Administering a web and mailing list server at home...

[Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P.]

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