From classic cars to classic rock, the idea of something original and note-worthy is inspiring. However, sometimes classics evolve into something greater, working out whatever kinks and problems that couldn't be solved the first time around, changing with the times in order to satisfy the consumer's demands. To open source gurus and network admins everywhere, sendmail is one such classic, as is the definitive book that has accompanied it since 1993.
Now with O'Reilly's fourth edition of sendmail ($59.99), versions 8.10 through 8.14 of this email routing program are covered, along with dozens of new features, options, and macros. This edition also takes a more nuts-and-bolts approach than its predecessors. It includes both an administration handbook and a reference guide that provide you with clear options for installing, configuring, and managing sendmail's latest versions and companion programs.
The sendmail program has withstood the test of time because of its ability to solve the mail-routing needs of all sites large or small, complex or simple. But it's also difficult to configure and even more difficult to understand. That's why this book has proven valuable since the dawn of email. With it, you will be able to configure the program to meet any need, so that you never again have to call in a sendmail guru to bail you out.
sendmail includes the following sections:
- "Some Basics" is especially useful for people new to the program. It covers the basic concepts underlying mail delivery and the roles sendmail plays in that delivery.
- "Administration" covers all aspects of handling sendmail, from downloading and installing new releases to managing mailing lists and aliases.
- "Configuration Reference" contains a heavily cross-referenced guide for configuring and tuning sendmail. Every arcane detail is listed alphabetically.
- "Appendices" contain more information about sendmail than you may ever need.
This edition also includes new material on SSL and AUTH and a new chapter on Mitlers. If you're interested in what has changed since the last edition, one appendix categorizes the many improvements of sendmail's intervening versions by chapter, complete with references to the appropriate sections and page numbers in the book.
With sendmail, system administrators, programmers, network engineers, and even inexperienced users will be able to match this challenging but necessary utility to the needs of their network.
Bryan Costales lives and writes in San Francisco, California. He has been active in system administration and software development for more than 20 years and has been writing articles and books about computer software for more than 25 years. His most notable books are C from A to Z (Prentice Hall), Unix Communications (Howard Sams), and sendmail (O’Reilly). In addition to technical books, he also writes fiction and hosts a free multimedia web site.
George Jansen is a freelance writer who has worked with Bryan Costales on several of Bryan’s books. His first novel, The Jesse James Scrapbook, is published by Hilliard & Harris. His second, The Fade-away, is published by Pocol Press. He lives in the Bay Area, drives a brand new Toyota Yaris, and enjoys baseball, classic jazz, and taking long naps.
Claus Aßmann is a member of the Sendmail Consortium and works for Sendmail, Inc. He is the maintainer of sendmail 8 and currently implements a new MTA (message transfer agent) named MeTA1. His main interests in computer technology are security and performance. He studied computer science at the University of Kiel in Germany, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992.
Gregory Shapiro began his professional career as a systems administrator for Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) after graduating from the university in 1992. During his tenure as Senior Unix Systems Administrator, he became involved with beta testing the BIND name server, the sendmail mail transfer agent, and other Unix utilities such as emacs and screen. His involvement with sendmail grew until he became Principal Engineer at Sendmail, Inc., where he continued to support the open source version while working on Sendmail’s commercial products. He later moved into the IT team as the Senior Unix Network Systems Administrator. He is now Director, Strategic Technology at Sendmail, Inc. He is also a FreeBSD committer and has served as program committee member for BSDCon 2002 and program chair for BSDCon 2003. Greg lives in California and enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy books, traveling, and seeing movies and theater productions.
More information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bio, and samples
sendmail, 4th Edition
Bryan Costales, George Jansen, Claus Aßmann, and Gregory Shapiro
ISBN: 0-596-51029-2, $59.99 US
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
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