On Mon, 30 Aug 2004, Florian Effenberger wrote:
> > Uh, dude ... that is the *whole point* of IMAPv4 - to keep the messages
> > on the server.
Or on the client, or both, or on multiple clients (modulo replication to
clients only happens as they poll).
> 1.) A server can have connectivity problems or hard disk crash. Then you
> mail archive ist lost. Bad thing.
See point above
> 2.) A server containing for your eyes only messages may get hacked. Even
> worse thing.
See point above.
Qpopper is a useful tool for pop3 function, but pop3 function is fairly
limited, even if still essential in a lot of environments. Once you get
past that feature set it's time to look at using IMAP.
Pop3 falls over badly in particular on multiple clients accessing the
same mailbox. Having one client "leave mail on server" just doesn't
scale well and invariably you end up handling support calls from users
who've lost stuff.
If you must run a mixed POP3/IMAP environemt then Qpopper is the wrong
tool for the job. While screws can be driven home using a hammer, you
get better results using a screwdriver, and you wouldn't use a
carpenter's plane to bang in nails.
This is not a reflection on Qpopper. It is an excellent tool for the job
it's intended for - but would people _please_ use existing appropriate
solutions for problems(*) instead of trying to make Qpopper do things
it's really not designed for?
(*) For mixed IMAP/POP3 environments, courier-imap/pop3 is a good
choice, there are others. MMDF (and cousins) format mailbox is
inappropriate for long-term storage in any case due to risk of
complete mailbox loss if there are any errors.
