Email Email

My current project is to bring up email and web serving on my newly operational server. Currently, I have an email server running there. It just doesn't get email from point A to point B. So, I have been learning SMTP and POP3 protocols as I try to debug why it seems that I can get email to the server, but not from there anywhere else.

That sounds somewhat tame, and probably is. But it hasn't been without its share of tribulations. Yesterday at lunch, I asked someone who runs some email and web hosting servers what I should get that won't cost too much. He suggested one product. I downloaded it. It needed Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1.4. I found version 2 (beta) on the MSFT web site. I went to install it, and it requires MSFT installer. I went to install that, and it requires IE 6 to download. I did that, and it is a monster. So, after downloading and installing IE 6, I downloaded and installed Windows Installer. And then .NET Framework 2. Then, I tried to install this server software again. Whoops, .NET Framework 2 wasn't acceptable. Uninstalled that (on a 125 mhz machine), then downloaded and installed .NET Framework 1.1. This time, when I tried to install the server package, I was successful. Then, I ran it. It is not an email server, as I know them, but rather a list manager, essentially converting distribution lists to separate emails. Instead of sending out one email with a bunch of CCs and BCCs, it sends out multiple emails, one to a recipient. In short, a total waste of my time.