Support

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Although qmail includes excellent documentation, and users have published many helper documents, there are times when you just need to ask an expert. There are two main channels for support: Internet mailing lists and hired consultants.

Mailing Lists

A mailing list is just a list of e-mail addresses accessible through a single address. Some lists are open (anyone can post to them), some are closed (only members can post), and some are moderated (the list owner must approve all postings).

To join a mailing list, one usually sends a request by e-mail to a special subscription address. Some lists require the message to contain a specially formatted subscribe command. It's considered good etiquette to join a list before posting to it, even if it's open. It's also a good idea to wait a few days before posting to become familiar with how the list works.

Mailing lists are potentially valuable resources, but they're not perfect. Unless the list is moderated, anyone can reply to a question-whether they know what they're talking about or not. You might get advice from the world's foremost authority on the topic or someone who has no idea what they're talking about. It's critical to evaluate all free advice carefully before taking action.

The following lists reside on the host list.cr.yp.to and are managed by the ezmlm list manager, which uses different addresses to perform different functions:

  • <listname@list.cr.yp.to>: The submission address. Messages sent here go out to all members of the list. Do not send subscribe/unsubscribe requests here: They won't work, and you'll annoy the subscribers.

  • <listname-help@list.cr.yp.to>: The help address. Returns a list of command addresses and general usage information.

  • <listname-subscribe@list.cr.yp.to>: Send a blank message here to subscribe.

  • <listname-unsubscribe@list.cr.yp.to>: Send a blank message here to unsubscribe.

To specify the address to be added or removed-for example, rachel@example.com-send a message to:

 listname-subscribe-rachel=example.com@list.cr.yp.to 

For more mailing lists hosted at cr.yp.to, see the complete listing (http://cr.yp.to/lists.html).

qmail@list.cr.yp.to

This is the main qmail mailing list. It's open and unmoderated, so discussion and questions/answers on everything related to qmail (except related packages with their own lists) are appropriate. Read the FAQ and search the list archives before posting a question. When you ask questions, try to include sufficient details to make it possible for people to respond. Doing this will improve the likelihood of receiving a useful, timely response.

Try also to include sufficient information to answer the following questions:

  • What did you do? What's your configuration? Include unedited qmail-showctl output if you're not sure what's important. What actions did you take? Be specific: Show the commands you ran and include copies of your startup scripts. Don't just say what you did, show what you did.

  • What did you expect to happen? What was the outcome you were trying to achieve? Don't assume that the other subscribers can guess.

  • What did happen? Describe the actual results. Include log file clippings and copies of messages with headers. Don't just say, "It didn't work."

qmailannounce@list.cr.yp.to

This is the qmail announcement mailing list. New releases are announced here. Only Bernstein posts to it, so there's no submission address. Messages from this list are rare.

serialmail@list.cr.yp.to

This list is for discussion of the serialmail package. It's open and unmoderated, so the same tips that apply for the qmail list work here, too.

ezmlm@list.cr.yp.to

This list is for discussion of the ezmlm mailing-list manager. It's open and unmoderated, so the same tips that apply for the qmail list work here, too. Archives are available online (http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=ezmlm&r=1&w=2).

Hired Consultants

Although mailing lists can be great resources, they're somewhat limited. Because they're free, nobody is obligated to respond promptly-or even at all. And there are limits to what unpaid helpers will do.

If your mail system is down and you need it back now, you want to implement a new feature, or you want someone to configure a system to your specifications and you don't have the expertise to do it in-house, hiring a qmail expert is the way to go. Because qmail is free and doesn't include a warranty, a support contract is also a good way to satisfy management requirements for a responsible commercial third party.

See the qmail site (http://www.qmail.org/top.html#paidsup) for a list of commercial support providers.



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The Qmail Handbook
The qmail Handbook
ISBN: 1893115402
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 186
Authors: Dave Sill

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