Re: Broadband querry

  | Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 18:43:52 +0000
  | From: Philip Reynolds <philip.reynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  | 
  | Rick Moen <rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 51 lines of wisdom included:
  | > Aw, c'mon.  It's dead simple to check without external assistance.
  | > All you have to know is the definition of "mail relay" and a handful
  | > of SMTP commands [ ... ]
  | 
  | Apart from the sneaky tests you mentioned, one other advantage is
  | is something that Niall mentioned in one of his original posts.
  | Some people don't have access to external machines.

 and there's other reasons:  reproducibility is one.
 another is when Rick's prerequisites are not met, but
 the tester is either curious or clewed-in enough to
 know an “open relay‟ in the wild is a bad idea.

 as someone (also Niall?) pointed out a few days ago,
 Rick seems to have this charming but exasperating habit
 of assuming everyone is not only an admin of a 24x7
 cluster of (large?) servers, but also fully conversant
 in whatever gizmo happens to be under discussion.

 both assumptions are obviously nonsense.

 which is NOT to say Rick's advice is nonsense.
 it is not; instead, it is very sound and very good.
 but it does, at times, appear he hasn't quite grokked
 that not everyone's abilities, interests, or needs
 match his expectations.

 apologies, Rick, if that sounds a bit rude, it is not
 meant to be!   but I am just a tiny bit exasperated
 by phrases like “aw, c'com ... you need to know the
 definition of ... and a handful of [ commands ] ...‟.
 why not quantum electrodynamics or astrology(!?)† while
 you are (usefully!) listing various prerequisites?

 in any case, I found the instructions I posted useful
 for checking my own machine --- I have only a vague
 idea of what an “open relay‟ is, and not much better
 knowledge of the SMTP commands.  (enough to confirm
 the tests the site tries seem to be reasonable.)
 and I know what SMTP is, and that “open relay‟ is
 (nowadays) a bad idea for machines in the wild.
 ( and like Niall, I also don't grok why that site
  suggests running its tests as the superuser:  can
  anyone guess why? )

 should I now find an abestese (er, absetues? asbestus?
 however the *£%$^@ it's spelt!) lined jacket to put on?
cheers!
        -blf-

  †  please note, I am not suggesting astrology is
    a science, or a subject for anything other than
    continuous ridicule.  similar to M$ or Windross.

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