At 11:17 2002-06-13 -0400, Robert Adkins did say:
[big snip - no need to quote the whole previous message verbatim]
I am also considering staying away from Procmail as the help
provided
from this list is most often in the form above; cryptic commands listed
with no explanation as to why and how they do the things that they do.
What kind of help and assistance is that?
Uh, this list IS NOT a replacement for the manpages - read the provided
documentation first - even before posting a "how do I" question. This list
is a _supplement_ to them -- users assisting other users by providing
scripting assistance or advanced scripting not covered in the manpages.
Enough of that though, I will be getting into reading over the man
pages, *rc files and other pieces of Procmail soon, hopefully it will all
begin to make some sense.
Check out the procdiag script in my .sig, as well as the "sandbox"
implementation. The diag script is useful for uncovering some basic system
config issues some new users encounter, and the sandbox allows you to
easily test filters manually without impacting your live mail (yes - you
can put procmail on your server and tinker with it without interfering with
your regular mail processing).
Something to keep in mind: as with any powerful tool, if misused, or used
by someone unfamiliar with it, it can cause a lot of grief very fast. You
should be sure of the operation of filters BEFORE you put them into use
(thus, sandbox testing), and implementing a new filter at 4:59 pm before
heading out for the weekend isn't a bright idea - not generally for a pro,
but certainly not for a newbie. You'll hate yourself on Monday when you
return to find thousands of emails were bounced or discarded, or
incorrectly autoreplied to, and for some reason procmail will take the
blame, even though it was merely doing what you told it to.
---
Sean B. Straw / Professional Software Engineering
Procmail disclaimer: <http://www.professional.org/procmail/disclaimer.html>
Please DO NOT carbon me on list replies. I'll get my copy from the list.
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