Equipped for businesses of all sizes: How mailbox.org grows with LinuxNews

When a one-man operation suddenly becomes a team, the digital infrastructure needs rethinking too. This was the experience of mailbox.org customer LinuxNews when tech expert Stefan joined founder Ferdinand. The portal's privately configured email solution quickly revealed itself as both an organisational bottleneck and a security risk. What followed was a complete overhaul of their email organisation, which Stefan now describes with a wink as a "perfect match" with mailbox.org.

Email chaos: When nobody responds

Email service provider mailbox.org already offered the perfect technical foundation for LinuxNews, but it soon became apparent that the chosen private plan couldn't meet the team's new requirements: the editorial team's central info@ address was merely linked as an alias to founder Ferdinand's private mailbox.

"We preach IT security, but weren't following our own advice," Stefan self-critically describes the situation. During holidays or when the founder was ill, enquiries would remain unanswered for weeks, leading to repeated follow-ups. Their external image suffered considerably, even attracting public criticism.

The password disaster

Even more problematic was the security risk: Ferdinand's private mailbox password had to be stored on the server to ensure the website's contact form functioned properly. "If the server had been compromised during this time, an attacker could have read his private emails," Stefan explains, highlighting the serious security vulnerability in their previous setup.

The breaking point came when Ferdinand changed his private password – and promptly caused the website's contact form to fail. "Technology is Stefan's responsibility; who would think that changing a password would break the contact form..." Stefan describes the unfortunate situation.

Proven quality: mailbox.org remains the best solution

When searching for a solution, the team evaluated other providers too, but none impressed them as much as mailbox.org. The reason was simple: both had been using and appreciating the German email provider privately for a long time and saw no better alternative for business purposes. mailbox.org fulfilled all their basic requirements, including Germany as a server location, the highest standards of data protection and privacy, and reliable delivery of automated messages from the contact form.

Beyond technical requirements, compatibility with the portal's values was paramount. For a portal reporting on IT security, there was no question of compromising on data protection standards. "The biggest advantages have always been mailbox.org's data protection and reputation in the community," Stefan emphasises.

The challenge, therefore, was more about how they could optimally use the valued service for their editorial requirements.

Business instead of private: The upgrade

Switching to mailbox.org's business tariff was the logical consequence and went smoothly. Since both team members were already familiar with the service, there were no hurdles: "Thanks to the intuitive setup, it wasn't a notable challenge," reports Stefan. A particular advantage: since they had already set the MX records in the Domain Name System (DNS) to mailbox.org, the transition remained invisible to users – there was virtually no downtime.

Teamwork instead of solo struggle

The new solution with business mailboxes brought immediately noticeable improvements. The contact form has been working reliably and without security risks ever since. Through shared mailbox access, the team is now reachable even during absences, which significantly simplifies holiday cover. The team also benefits from improved email delivery – even to critical recipients such as Microsoft customers.

When values and technology harmonise

Today, the email system for LinuxNews is no longer an issue – in the best possible way. "It works so well that I don't even think about email anymore," Stefan says happily. And LinuxNews and mailbox.org also align in their values: "At our core, we're fighting for the same cause: secure communication, open source, and data protection. On Tinder, they'd call this a 'perfect match'," Stefan humorously summarises the partnership.

The satisfaction is so great that Stefan actively recommends the service. "The business offering has impressed me so much that I've provided it to a former employer and deliberately used an unsupported configuration. Support was granted even for this. I'm also already planning to delight my next employer with mailbox.org."

About LinuxNews

LinuxNews is an independent portal that provides daily current information from the world of open source, free software, data protection, and IT security. With this thematic focus, LinuxNews has established itself as a trusted voice in the community since its founding in 2017 and enjoys high standing in the Linux community, including data protection officers and IT security experts. The team consists of founder Ferdinand and Stefan, who is responsible for technology and administrative matters.

To support the independent news portal in their work for free software and open source, mailbox.org has been sponsoring LinuxNews since 2023 with a free business account. This has no impact on the portal's coverage of mailbox.org.