From 95af363214dd03019ce765d01b2b08cc8f8a4146 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mix Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:53:22 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] roadmap: own-mta-builds, an analysis of patched Postfix and OpenDKIM builds The owner asked on 2026-10-15 whether our own builds would lift limits we work around; recorded as a candidate for analysis with the starting points: the limits met so far, for, against, and the middle ways to compare. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 --- docs/roadmap.md | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+) diff --git a/docs/roadmap.md b/docs/roadmap.md index 183afba..cecfb63 100644 --- a/docs/roadmap.md +++ b/docs/roadmap.md @@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ in `git log` and [CHANGELOG.md](../CHANGELOG.md). | notification-mail-recheck | The Notification mail records on Server › Settings can be checked again from where they are shown | agreed (2026-10-15) | — | — | | settings-save-row | Server › Settings: the Save button no longer stands alone under a long right column | agreed (2026-10-15) | — | — | | dns-record-collapse | A DNS record that is right is shown folded: its name and its tag, the values on request | agreed (2026-10-15) | — | — | +| own-mta-builds | Analysis: build Postfix and OpenDKIM ourselves, patched, instead of Debian's packages | candidate (analysis, 2026-10-15) | — | — | | phone-desktop-mode | A phone browser in "desktop site" mode gets the phone navigation | agreed (2026-10-13: after stages 1 and 2 of audit-2026-10-12) | — | — | | from-header-binding | Hold a message's `From:` header against the application that sends it | shipped `2.4.0` | 9/9 | [plans/from-header-binding.md](plans/from-header-binding.md) | | panel-redesign | Panel redesign (accepted mockups, design contract) | shipped `2.0.0` | 27/27 | [plans/panel-redesign.md](plans/panel-redesign.md) | @@ -740,6 +741,36 @@ the check is and how long a result is kept. Design change, mockup first; decide together with [dns-record-collapse](#dns-record-collapse) (a record that turns right on the re-check folds). +## own-mta-builds + +**Question (owner, 2026-10-15):** is it worth patching Postfix and OpenDKIM +and shipping our own builds of them, to optimise something in SelfPost or to +lift a limit we work around? Weigh it, for and against; nothing is agreed +beyond the analysis. + +**For the analysis** (starting points, none of them weighed yet): + +- *Limits met so far* - OpenDKIM logs through syslog(3) only, hence the + syslog relay (audit 2026-10-12, L30); the panel reads Postfix's state from + `mail.log` lines and `postconf`/`postqueue` output; the sender check reads + From: the way OpenDKIM does rather than asking it; the image is held to + what Debian bookworm packages (Postfix 3.7.11, OpenDKIM 2.11.0~beta2, a + beta that upstream has not followed with a release). +- *For own builds* - such limits lifted at the source; newer upstream + versions than the distribution's; options compiled in or out. +- *Against* - security fixes become ours to follow and rebuild (Debian's + security team does it now); longer and less reproducible image builds; a + patch set to carry across upstream versions by one maintainer; the docs' + habit of citing upstream source by version would have to cite ours. +- *Middle ways to compare* - an unpatched upstream build only where the + distribution's version is the limit; a patch sent upstream instead of + carried; replacing OpenDKIM with signing in the panel's own milter (Go), + which the panel already runs for the sender check. + +**Outcome expected:** a recommendation with costs - which limits a build of +our own would remove, what each costs to keep, and whether a middle way +gets the same for less. + ## settings-save-row **Problem (owner, 2026-10-15, a screenshot of `selfpost.mixfed.ru`):** on