Best mail server?

[Michael Kennedy]

I'm curious on what everyone thinks is the best mail server out there (pop3, smtp, imap- whatever).  I use my laptop at a few different locations, so being able to access the smtp server without turning it into an open relay is a must.

I've messed with sendmail and postfix on the smtp side and didn't like the fact that the authentication didn't seem to be tightly coupled with the rest of the program.

Right now I'm looking at XMail (www.xmailserver.org) and so far I like it since it seems to have authentication as one of it's main focuses.

So, what does everyone else use and why did you choose it?  I've only been talking about Linux solutions, but anyone with a Windows-based answer is welcome to respond.

[R. Andrew Lamonica]

I have been thinking about this problem myself.   I am looking for a good way to use my SIUE Email account without broadcasting my e-mail address (and password) clear text over a cable modem.  The only solution I have found so far is to create SSH Tunnels for POP and SMTP and point Outlook at the local end of the tunnel.  This works well because the data is all encrypted, but it means that I have to have an SSH session going before I press Send/Receive in Outlook.  Outlook does say it has a SSL option, but I think that needs a server who is ready to receive SSL connections and mail.siue.edu is not setup.  It would be great if we could somehow setup one of the CS servers to act as a go-between for this system, because that is essentially what I am doing with the SSH Tunnels only easier for the end user.

Andrew

[William Grim]

Qmail is an extremely fast and reliable email server.  To boot, it also only has one configuration file!  Now, I mean, there are a few other files, but overall qmail is simple, ESPECIALLY when compared to sendmail or postfix (those two email applications are ridiculously huge and need to be burned off the Internet).

Also, all email server software to date has options for adding SSL capabilities, with Qmail being no exception.

What's even better is that qmail is so popular with ISPs and things like that, that several modules have been written for it to add different types of authentication, LDAP, sendmail-alias abilities, .forward recognition, and a whole array of other things.

People may think sendmail is huge and used the most and has the most 3rd party add-on modules, and they're right, except for the 3rd party modules part.  Take a look around the internet and you'll find many more modules for qmail than you will for sendmail.

I'd definately take a look at it here.