On Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 05:48:25PM +0800, Kevin Shell wrote: > On Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 11:29:54AM +0200, Andrei POPESCU wrote: > > On Ma, 16 feb 21, 16:37:20, Kevin Shell wrote: > > > Hello Debian Users. > > > > > > Why Debian does't have a switchable MTA mechanism > > > to allow install multiple MTAs at the same time? > > > > Why do you need this? > > > > For convenience when one evaluating or learning > between multiple MTAs etc.
This has been a curious "cultural" experience for me, right now. As someone deeply immersed in Debian culture (I feel *well* in there, mind you), my first reaction was also "what for?", exactly as the other replies in this thread went. On the other hand, why not? It is true that it isn't "typical Debian". Debian is deeply rooted in the tradition of the multi-user operating system: one sysadmin (which can be a role, or a group of people, but is tightly coordinated and acts "as one"), and many users, to whom you want to grant as much freedom as possible, without giving them the means to compromise the whole system. Think university environments in the US, some time after last century's mid-eighties. Therefore, you'll find apretty advanced alternatives system for client-y stuff in Debian (editor, MUA, what not) but not for server-y stuff. The funny thing is how this perspective can structure an environment to the point that those whithin don't even "see" it anymore. This was my "aha" thing, and I thank you all (esp. Kevin, for setting the initial question). Kevin: Technically, this wouldn't be a difficult thing to do. It's basically packaging, and making sure the different MTAs don't kill each other over resources (port 25, this kind of thing). Actually, where it's needed, it is done: for example, the PostgreSQL package allows parallel installations of several server /versions/. Why? Well, in the case of a database, the data are much more valuable than the software (sometimes more so than the hardware). Not allowing to gently upgrade the server version while keeping the data might lead your users to come to your home at night and kidnap your cat...) You could have a look at the PostgreSQL packages for some inspiration. Cheers - t
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