for all users from a
> single instance and rc file?
Yup. That's pretty much how I handle it (well, I use one daemon per
ISP to avoid problems with one delaying polls for the others).
Basically, the only time you need a program running as root is if it
needs to listen on a port below 1024, access certain files or
otherwise bypass all security checks. Fetchmail doesn't do any of
that so it doesn't need to be run as root. And, as I said, the
developer has already said he'll be disabling the ability to run it as
root in the near future as it's a large security risk.
--
Please keep list traffic on the list.
Rob MacGregor
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he
doesn't become a monster. Friedrich Nietzsche
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From: Matthias A. <mat...@gm...> - 2006-11-12 23:39:24
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Stephen Allen <fet...@ro...> writes: > Hello, > > I currently use Fetchmail, because, well... I do - no other reason. > However, > Fetchmail 6.2.5.5 (running as a daemon) randomly stops picking up > messages (with no events in the logfile to indicate why) until I restart > the daemon when everything then works ok again. So, I am considering > Getmail instead. Try fetchmail 6.3.5 or one of the 6.3.6 release candidates. > From a Fetchmail perspective, what the the Pros/Cons of using each? I > don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire! > If you want getmail and SSL or TLS, only ever do this with a very recent getmail version and if your system Python installation is 2.4 or 2.5. Python 2.3 and earlier will hit your CPU very hard with SSL. Note that getmail hasn't got a daemon mode and knows fewer authenticators. > And for ease of administration, I run Fetchmail as root, collecting > email from all users' POP3 accounts, so I only need one fetchmailrc > file. Is this good/bad etc? I wouldn't dare run fetchmail as root. It needs no privileges unless you're using --mda and your MDA isn't fit for setuid. -- Matthias Andree |
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From: Volker K. <hi...@pa...> - 2006-11-18 10:03:09
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> I wouldn't dare run fetchmail as root. It needs no privileges unless > you're using --mda and your MDA isn't fit for setuid. I'm running fetchmail as $USER and use --mda, piping via a short script into procmail for delivery. However, all mail fetched with this method is known to be destined for $USER. The reason for not delivering through localhost:25 is that the latter badly messes up the order of fetched mails. As for getmail, I installed, I tried, I got rid of it again. Too immature, diabolical ssl support. That was however I think 3 years ago. Getmail would have be rather a lot better to get me away from a tried and time-proven fetchmail setup. Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me. |
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From: Michelle K. <lin...@fr...> - 2006-11-19 19:02:57
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Hello,
Am 2006-11-12 23:38:31, schrieb Matthias Andree:
> If you want getmail and SSL or TLS, only ever do this with a very recent
> getmail version and if your system Python installation is 2.4 or 2.5.
> Python 2.3 and earlier will hit your CPU very hard with SSL.
>
> Note that getmail hasn't got a daemon mode and knows fewer authenticators.
And the getmail'ers claim that fetchmail is loosing all the times mails...
Realy weired; - after 7 years of fetchmail usage!
Greetings
Michelle Konzack
Systemadministrator
Tamay Dogan Network
Debian GNU/Linux Consultant
--
Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/
##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant #####################
Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886
50, rue de Soultz MSM LinuxMichi
0033/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)
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From: Matthias A. <mat...@gm...> - 2006-11-22 01:31:13
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Michelle Konzack <lin...@fr...> writes: > And the getmail'ers claim that fetchmail is loosing all the times mails... > Realy weired; - after 7 years of fetchmail usage! Author, Date, Subject, URL? -- Matthias Andree |
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From: Michelle K. <lin...@fr...> - 2006-11-24 18:12:32
Attachments:
signature.pgp
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Am 2006-11-22 01:30:18, schrieb Matthias Andree:
> Michelle Konzack <lin...@fr...> writes:
>
> > And the getmail'ers claim that fetchmail is loosing all the times mails...
> > Realy weired; - after 7 years of fetchmail usage!
