Hi JF.
I can verify your experience, cause the part described hasn't changed
much since 2002 or 2003.
In those days I was a "corporate" IT department. We moved to a different
building and a different service provider, downsized our physical space,
and lost some more employees.
Our new IP addresses were taken from a block that had been all retail
clients, so that IP range was all blocked.
I experienced almost all those things, by surprise, cause I didn't know
any of that before we moved. The exception was that I didn't have to ask
all the big email providers to whitelist us, cause email security was
less rigorous and parts of it was apparently a new concept.
Alice aka Rob
On 2026-10-03 10:59, Jean-FRancois Messier via linux wrote:
We are also self-hosting our emails at linux-gatineau, under the domain
name linux-gatineau.org. And since this is a list that then broadcasts
messages to all members of the list, our IP and domain names had to be
explicitly put on whitelist form the major email providers such as
gmail.com, outlook.com and others. We are still having issues with
videotron.ca where they are blaming our side of the transmission,
instead of fixing their own spam tables. We ended up asking all
subscribers onour list to use an email address on a different service.
Hosting email server and clients in a lab is easy, but when it comes to
the real world, it is very different.
Also, the blocking on the email services can be based on the domain
name, but more likely on the IP address. And usually, they will not
block a single IP, but rather the /`6 or the /24 IP address block. And
if your IP happens to be from a blocked IP, you need to get your
specific IP to be unblocked by them, and this makes everything more
complex.
JFM
On 2026-10-03 10:44, Eric Brackenbury via linux wrote:
Hi Dianne
Part of the issue, might be old folk like me who have a reasonable
working knowledge of linux.
However sometimes money for hardware and that extra knowledge base is
preventing them for taking the next step.
At the moment I find the 99c solution may well be satisfactory.
BTW, at 81, I seem to be busier than when work took my days.
Regards
Eric Brackenbury
On Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 10:34 a.m. Dianne Skoll via linux
<linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> wrote: I guess not many people self-host their
email any more. :(
I self-host mine. My MX host is a virtual machine hosted at OVH, and
my actual mail storage server (IMAP) is a Raspberry Pi with a couple
of large USB disks attached. It's about 2 metres from where I'm
sitting.
Advantages of self-hosting:
- Essentially unlimited storage
- No ads
- I'd know for sure if a government agency got a court order to look
at my mail server. :)
- Mail hosted in Canada
Disadvantages:
- You need a strategy to deal with spam
- Deliverability can be tricky
- You need your own domain name
- Realistically, you need a hosted server to act as your MX host
For me, the advantages are worth it. I have archives of all my mail
since
1991. :)
Regards,
Dianne.
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