Bug 19790
| Summary: | Cannot rebuild sendmail.cf without installing full source dist | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product: | Base System | Reporter: | brett <brett> |
| Component: | bin | Assignee: | Gregory Neil Shapiro <gshapiro> |
| Status: | Closed FIXED | ||
| Severity: | Affects Only Me | ||
| Priority: | Normal | ||
| Version: | Unspecified | ||
| Hardware: | Any | ||
| OS: | Any | ||
|
Description
brett
2000-07-09 02:40:01 UTC
State Changed From-To: open->closed The following is taken from the FreeBSD FAQ: ( http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/admin.html#UUCPMAIL ) If you didn't install your system with full sources, the sendmail config stuff has been broken out into a separate source distribution tarball just for you. Assuming you've got your CD-ROM mounted, do: # cd /cdrom/src # cat scontrib.?? | tar xzf - -C /usr/src contrib/sendmail This is a followup to my earlier PR #19790. Sheldon H. closed the PR and replied: >The following is taken from the FreeBSD FAQ: > > ( http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/admin.html#UUCPMAIL ) > > If you didn't install your system with full sources, the sendmail > config stuff has been broken out into a separate source distribution > tarball just for you. Assuming you've got your CD-ROM mounted, do: > > # cd /cdrom/src > # cat scontrib.?? | tar xzf - -C /usr/src contrib/sendmail While it is a worthy cause to support the development of FreeBSD by buying CD-ROMs, ownership of a disc should not be a requirement if one wants to reconfigure the system. Nor should devoting megabytes to a full source install. The majority of FreeBSD users install via the Internet, and many use snapshots (for which CD-ROMs are not available). Therefore, the above answer is not helpful in the majority of cases. Comments on the mailing lists support the notion that it is desirable to make the files required to rebuild sendmail.cf (at least freebsd.mc and the files necessary to process it, if not all of the examples) part of the base distribution because they are so fundamental to configuring the system for proper operation. The fact that sendmail.cf resides in /etc/mail (not /usr/local/etc/mail), and sendmail itself resides in /usr/sbin (not /usr/local/sbin) also suggests that sendmail is properly part of the base system. The ability to reconfigure Sendmail to reject spam, use smrsh and/or Procmail, etc. does not correlate well with the need for complete source code and therefore should not require full sources to have been installed. Nor should it require ownership of a (possibly nonexistent) CD-ROM! Please reconsider making the necessary files (at least freebsd.mc and the files required to process it) part of the base installation to save system administrators from unpleasant and time-consuming surprises. --Brett Glass By the way, it's also worth noting that the information at http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/admin.html#UUCPMAIL is inaccurate. FreeBSD's default .mc file is currently stored at /usr/src/etc/sendmail/freebsd.mc (see the top of the default sendmail.cf). This directory (and therefore the default .mc file) are not in the tarball. So, obtaining and exploding the tarball is not sufficient to let the user copy the default .mc file, edit the copy, and then rebuild and install from the same place. Currently, the path of least resistance is to install the full source distribution, but this is very wasteful if the machine does not need full source. --Brett Glass State Changed From-To: closed->open I've been contacted regarding the issue and agree that this is an important change request. The cf information should be put in an easily accessible location such as /usr/share/sendmail/. Given the support questions we receive @sendmail.org, it's definitely an issue. Responsible Changed From-To: freebsd-bugs->gshapiro Give to sendmail maintainer State Changed From-To: open->closed The sendmail cf directory is now copied to /usr/share/sendmail/cf/. |
