[comp.unix.xenix] The definitive explanation of Smail under Xenix

chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) (06/06/90)

According to lance@embassy.UUCP (Lance N. Antrim):
>This must be a recurring question, so if there is a reference to send me
>to, then please do.  I want to install smail 2.5 on my Xenix 386 system.

Yup, it's recurring, all right.  :-)

Smail 2.5 can be installed on a Xenix/386 system using patches from
myself or from Chip Rosenthal.  (There are theories as to why the only
patches should come from people named Chip -- but I digress.)

Xenix systems should have Smail installed as /usr/bin/rmail and
/usr/bin/smail.  The original Xenix rmail program is no longer needed,
and should be renamed [or removed :-)].

The Xenix user interface to E-Mail is the /usr/bin/mail program.  It
calls /usr/lib/mail/execmail to deliver mail.  Chip R's patches and
mine both require that execmail be renamed to execmail.x during
installation.  Chip R's patches permit Smail to directly replace
execmail.  My patches, in contrast, include a tiny program that
replaces execmail; it just parses the argument list and runs Smail.
In either case, Smail is configured to use execmail.x to deliver mail.

(Note that /usr/bin/mail will attempt to deliver local mail on its own
unless told otherwise.  You can tell it otherwise -- i.e. force it to
run execmail for each delivery -- by adding the line "set execmail" to
the file /usr/lib/mail/mailrc.)

I have recently completed a new set of patches for Smail 2.5 under
Xenix.  These patches provide everything the older patches did.  They
also provide support for using Deliver for delivery of local and
remote mail, even if you use (shudder) Micnet.  These patches thus
bypass the old Xenix execmail program, putting the entire mail system
under your control.

My new Smail 2.5 patches for Xenix and/or Deliver 2.0 are in the
comp.sources.unix queue, and should be appearing soon.  If you can't
wait, send me E-Mail; I'll see that you get a copy.
-- 
Chip, the new t.b answer man      <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!ateng!tct!chip>