[wplug] Mail server question - not dumb ;-p

[James O'Kane]

On 19 Jun 2003, John Strange wrote:

> I'm not sure if the mail() function in php does a socket, or just dumps
> the file out to the local mail queue, but I would assume socket so that
> it doesn't care what SMTP it is long as it's RFC happy.

More likely it does neither. Dumping the file out to the local mail queue 
wouldn't work because there is no guarenteed place the queue should be, or 
even what format files in the queue are.

Connecting to a socket makes php responsible for internally queueing the 
mail if that server is unavailable for whatever reason. In essense 
becoming a MTA (Mail Transport Agent).

What PHP actually does is call a commandline program and passes the data 
on to that. Often that commandline program is /usr/sbin/sendmail or 
similar. I'm fairly sure that the popular sendmail replacements offer a 
sendmail like tool for compatibility reasons. 
(It's nice being first to market.)


-james