> If you just want a reliable mail service, just use https://fastmail.com. If you want even more freedom and configurations, do try to set up a mail server. But it is hard. A bit hard.
I used to run my own mail server, but I eventually migrated to Fastmail. I liked then because their software stack was similar enough to mine (compatible filter rules) and I knew where to find their admin on IRC.
The reason I made the switch is because I was sick and tired of my Email reliability depending on the reliability of my home Internet connection, and my co-lo/remote-hosting situation (at the time) had different reliability issues I didn't want to risk.
You switch to a third party mail provider for the same reason you buy a new car instead of driving around your classic you've been fixing up as a daily driver. Not because you don't like it, but because sometimes there's benefit in offloading the annoying bits of your hobby so you can focus on the interesting bits.
Fixing up an old car is fun. Doing it in chunks of a few hours so you can drive it work the next day is less fun.
Running your own mail server is a fun challenge at first, as you have to figure out why some random site won't talk to your server, or why your load spikes at random times. Then you decide that diagnosing other people's broken configs and dealing with drive by spammers is annoying and boring.
I used to run my own mail server, but I eventually migrated to Fastmail. I liked then because their software stack was similar enough to mine (compatible filter rules) and I knew where to find their admin on IRC.
The reason I made the switch is because I was sick and tired of my Email reliability depending on the reliability of my home Internet connection, and my co-lo/remote-hosting situation (at the time) had different reliability issues I didn't want to risk.