Re: [SA] MagicSpam

[Adam Katz <an...@khopis.com>]

Aaron Wolfe wrote:
>> Even given a server that has these things, I'm surprised they 
>> have invented technology that can analyze a postfix install to 
>> the degree needed for correct installation of their product with 
>> no more than a single click.  With tech like that, I can't 
>> believe they haven't taken the world by storm.  Maybe they're 
>> still working on single click world domination technology.

richard@buzzhost.co.uk wrote:
> I have to totally agree. Postfix is *so* configurable that a single
>  point & click installer is just nonsense. I don't think Postfix 
> 'installation' as it is could be any easier than Debian: apt-get 
> install postfix. That's the easy bit. It's the configuration that 
> takes the skill.

I disagree.

This depends on the product's nature.  I believe MailChannels Traffic
Control does exactly that.  The "one-click" would be an RPM/DEB
package (or an actual GUI installer like BitRock) for Windows-style
sysadmins who need a GUI while other sysadmins would be able to
install with rpm or dpkg (or an included install binary/script) with a
single command.  All Traffic Control does is sit in front of the mail
server and act as a discriminating proxy.

Having not read any of MagicSpam's documentation, I can only assume
that their product acts somewhat similarly, directly intercepting
incoming mail as if it were the server, then doing some kind of
hand-off to the real mail server.  For 90+% of the users out there, no
configuration options would be needed, and for a good number of the
rest, a few menus could handle the bits that can't be resolved themselves.

Traffic Control's selective tarpits are enough to stop almost all
incoming spam, and the rest can be handled by a filter-based program
like SpamAssassin.  MagicSpam might do something similar.
Milter-greylist (which is outgrowing its name -- it now supports SPF,
DKIM, SpamAssassin, ...) currently has tarpitting in development.

> Fair play to Linuxmagic if they can offer the support - which is 
> what corporates want. Selling cobbled together open source is 
> nothing new.

Of course, the key to any of this is good support.  I suspect
MagicSpam uses their own ("patented") technology too, but that really
has nothing to do with this since it's quite clear that a supported
F/OSS spam-fighting bundle is itself quite profitable.

-- 
Adam Katz
khopesh on irc://irc.freenode.net/#spamassassin
http://khopesh.com/Anti-spam