[Dovecot] Feature request: usernames and passwords
Leonardo Rodrigues
leolistas at solutti.com.br
Wed Jul 21 17:19:25 EEST 2010
Em 21/07/2010 10:30, Eduardo M KALINOWSKI escreveu:
>
> I think none of this is dovecot's function. Let's keep the UNIX
> filosophy: one tool does one function, and does that function well.
> Dovecot is an execellent mail server. It should not be turned into a
> monster Windows-like application that does dozens of
> not-really-quite-related things.
>
the idea of 'one tool does one function (OTDOF) ' is indeed
interesting, but can be interpreted by several ways.
for instance, dovecot does NOT 'one function only'. It does a REAL
LOT of functions. It's a pop3 server as well as imap4 one, with or
without SSL for both protocols. It can read mailboxes, maildirs and some
others i've never used myself. It can even deliver messages to
mailboxes/maildirs, having the password backend in several different
ways (passwd file, MySQL, LDAP, etc etc). It can check and enforce
quotas. It's not a completly mail server, as you regarded, because it
cannot do the SMTP part, which is pretty important for a mail server to
fully operate. Even tough, it does a LOT of things.
i completly agree that dovecot should not try to have, for example,
a builtin admin interface for managing users ... because managing users
is completly dependable on the password backend used, and schemas can be
VERY different from one user to another. It would be nonsense trying to
have that, a builtin interface for managing user. That i agree would not
fit the 'one tool does one function'. Managing user is not dovecot's
problem as well as checking/enforcing password policies, as discussed
before on this thread.
but, regarding what it already do, delivering messages by
pop3/imap4 protocol for users, i really think adding security features
wouldnt be bad idea. And indeed, as confirmed by Pascal, some of those
are already built in dovecot 2.0 RCs.
the OTDOF is really hard to apply on some full-feature daemons
we're used to have on unix world, for example: dovecot,
postfix/qmail/exim, apache, clamav, etc etc etc. All of them (and lots
of other daemons) does a LOT of things, all of them as a part of the
main daemon goal. It's really hard to stay on the OTDOF on those
full-featured daemons. It's easy to keep the OTDOF idea on basic and
small command-line utilities, like cat cp rm .... but not on the
full-featured modern daemons.
and, in the real world we live, having security features do not
brake the 'one tool does one function' at all on my understandings of
that. In fact, if those security features are there to help the security
of the daemon main goal, whatever the main goal is, they're VERY welcome
to me.
we dont need to carry this on anymore, as seems lots of good things
are already on dovecot 2.0 RCs .... proving that dovecot authors do
think that increasing security is in the main goal of dovecot
development plans.
thanks for all who help dovecot being each day a better software,
those who code things as well as those who test new features on the RCs,
those who make new features requests, those who help others here on the
mailing list .... thanks for all.
--
Atenciosamente / Sincerily,
Leonardo Rodrigues
Solutti Tecnologia
http://www.solutti.com.br
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