Well, I have searched high and low for a linux distro which you can use right out of the box without much meddling and can be easily configured with a web-based interface, but thus, without much success. I would like a Linux distro which comes with an MTA, Webserver, Webmail, Web-based interface, database, DNS, POP, anti-virus, anti-spam and other authentication tools properly installed with it and if I need to do or edit any changes, I just need to login to a web-based interface and do the changes without the complicated linux commands. Sort of an dedicated Linux Email/Web distro without the headache. Won’t this idea be great? I know there are dedicated Web server distros out there, but it seems that such a dedicated distro for emails are rare. Perhaps it is just not popular enough for it to be made into an standalone distro?

Here are some distros which has the above features.

1. Clarkconnect - Not exactly an standalone email server distro, more like a distro for an Internet gateway and server. It combines routing capabilities(just like your router), NAT, firewall, VPN, Proxy Server, Email, Groupware and Web Server into a powerful package. All you need to do is to install the distro (combined with the actual Operating System) and you do the rest of the configuration through a web-based interface. Even updates and additional software can be applied through this web-based interface. Their email service comes with anti-spam and anti-virus(ClamAV) features.

It has some very interesting anti-spam filtering and checking options available as well. It supports Blacklist/Whitelist filtering, OCR and Spam training (Bayesian).

They have a 10-mailbox community edition (boohooo) and if you are looking for groupware and/or more mailboxes, you will have to pay for it. They have the Office and the Enterprise edition for richer customers.

2. SME Server - From the looks of it, this is the same as Clarkconnect. It acts as a gateway and server application. So this should sit between you and your Internet access. Of course, you can remove the gateway portion of it and make it as your email/web server. Just like Clarkconnect, it provides routing, firewall, proxy, email, web, database, file sharing and DNS services. And yes, everything can be configured through the web-based interface as well.

However, it seems that the number of options and features available for SME Server seemed somewhat limited compared to Clarkconnect. And compared to Clarkconnect’s anti-spam system, this software doesn’t even come close. But then SME server doesn’t cost a single cent and you can have unlimited number of users. And this software being a open source one, you can find a lot of help and technical support from it’s community forums.

I have taken a brief look at these two nice distros. And both are very good software but somehow they are still not as user friendly as those made for Windows. And their features, especially the anti-spam system are also lacking in comparison. I hope one day to find such a Linux distro and it would be a great day for mankind.