>
> Author, Date, Subject, URL?
Since I am on many Lists, there was some stuff on <debian-user> and
<debian-user-german> not only one time. Same for procmail<->maildrop.
But in my experience, fetchmail nor getmail have lost messages and
same for procmail and maildrop since I MUST use all four programs at
my customers.
I have seen ONLY user configuration errors and the programs have done
what was requested.
Greetings
Michelle Konzack
Systemadministrator
Tamay Dogan Network
Debian GNU/Linux Consultant
--
Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/
##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant #####################
Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886
50, rue de Soultz MSM LinuxMichi
0033/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)
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From: Volker K. <hi...@pa...> - 2006-11-22 08:57:42
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> > And the getmail'ers claim that fetchmail is loosing all the times mails... > > Realy weired; - after 7 years of fetchmail usage! > > Author, Date, Subject, URL? Author: Charles Cazabon (yep!) Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:05:47 -0600 Private mail to me, saying that getmail is better than fetchmail because it wouldn't lose mail or cause bogus bounces in its default configuration. He was unable to give specifics though when probed, but liked to rant against fetchmail. Personally I found this the best he said in the email exchange: "You're free not to use getmail." And I don't. :) Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me. |
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From: Matthias A. <mat...@gm...> - 2006-11-23 09:08:58
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Volker Kuhlmann <hi...@pa...> writes:
>> > And the getmail'ers claim that fetchmail is loosing all the times mails...
>> > Realy weired; - after 7 years of fetchmail usage!
>>
>> Author, Date, Subject, URL?
>
> Author: Charles Cazabon (yep!)
> Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:05:47 -0600
> Private mail to me, saying that getmail is better than fetchmail because
> it wouldn't lose mail or cause bogus bounces in its default
> configuration. He was unable to give specifics though when probed, but
> liked to rant against fetchmail. Personally I found this the best he
> said in the email exchange: "You're free not to use getmail." And I
> don't. :)
Thanks. FUD, how very surprising - the usual bullshit spread by DJB
disciples when they are promoting(*) their software: badmouth everything
else. I wish they'd rather give their user fair and unbiased
information so the user can make an informed choice.
OTOH, we've had fetchmail 6.3.X releases since then, which fixed many of
the annoying 6.2.X (and older) bugs.
__________
(*) and the "you're free not to use it" doesn't invalidate neither the
promotion per se nor their compulsion to evangelize...
--
Matthias Andree
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From: Michelle K. <lin...@fr...> - 2006-11-24 18:13:27
Attachments:
signature.pgp
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Am 2006-11-22 20:56:41, schrieb Volker Kuhlmann:
> Author: Charles Cazabon (yep!)
> Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:05:47 -0600
> Private mail to me, saying that getmail is better than fetchmail because
> it wouldn't lose mail or cause bogus bounces in its default
> configuration. He was unable to give specifics though when probed, but
> liked to rant against fetchmail. Personally I found this the best he
> said in the email exchange: "You're free not to use getmail." And I
> don't. :)
As I have already written, loss of messages occur only
on configuration errors.
And I am since years realy happy using fetchmail which
has never leaved me and was/is ALWAYS working perfect.
Greetings
Michelle Konzack
Systemadministrator
Tamay Dogan Network
Debian GNU/Linux Consultant
--
Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/
##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant #####################
Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886
50, rue de Soultz MSM LinuxMichi
0033/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)
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From: Matthias A. <mat...@gm...> - 2006-11-27 10:24:44
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Michelle Konzack <lin...@fr...> writes: > And I am since years realy happy using fetchmail which > has never leaved me and was/is ALWAYS working perfect. For any reasonably distorted definition of "perfect". Perfectly working software is a mirage. (Or it's trivial, which doesn't count -- and BTW, does your helloworld.c check the printf return value or ferror()? Oops, it's not trivial any more...) -- Matthias Andree |
