email server

[madircgod]

hello all here i am again :P
this time im trying to get an email server running before i go and register a new domain name right now im at www.herbnet.ath.cx:8001 irc network HERBNET.ath.cx 6667 but i have tried to install 5 different email servers one of which is a windows install ewwwww winblows
i want to know what you think on which one i should use i now have squirrelmail installed but i cant get to a creat an acount page and configuring it is not at all an easy task as i can not find a configure screen either all i get is this login screen
http://www.new.herbnet.ath.cx:8001/A.../src/login.php
i can not even log in as administration yet havent figured that out yet but i was trying to get a email server up to go along with my irc network and web site Can U Help :drown:
i have postfix, squirrelmail, mailman, and sendmail sofar im trying to get working

[kkubasik]

Im going to try to clear this up in a simple fashion, but mailservers are not simple in general.

• 1) Squirrelmail is not a mailserver it is a web based mail client
  
  2) A mail server really is just an MTA, or Mail Transfer Agent (ie sendmail, postfix, qmail etc)
  
  3) This MTA will deliver mail to a local accout. ie if you have a user qub333 on a machine named linuxforums.org then the mail address is qub333@linuxforums.org (no LFDO does not pass out e-mail addresses)
  
  4) Once the mail is delivered to the local user, it is generaly stored in either mbox or maildir format
  
  5) Assuming that you want remote access to this mail (yes) then either an IMAP or POP3 server is installed. Those servers listen on assigned ports and when the correct series of commands is recieved (ie from a client such a thunderbird) they read the users maildir and transmit that mail via the specified protocol.

basicaly, install postfix/sendmail/qmail then add something like courier-imap.. sending will involve just activating certain features in your MTA