Vincent Schonau writes:
> On Fri, Mar 23, 2001 at 11:01:51AM -0500, Russell Nelson wrote:
> > Gopi Sundaram writes:
>
> >> I'm reluctant to move to Maildir until we can get more MUAs to support
> >> them (specifically Pine and Netscape).
>
> > Wrong idea. Never expose your mailboxes to your users. Always use a
> > virtual mailbox system -- either pop3 or imap.
>
> Why?
Because if your application programs can see your mailboxes, then
you're stuck supporting those mailboxes. As a general rule, you
*always* want to hide objects behind an API. Whether those objects
are hardware Ethernet controllers hidden behind a packet driver, or a
mailbox hidden behind POP3, or a network connection hidden behind
tcpserver, you never want to expose any more details about anything
than you have to.
--
-russ nelson will be speaking at http://www.osdn.com/conferences/brie/
Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | Watch out! He's got an
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | opinion, and he's not
Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | afraid to share it!
