[nos-bbs] smtp switch & configuration

[maiko at pcs.mb.ca]

Greetings,

> With smtp not started I should get no error message ?

SMTP in NOS is split into two components. A client and a server. The
particular message you saw about unknown address is the client trying
to resolve the hostname of the destination of your *email*. The client
can still put stuff on the spool/mqueue, regardless of whether smtp
services are running or not.

> Why doesn't jnos ignore the queued mail ?

If no smtp server is running, that mail queue can get quite full.

> It is great to see it processed into the "spool/mqueue/" because that
> step should be enabled by "start ax25".

No. 'start ax25' has nothing to do with that. The 'start ax25' enables
the BBS to be reachable through a AX25 (packet) connection. If you do
not start ax25, then anyone trying to connect to your system USING AX25
will never see a BBS prompt, or a CONVERSE prompt - just a blank.

> My concern with jnos might be that in having smtp configured at
> compile time the default smtp status becomes "started". I have not
> found a way to determine if that is true...

Trust me. It's not true. SMTP by default is off.

> need to add a "stop smtp" into autoexec.nos as a workaround?

Nope.

> My focus on the strange behavior of jnos may be a bit anal...

It may be strange to newcomers, totally normal to the long time
users, and even absolutely confusing to the rest of us :-)

Maiko