Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: 5 chapters and 124pages of introduction to DNS, SMTP, and assorted blah. The author does an ok job of walking through the Postfix internals - 30+ pages just on postfix lookup tables. The book really disappointed in describing Postfix server operations. In fact, there appear to be a few errors. Following the book verbatim led to a BROKEN postfix server. Fortunately, Google knows all.
Rating: 
Summary: don't wast your time or money
Review: After reading the reviews I thought I'd give this book a try. I had an immediate need to set up a postfix email server with virtual hosts that would check their email via POP3. I've learned nothing from this book that I couldn't have gotten from the online documentation and it is an insult to any Linux administrator. I'm still at the same point I was before getting this book. Same issues, no insights into how to fix it. It doesn't even cover setting up POP3 access for virtual hosts.If you think this book will give you an easier read than the online documentaion, don't bother. I had the online documentation open and it follows it so closely that it seems the author was simply paraphrasing the documentation. The only areas that it goes into more detail are irrelevent issues, like setting up ISDN (isn't that out of the scope of this book?) and how to run strace! Again, don't bother. I want my money back!
Rating: 
Summary: Good general introduction and reference
Review: Although frequently panned, I think this book is a decent introduction for people new to administering unix email in general, and Postfix in particular. The sections on Postfix are good, but could use more depth. There are lots of examples. Although I more often turn to the web for reference, this book is still used frequently.
Rating:
Summary: Do *not* buy this!
Review: Horrible book
Spends 50% explaining how to install Redhat and skips almost every dificult feature postfix has. Instead it spends pages on how to build Courier IMAP or BIND from tar. A much better O'Reilly book is due to come out soon. Do Not waste your money on this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Resource for Postfix and SMTP in General
Review: I don't understand the negative review stating that book is 50 percent installing RedHat. I couldn't even find RedHat in the index. There are about twenty pages that address Unix and Linux. I needed to set up a mailserver and have very little experience in this area. This book gave me the information I needed, in plain English, to get up and running for my particular application. Additionally there is a great deal of information on other aspects of running a mail server. There is also information on setting up Postfix with webmail programs, using it with MySql, ldap, imap, pop3, and much more. What helped me the most were the details on how all this stuff works. The book did not assume I was a Linux guru (as many books do) but was not condescending, either. This book has chapters that might seem too basic for the professional IT that simply wants specific information on Postfix. But for the rest of us, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A very good introduction to Postfix
Review: I have to strongly agree with a review that said this book is a decent introduction for people new to administering unix email servers in general and Postfix in particular. I recently had to set up a mail server and this book handled almost all of my needs. Sure, there is some very "basic" information that can be skipped, but what is basic for one person might represent a critical knowledge gap in another. This book, and an occasional peek at the example configuration files or online references will allow you to set up and effectively administer a Postfix server.
Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as expected
Review: I picked up a copy of this local book, hoping that it would be up to the same level as a title from New Riders or O'Reilly & Associates. Unfortunately, the book is rather heavily padded with instructions on compiling the software and several other applications vaguely related to Postfix. There's also a very heavy bia towards Linux, and specifically Red Hat. If the book had stuck to the focus of Postfix itself, and gone into extreme detail about topics like spam control, performance tuning, and virtual domains, it would have been a much better use of my 50 bucks.
It does a fairly good job of covering the basics of configuration, but it's nothing particularly different from what's provided in the HOWTOs and other configuration docs at the Postfix website.
Rating:
Summary: Good book as introduction to an excellent program...
Review: If you can't (or won't) run sendmail for whatever reason, then the alternative I would suggest is postfix. I believe that postfix still has some weaknesses relative to sendmail (and sendmail has recently strengthened its position with regards to certain issues), but it is still an excellent program. Moreover, postfix is written by reknowned security/secure programming expert Wietse Venema, and he has gone to great lengths to prove that you can write programs that are both secure by default and designed to perform well, including under extreme load. I've been proud of my involvement with postfix since 1997-1998 (back when it was still called VMailer), and the features that I have helped convince Wietse to implement. Unlike some program authors, Wietse has very little ego invested in his programs, and because of his naturally conservative method of programming, just about anything from him that he calls "beta" is probably better than so-called "production quality" code from most anyone else. This book is a decent introduction to an excellent program, but unfortunately it is the only game in town at the moment. I'd like to see another book written on the subject, if only so that we could have a bit of competition.
Rating:
Summary: Good book as introduction to an excellent program...
Review: If you can't (or won't) run sendmail for whatever reason, then the alternative I would suggest is postfix. I believe that postfix still has some weaknesses relative to sendmail (and sendmail has recently strengthened its position with regards to certain issues), but it is still an excellent program. Moreover, postfix is written by reknowned security/secure programming expert Wietse Venema, and he has gone to great lengths to prove that you can write programs that are both secure by default and designed to perform well, including under extreme load. I've been proud of my involvement with postfix since 1997-1998 (back when it was still called VMailer), and the features that I have helped convince Wietse to implement. Unlike some program authors, Wietse has very little ego invested in his programs, and because of his naturally conservative method of programming, just about anything from him that he calls "beta" is probably better than so-called "production quality" code from most anyone else. This book is a decent introduction to an excellent program, but unfortunately it is the only game in town at the moment. I'd like to see another book written on the subject, if only so that we could have a bit of competition.
Rating:
Summary: Not Recommened; Too broad and general
Review: Kind of regret getting this book. I was hoping to see more of Postfix then described in this book. Like for example what's "empty_address_recipient" do and what parameter can it take and so on. Or how to work content_filter with other filter scripts so I can implement any spam and virus filter and so on. It doesnt even talk about it! The book only gave an introductory broadview, but that's about it. It's probably ok if that's all you need.
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