OpenBSD Email Service
Infrastructure
email hosting
SHOW HN2018
215points
136comments
#161of 2,155 in 2018
Top 8%of 2018 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
6 positive, 23 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 16 critical, out of 45 comments about the project. Thread score -0.22.
Execution: 2 for, 6 againstPrivacy: 2 for, 4 againstIdea: 1 for, 3 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Self-hosted email can be low-maintenance once set up
From 2 comments
By way of a counter-anecdote: I've been running my own email for 8 years and spend almost no time on it. I can't recall having to do any maintenance at all in the last 3 years.
jstanley on HNYeah, I do the same - I plugged in Postfix, Dovecot and SpamAssassin and haven't had to touch it other than occasionally confirming backup scripts and automatic security updates…
rightos on HN
Objections
Self-hosted email needs ongoing maintenance and breaks at bad times
From 2 comments
Long time self-hosted email user, then long time Gmail user. Playing with your own server is fun, and I really enjoyed it. But things do go wrong, and they go wrong at the least…
mseebach on HNSame. It’s like I’m a small company. Single server with no active maintenance? Sounds great and why would we ever spend more on it? It works great! ... for a while. Once that…
chrismeller on HN
Major providers like Gmail and Microsoft block or spam small self-hosted mail servers
From 2 comments
Step 4: wonder why the hell people aren't replying to your mails. Step 5: realize you've been blackholed by gmail and hotmail with no bounces and no explanation. Step 6:…
Tharkun on HNI wish that were the case. I've been administering mail servers going back over 20 years and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The last 4 years or so, things have gotten a lot…
Tharkun on HN
Spam fighting is a constant chore
From 1 comment
It's fun until it becomes a chore. And until you realize you're always one step behind people trying to break through with spam or attacks.
deusex_ on HN
OpenBSD is behind on security
From 1 comment
I wouldn't entrust my email to an operating system that lacks mandatory access control. OpenBSD is a fascinating project, but it is _decades_ behind the state of the art in…
hapless on HN
Requests
Guidance on cheap VPS hosting and clean IP addresses
From 3 comments
LowEndTalk.com will help you find a super cheap VPS. However I would advise using dedicated hardware for the server instead for improved privacy. There are two possible routes:…
Tepix on HNThe hardest part to me is to get an IP address that's clean so your outgoing emails won't be marked as junks. Also, then you'll have to get help from ISP to update PTR records…
a012 on HNI've always wanted to host my own mail but every time I look it up they always recommend like 2GB of ram. I've thought about whether one in D / Rust would be easier to host, but…
giancarlostoro on HN
Questions
How to avoid spam folder placement at Gmail
From 2 comments
Does you email get marked as SPAM by gmail? I do something similar, but when I send an email to a person for the first time, it always ends up in the spam folder by GMail.
sfilargi on HNI have DKIM, SPF, etc. but still gets caught by spam. What do you mean by "trusted host"?
sfilargi on HN
How to handle automatic system updates
From 1 comment
Do you have the system updates on auto? How do you handle all of that?
michaelbuckbee on HN
Alternatives named
mail-in-a-box
From 2 comments
There is also mail-in-a-box: https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
webaholic on HNSame here. I have owned my domain and ran my email server for six years now. Investing a week worth of afternoons harls really paid off and i can do neat things like having…
znpy on HN
Fastmail
From 2 comments
Same. It’s like I’m a small company. Single server with no active maintenance? Sounds great and why would we ever spend more on it? It works great! ... for a while. Once that…
chrismeller on HNI think every FastMail proponent is single, as they are always touting how you get the same thing as running your own email server for $5/mo. But for people with a family it is…
eikenberry on HN
mailcow
From 1 comment
Used to manage it all manually, set up https://mailcow.email/ after a server move a couple years ago. It's been great, running inside docker now via docker-compose alongside…
thunfischbrot on HN
sovereign
From 1 comment
If you don't want to do everything by hand, check out https://github.com/sovereign/sovereign/
Tepix on HN