From owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Sep 6 01:39:35 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8FB5416A4CE for ; Mon, 6 Sep 2004 01:39:35 +0000 (GMT) Received: from ns1.tiadon.com (SMTP.tiadon.com [69.27.132.161]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2B1E843D2D for ; Mon, 6 Sep 2004 01:39:35 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from kdk@daleco.biz) Received: from [69.27.131.0] ([69.27.131.0]) by ns1.tiadon.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.0); Sun, 5 Sep 2004 20:36:23 -0500 Message-ID: <413BBFD3.6090204@daleco.biz> Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 20:39:31 -0500 From: "Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P." User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040712 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Jim References: <20040905231221.HSQI16651.fed1rmmtao09.cox.net@jgugerty> In-Reply-To: <20040905231221.HSQI16651.fed1rmmtao09.cox.net@jgugerty> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 06 Sep 2004 01:36:24.0139 (UTC) FILETIME=[EB6B51B0:01C493B1] cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Administering a web and mailing list server at home... X-BeenThere: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Gathering place for new users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:39:35 -0000 Jim wrote: >Hi - > >I would like to host a website at home that has information for the local >motorcycling community. I would also like to offer a mailing list server for >groups to use for informing subscribers of upcoming rides and events. List >members could also share experiences and help each other with advice. > >I have installed FreeBSD 4.10 Stable on an extra machine I have and have >been using the FreeBSD Handbook as well as a couple of other books - >Absolute BSD and FreeBSD Unleashed - to learn how to administer such a >system. > >It is pretty daunting. I like doing things myself, and I like to learn. It >seems to me I would lose a lot of control and have software tool choice >limitations placed upon me that would make my experiences less satisfying if >I were to remotely administer my site on a commercial server. > >I have learned a lot so far, but I think I need to get some help in >selecting the tools that are required to accomplish my goals. It seems the >best (only) choice is Apache for my web server. Also, Python would be my >choice for a scripting language. From what I've read so far, Postfix seems >to be the MTA I should use and my mailing list server should be Mailman. Do >I need a database? > > Do you have data that could be more easily used with one than without? >Any thoughts, comments, experiences, insights, and/or suggestions would >greatly be appreciated. > >Thanks in advance! > > It it a tad daunting; but probably you can do it --- you have "learned a lot so far" ... any reason it might stop? I might proffer the opinion that in contrast to the statement "seems to me I would lose a lot of control and have software tool choice limitations..." that it might very well be the opposite case. As administrator of the server, *you* choose what software will be installed, not someone else. Unless you are talking about proprietary software, it's out there; many hosting services use freely available "Open Source" code for almost every purpose there is. There are "Open Source" functional equivalents for so many things.... My $0.02, Kevin Kinsey