4 ms·

HN often talks about running your own email server like it's this wonderful example of a decentralized service that anybody can take part in. That's kind of tr

HN often talks about running your own email server like it's this wonderful example of a decentralized service that anybody can take part in. That's kind of true, but there's this whole other aspect that gets ignored. Email is not this wonderful, democratic system of equals. Email is more like a school playground where a handful of enormous bullies control everything. You either learn to work with them, cater to their demands, or you'll never be able to visit large sections of the playground. Gmail is relatively easy to appease, mostly just configuring your nameservers and email headers to Google's standards, then slowly building "reputation". Hotmail will block an entire domain (IP?) randomly every few years, then you fill out one of their infamous forms and pray they unblock you quickly. Yahoo (technically Verizon now) is even more difficult to work with, they block you out of nowhere and I've never figured out how to appeal. Seems like they do some kind of ratelimiting for smaller email servers, I don't know if it's some kind of punishment or just by default. Then there's the dozen other major email providers. Some easy to work with, others not so much.

trulyme 5y ago
> Gmail is relatively easy to appease, mostly just configuring your nameservers and email headers to Google's standards,... Do you mean SPF, DKIM and DMARC or something else? I will check the records again, just in case, but afaik they are perfect and Gmail still often classifies my mail as spam. It is annoying as hell (and your comparison to playground bullies is very apt).
- calibas 5y ago
  SPF, DKIM and DMARC, but there's other factors as well. Gmail will usually tell you exactly why something was flagged spam. If you go to "Show Original" SPF, DKIM and DMARC should all show "PASS" if everything is configured correctly.
  - trulyme 5y ago
    Interesting, didn't know that as I don't use gmail myself. Thank you!
  - sarkron 5y ago
    Hmm, not always. I've just setup my own mail server, I PASS SPF, DMARC and DKIM according to Gmail headers and yet my email is still classified as spam, as determined by "Gmail magic". I believe this is because the domain is relatively new and Gmail treats you as guilty until you prove your innocence (ie. Enough people mark my emails as not spam)
    - smartbit 5y ago
      Try adding an IPv6 address. Got the tip here on HN.

trulyme 5y ago

> Gmail is relatively easy to appease, mostly just configuring your nameservers and email headers to Google's standards,... Do you mean SPF, DKIM and DMARC or something else? I will check the records again, just in case, but afaik they are perfect and Gmail still often classifies my mail as spam. It is annoying as hell (and your comparison to playground bullies is very apt).

calibas 5y ago
SPF, DKIM and DMARC, but there's other factors as well. Gmail will usually tell you exactly why something was flagged spam. If you go to "Show Original" SPF, DKIM and DMARC should all show "PASS" if everything is configured correctly.
- trulyme 5y ago
  Interesting, didn't know that as I don't use gmail myself. Thank you!
- sarkron 5y ago
  Hmm, not always. I've just setup my own mail server, I PASS SPF, DMARC and DKIM according to Gmail headers and yet my email is still classified as spam, as determined by "Gmail magic". I believe this is because the domain is relatively new and Gmail treats you as guilty until you prove your innocence (ie. Enough people mark my emails as not spam)
  - smartbit 5y ago
    Try adding an IPv6 address. Got the tip here on HN.