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
Minha armadilha de SPAM, NÃO mandem email
gertrudes@solutti.com.br
My SPAMTRAP, do not email it