[Mageia-dev] [RFC] msec (nail) can't send reports to local users accounts - require an MTA?

[andre999]

Balcaen John a écrit :
> Le lundi 17 octobre 2011 16:39:14 nicolas vigier a écrit :
> [...]
>    
>> I think that :
>>   - changing the default configuration in an update is wrong. If it's
>>     better that msec do not send emails by default, I think this change
>>     should be done in cauldron only, maybe with some note about this change
>>     in the release notes for Mageia 2.
>>      
> Agree.
>    

A question : wouldn't changing the default in _both_ cauldron and an 
update to mga1 be acceptable ?
Since I really think that sending messages silently to dead.letter, 
gradually filling up the disk is a bug.  (When I first discovered the 
problem on my system a few years ago, dead.letter used about 1G of disk 
space.)
That is what happens with the default setting, if an MTA is not installed.
At the default settings with an MTA installed, the root mailbox 
gradually fills up the disk, if it is not emptied.  And a less informed 
user is unlikely to realise this.

So it seems to me that as a minimum, the default should be changed to 
_not_ send alert emails.  Since the status is visible on the main msec 
screen, informed users should have no problem appropriately adjusting 
the setting.

To deal with the potential problem of users who use the email alert 
feature having it deactivated by the update, we only need a warning in 
the update, as often occurs for other packages.
Something like "If you use the msec alert emails, please verify that the 
alerts are still active."  Note that if the user has ever explicitly set 
alerts, they would be still active.
This potential problem would exist even if the next update for the user 
is mga2.
However, if the update is on mga2 (from changes in cauldron), wouldn't 
the change in defaults be less visible ?

>>   - adding a require or suggest on dma is wrong, especially in an update
>> Installing dma with the update will silently replace /usr/sbin/sendmail
>> to use dma instead of the previously installed mta, potentially breaking
>> email for all programs using the sendmail command.
>>      
> Hum, if i'm not wrong dma has the lower priority  (5) in the alternatives for
> sendmail-command so it should not replace the default mta :
> postfix has 30 , sendmail has 10.
>
>    
According to documentation, dma is only active if no other MTA is installed.
(I don't know if the priority is what causes this.)
So at worst dma would be a (very small) harmless extra install, at best 
it would ensure the ability for local delivery.
[...]
> Regards,
>    

Regards :)

-- 
André