GNU sauce 0.8.1 review

GNU Sauce is an anti-spam server

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 81K Developer: Ian Jackson

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GNU Sauce is an anti-spam server. SAUCE (Software Against Unsolicited Commercial Email) is an SMTP server that sits between the Internet and your actual mail software. It was originally written to help in the fight against spam, but it also helps encourage good configuration and administration in general.

SAUCE has various tactics for DETECTING incoming spam:


Extremely aggressive checks on incoming email and its sources. If any problems are discovered the mail is not accepted.
Spambait addresses: when mail is sent to a bait address its sources are blacklisted.
Mail from previously-unknown sources is delayed to give them a chance to try a bait address or get their account cancelled.

Pros:

SAUCE is very sucessful. It can cut spam by an order of magnitude.
Administrators using SAUCE have to deal with much less bounced mail.
SAUCE never bounces legitimate mail from correct, non-spamming sites.

Cons:

Most spam sources are misconfigured, but many other sites are too, and SAUCE will bounce their mail. SAUCE is not for you if clueless strangers often send you mail that's important to you.
SAUCE delays mail from new senders and sites (configurable, though).
SAUCE is something of a resource hog.
SAUCE is hard to install, especially if you're not using Debian.
SAUCE is controversial, because it deliberately rejects mail for technical deficiencies which wouldn't make it undeliverable.

SAUCE is not a users' mailer. It must be installed on a mail hub by the system administrator. It needs existing SMTP software, which must have standard anti-spam features such as relay prevention, checking recipients during the SMTP conversation, etc. Currently you must be using Exim, though support for other mailers could be added.