Re: Email

[Tim Currie <tim algernonsystems com>]

Mugleston, Brad wrote:

> I think a better answer to these questions is that you need to run an 
> IMAP server on the machine running fetchmail. That way, your incoming 
> mail ends up in your IMAP inbox, and there it will stay until deleted, 
> regardless of what client you use. I personally run Netscape Mail on my 
> desktop to read my IMAP inbox on my mailserver. When I'm at work (or 
> elsewhere) I use a web browser to access the Squirrelmail webmail 
> client. Since the mail and it's state are kept on the server, whatever 
> changes I make from one location show up when I get to the other. Which 
> is to say that if I read or delete an email through the Squirrelmail 
> client when I'm at work, when I get home the mail shows up (or doesn't, 
> if I deleted it) as read or deleted in Netscape Mail.
>
> -Tim
>
> That sounds like what I'm looking for.  Can IMAP be configured to Deliver
> the mail?  I'd like my kids to keep track of their own emails if possible.
>
> I'll get the IMAP HOWTO read this week and see what I come up with.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brad
>  
um... no. IMAP is a mailbox protocol. Some Mail Transfer Agent  (or, 
MTA: sendmail, postfix, etc.) has to deliver the mail to it. In fact, 
the Cyrus IMAP server (which I use) has a command called "deliver" which 
is called by the MTA to actually put the email in someone's inbox.
 What you apparently need is an IMAP server for yourself and a POP 
server for your kids. Some mailbox server packages (such as Cyrus) do 
both transparently. I'm not sure if RedHat's included tools will do this.
 The main problem with POP is that if your client explodes, all your 
old email is lost. While some POP clients let you leave mail on the 
server, the client is responsible for keeping track of what has been 
seen and what has not, so in the event of a disaster you'd still have 
all your old mail but it would all download to your newly re-installed 
client as "new" mail and you'd have to re-create all your mail folders 
and re-sort it again. This is exactly the problem IMAP was invented to 
address. Since your inbox and all it's subfolders, plus the state of 
your mailbox and all the mail it contains reside on the server, you can 
access your mail from as many different clients as you like, even 
simultaneously, with no confusion or lost mail. If your client crashes 
and destroys itself completely, you can just re-install it, re-connect 
to your IMAP server and, Voila! All you mail is back. sorted just the 
way you had it, the thousands of spams are still deleted, as are all the 
chain-letters from your mother-in-law. :)

-Tim