[KLUG Members] Re: sendmail version? -- package management

[Adam Williams]

>> How can I find the version of a Linux program, in this case sendmail?
>> In Windows, I could right-click and choose properties, but in RH 7.3
>> that doesn't show it.
>Correct, for various reasons.
>In UNIX, we don't trust binaries.  Trusting binaries for anything is the #1
>problem with trojan horses.  We only trust packages which have
>checksum/signatures for those binaries.  As such, use the package management
>system of your underlying UNIX flavor.
>For RedHat, this is RPM.
>   $ rpm -q sendmail
>[ Query package "sendmail" ]
>If you're unsure of the exact name, try:
>   $ rpm -qa | grep -i sendmail
>[ Query "all" packages, "grep" (search) for any case (-i case independent) of
>string "sendmail" ]

If your a lousy typer you should be able to find this information via an 
application like GnoRPM.

Or you can telnet to port 25...
[root@turnstone php-4.2.3]# telnet kohocton 25
Trying 192.168.1.5...
Connected to kohocton.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 kohocton ESMTP Sendmail 8.12.5/8.12.5; Tue, 7 Jan 2003 14:01:22 -0500

>Package management seems overly convoluted at first, but it is a great tool when
>you learn how to wield it properly.  It's the #1 reason as a longtime NT
>administrator that I _prefer_ UNIX (#2 would be text-based configuration).

Amen!!!  It lets you know when libraries conflict verses just plowing over 
them and leaving you with bizarre (and almost always useless) application 
error messages.

My #2, would be TOOLS!  ldd, strace, fuser....  Diagnosing any kind of 
problem on a Win32 box is a truly desperate situation.  

It'd like to see text file configs go away, and be replaced with XML.  
That way something protects me at least a little bit from fumble 
fingering.