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Tom, Loki, et al.

It looks like the thread that I started about my problem sending email
with elm and mutt has been timed-out.

I regret that horrendous demands at my job and family obligations
prevented me from pursuing this question more aggressively.

However, forsaking my beloved command-line interface, I found it was a
simple matter to configure KMail for sending and receiving. I think I
will let the matter rest there for now (until I have become better
grounded in Linux fundamentals).

However, our conversation was not wasted. It was a big help in
clarifying some important issues for conceptually.

For example: Running Linux (Fifth Edition) says on p.151: "You will
be asked whether you want to use SMTP or talk to a Sendmail
installation directly. In almost all cases, if you have an MTA
installed locally, you will want to select SMTP." I did select SMTP,
and that works. However, I don't know what the "MTA installed
locally" is on my machine. I assume that the MTA in question is some
program (other than sendmail, which starts up at boot time) that can
communicate with the SMTP server at RCN (my ISP). Can anyone explain
this to me?

Thanks Again & Best Regards,
Vwaju
New York City

On 2008-02-09, Vwaju <lou@manhattanhandyman.com> wrote:
> Tom, Loki, et al.
>
> It looks like the thread that I started about my problem sending email
> with elm and mutt has been timed-out.
>
> I regret that horrendous demands at my job and family obligations
> prevented me from pursuing this question more aggressively.
>
> However, forsaking my beloved command-line interface, I found it was a
> simple matter to configure KMail for sending and receiving. I think I
> will let the matter rest there for now (until I have become better
> grounded in Linux fundamentals).
>
> However, our conversation was not wasted. It was a big help in
> clarifying some important issues for conceptually.
>
> For example: Running Linux (Fifth Edition) says on p.151: "You will
> be asked whether you want to use SMTP or talk to a Sendmail
> installation directly. In almost all cases, if you have an MTA
> installed locally, you will want to select SMTP." I did select SMTP,
> and that works. However, I don't know what the "MTA installed
> locally" is on my machine. I assume that the MTA in question is some
> program (other than sendmail, which starts up at boot time) that can
> communicate with the SMTP server at RCN (my ISP). Can anyone explain
> this to me?

Your local MTA _is_ sendmail. MTA = Mail Transer Agent = mail server =
SMTP server.

Yes, it can communicate with the mail server at your ISP because that's
what mail server's do: communicate with other mail servers and send
and receive mail and deliver it (usually to a POP/IMAP server).

But their delivery is generally kind of crude, so Linux/Unix
has a number of MDA (Mail Delivery Agents) that refine the
process. (A POP/IMAP server has this functionality builtin, I
think). Procmail is an MDA. It takes mail from either an MTA or
a mail-retrieving and forwarding utility like fetchmail. which
fetches mail from a POP/IMAP server, and delivers it to wherever
you want it to go, filtering it in the process, if you want.

You can use sendmail to send mail to your ISPs MTA. Kmail has
it's own, simplified, send-only, SMTP server built in.

A lot of us use similarly simplified. send-only MTAs that are
independent of the MUA (Mail User Agent/mail client). Like esmtp
and msmtp.

Have a good one,

Tom

--
calhobbit (at)
gmail [DOT] com

On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:11:27 -0800, Vwaju wrote:

> I assume that the MTA in question is some program (other than sendmail,
> which starts up at boot time) that can communicate with the SMTP server
> at RCN (my ISP).

No MTA starts up unless you configure one to do so, Vwaju. For a PC that
connects directly to a router or modem (rather than being part of a LAN
that connects through one PC or other network device), don't even bother
with an MTA.

--
Chick Tower

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