Multiple SMTP Accounts from the Console

Update: I got this working, but I’m leaving the original post. For the solution, go here.

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Scenario: I really love working from the console. As I continue preparing my Inspiron 4100 for long-term use, I now have CentOS 5.3 installed, and this will not change. Whatever I do with this thing will have to run in the distro. I have the console pretty well setup, but there is one thing I just can’t do easily from there. I can’t operate my various multiple email accounts using a single console mail application.

Don’t suggest IMAP, because I’ve tried it and it won’t work for my purposes. Don’t suggest Mutt, because the configuration is a hobby all by itself, about as user-friendly as a torture chamber. I really prefer Alpine, but that’s simply not going to work at all. I can get mail pulled in easily enough with Fetchmail, but Alpine won’t keep it all separate without a lot of futzing about with creating extra mail folders and lots of extra keystrokes to get there. So while it could be done, it’s a pain.

I did try Cone, because it will pop mail from multiple accounts on differing servers. However, the developers have disdained the notion of allowing matching multiple SMTP servers in the config. When asked, they are dismissive, unable to imagine what use it would be. I suppose what they mean is it should be handled by the MTA.

Fine, I am aware the popular ones can do it, with varying degrees of difficulty in configuration. Sendmail represents the most obscure and difficult to configure. Postfix I’ve used a great deal, but not with multiple relayhosts all needing SSL. I’ve never used Courier, Exim, or any of the others. The trick is, can I convince the various services which employ blocklisting to let me use a mail server from my dynamic IP space?

AT&T is a bear, according to most who managed to get it working. What info I have seems not quite current, so I may be fighting quite awhile on that one. Gmail and GMX, as I understand, will work fine with the likes of Postfix, but my own main account with Universal Networks (Tim Butler) may be about as hard as AT&T. He uses a blocklist, and it has blocked my attempts in the past. I’ve read several HOWTOs and guides, but none exactly fits what I would be doing in this case.

Should I have time to fool with it and find an actual solution, I’ll be posting that here.