Hi,

"R A Montante, Ph.D. via Dng" <dng@???> writes:

> Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2025 13:17:17 +0200
> From: Alessandro Vesely <vesely@???>
> To: dng@???
> Subject: [DNG] Default mail system, was debuan server crippled?
> Message-ID: <084671bf-a0a4-4eb3-bd78-666b837176a5@???>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>

>     [ skipped content]

>
> I find it incomprehensible that it is the default MTA for Debian.
> And as a result, for Devuan.
>
> Maybe because some programs need something like sendmail for logging.
> Cron, for example (is cron run by desktops?).

The original issue was not with the need for an MTA, but with exim being
Debian's default. For the upcoming release of trixie, see

https://packages.debian.org/trixie/default-mta

For a list of mail-transport-agent providing packages:

https://packages.debian.org/trixie/mail-transport-agent

> My laptop installs all seem to get cron and anacron by default. I use
> crontab for a couple of minor conveniences.

Having anacron installed on a machine that is not running 24/7 is a good
idea. If it is running 24/7, cron will do.

The anacron package Recommends: cron | cron-daemon and cron Recommends:
default-mta | mail-transport-agent. I have dma (Dragonfly Mail Agent)
installed on most of my machines and that works fine for me. No need
for exim.

I run a mostly default setup of postfix on a server I maintain. That
also works fine (as far as cron is concerned).

Hope this helps,
--
Olaf Meeuwissen