Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
On 2019-06-30 01:23, Frank Watt wrote: So does that mean I don't have to be concerned about lock settings when it's only a single user system? No. A single-user system still has multiple processes. You need file locking to use mbox.
Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
On 2019-06-30 17:23, Frank Watt wrote: > Well, yes, I'm more than a bit confused. I've been using procmail but > I've been persuaded that dropmail is to be preferred. Now it makes > sense that it is not fetchmail my question is about. [...] > So does that mean I don't have to be concerned about lock settings > when it's only a single user system? You need to find out what the program is which in fact modifies your mailbox to append new emails. Is it procmail, dropmail or what? This information could be in the config file for fetchmail or getmail, depending on which of the latter pair you use. Or, these could be set up to push messages over SMTP (or LMTP), and then you have to look at the config for whatever is on the other side or the protocol - maybe a MTA like sendmail, maybe something like dovecot. Sorry - I didn't invent all this complexity :-P -- Please don't Cc: me privately on mailing lists and Usenet, if you also post the followup to the list or newsgroup. To reply privately _only_ on Usenet and on broken lists which rewrite From, fetch the TXT record for no-use.mooo.com.
Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
Thanks for that clarification. On 30/06/19 10:48 AM, Kurt Hackenberg wrote: On 2019-06-28 23:24, Frank Watt wrote: I'm looking at the getmail documentation... BTW, Is "mbox" the standard abbreviation of Mboxrd or is it something else? Mbox is not a single file format; it's a family of related formats, all partially incompatible. The original form, and many variants, damage messages slightly. Most of the major variants were attempts to reduce or eliminate the damage to messages. Mboxrd is one of those variants. It was invented by Rahul Dhesi, about 1995, about 20 years after mbox was invented. Mutt automatically reads most variants of mbox. With file locking, getmail and Mutt should be able to use mbox together.
Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
On 29/06/19 4:22 PM, Ian Zimmerman wrote: On 2019-06-29 15:24, Frank Watt wrote: My question is: how do I know what type of file locking that has been in use all these years of using fetchmail? AFAIK the default mode for fetchmail is not to touch the mailbox file itself at all, but either deliver the message via SMTP to port 25 on localhost, or pipe it to a MDA such as procmail. So your question may be a bit confused and you should have asked about _procmail_, not fetchmail. Well, yes, I'm more than a bit confused. I've been using procmail but I've been persuaded that dropmail is to be preferred. Now it makes sense that it is not fetchmail my question is about. I happen to know that procmail tries to lock the file in _all_ the ways available on the system, for instance on Linux with a dotlock temporary file, with flock, and with fcntl. This is a bit overkill but it means procmail is safe to use as long as the other program accessing the mailbox uses any locking at all. So does that mean I don't have to be concerned about lock settings when it's only a single user system?
Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
On 2019-06-28 23:24, Frank Watt wrote: I'm looking at the getmail documentation... BTW, Is "mbox" the standard abbreviation of Mboxrd or is it something else? Mbox is not a single file format; it's a family of related formats, all partially incompatible. The original form, and many variants, damage messages slightly. Most of the major variants were attempts to reduce or eliminate the damage to messages. Mboxrd is one of those variants. It was invented by Rahul Dhesi, about 1995, about 20 years after mbox was invented. Mutt automatically reads most variants of mbox. With file locking, getmail and Mutt should be able to use mbox together.
Re: File locking of mboxrd-format mbox file
On 2019-06-29 15:24, Frank Watt wrote: > My question is: how do I know what type of file locking that has been > in use all these years of using fetchmail? AFAIK the default mode for fetchmail is not to touch the mailbox file itself at all, but either deliver the message via SMTP to port 25 on localhost, or pipe it to a MDA such as procmail. So your question may be a bit confused and you should have asked about _procmail_, not fetchmail. I happen to know that procmail tries to lock the file in _all_ the ways available on the system, for instance on Linux with a dotlock temporary file, with flock, and with fcntl. This is a bit overkill but it means procmail is safe to use as long as the other program accessing the mailbox uses any locking at all. -- Please don't Cc: me privately on mailing lists and Usenet, if you also post the followup to the list or newsgroup. To reply privately _only_ on Usenet and on broken lists which rewrite From, fetch the TXT record for no-use.mooo.com.
