Re: [msmtp-users] Aliases patch

[<sshumate@...269...>]

A mail aliases file serves to provide a centralized location to manage mail addresses and distribution lists.  It is a pretty fundamental feature for an MTA/MSA.  As an example, I develop Linux embedded systems and many of the daemons I install send e-mail to the local root user by default.  Rather than manage each daemon's configuration file with the administrator's real e-mail address, I can stick the address in the aliases file and easily mange it from one place.  I can also send to a group of administrators which most of the daemons do not support.

Msmtp currently supports aliases via find_alias_for_smtp.sh in the scripts directory.  However, that script uses awk and other external utilities which are not necessarily installed on a lightweight embedded system.  Also, from a security perspective, I much prefer native support than a script.  On my x86_64 development system, msmtp went from 104256 to 107208 bytes with the aliases patch, an increase of 2952 bytes.  The find_alias_for_smtp.sh script is 2337 bytes for comparison plus orders of magnitude more for the external utilities.

Cheers,
Scott

---- Keith Bowes <zooplah@...20...> wrote: 
> Je 2011-Sep-27 je 19:09, sshumate@...269... skribis:
> > Attached is a git patch for your consideration that adds aliases support for 
> > local addresses.  Snippets from the docs are shown below.  Let me know if there 
> > is anything you would like to see added or changed. 
> >  
> I'm not a developer, but my question is:  what useful purpose does it
> have?  It seems like the inclusion into the project needs some
> justification, especially as MSMTP is intended to be lightweight without
> bloat.