On 11/17/05, Jason Meers <Jason.Meers@???> wrote:
>
> It would seem that the majority of people are against splitting the
> list. I have no problem with that.
I think it is a much better idea to have a separate list. That way, those
who read the
beginners list know what they are in for and bring more patience when
reading the
list. This is a real issue that should not be dismissed so quickly. I have
seen some
pretty anti-social flames on this mailing list and that drives away users.
I have no strong preferences for how we cater for new users or
> converters just a desire that we do more to help them.
>
> Anything to stop people giving up with Exim completely as I did and
> deciding to install "Exchange Virus Factory 2003" quicker than you can
> say "I agree, next, next, next, finish, reboot"
>
> If we need a backgrounder document about the responsibilities a mail
> administrator needs to understand then lets put one together.
My feeling is that this will be ignored despite the fact that it is
absolutely necessary. Most things
in debian I have an easy time with, exim4 was the exception, largely because
I ignored reading
documentation.
Documentation needs to be integrated more completely somehow.
If we need to be clear about which beginner configs are suitable for
> isolated networks and which are suitable for connection to public
> networks then lets put it together.
This seems wise.
I was interested in the numerous discussions about the level of
> competence required and the concept of "earning your stripes" before
> being let loose on a real MTA.
>
> It sounds like people have an idea in their own head about what should
> be learned before someone is allowed to "fly solo".
I am running exim4 as my mail server and I am learning about mail at the
same time.
I am the kind of person that people on this list are skeptical about. I do
not run an open
relay but I cannot diagnose reject log errors with just the RFCs in front of
me.
Mail is big and hairy, even experienced sysadmins with no mail experience
need to be
more careful.
I dont mind being used as a central point for the collection and
> organisation of code samples, documentation or links people may already
> have that could be used for beginners in pdfs or on the wiki.
>
> I would really like to see an examples directory that could be
> distributed along with exim (or downloaded separately if that suggestion
> is not popular, maybe in time for v4.7x)
This is a good idea. I think even Marc Haber (debian package maintainer)
said that what exim lacks is a good
tutorial with examples. I would help with this if work needs doing, I think
this would really help.
I would be happy to work with Nigel on this if nobody has any objections
> to me "championing" some extra documentation for new users and
> converters (without dumbing down or altering the current exim-users.
Personally I think there really exist two audiences - people with mail
administration experience and
those without. Your unix/linux/other background is unimportant. (Obviously
if you do not know how to use
the shell you are not going to install exim.) That is why I think there
ought to be two lists.
Best regards,
Jeremiah Foster
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