[Techtalk] imap server

[Devdas Bhagat]

On 25/03/04 23:27 +1100, Kathryn Andersen wrote:
<snip>
> So that's why I've never come across an ISP that uses it -- they don't
> want to give you the space for that.
Quite a few ISPs offer IMAP. No one offers it for free.

> > You can log in from anywhere, and 
> > *all* your mail will be there, not just new mail.  All your mail will also be 
> > shown with the same folder setup and structure, regardless of the email 
> > client you use.
> >
> > You can also set up server-side delivery rules, so that your mail is 
> > pre-sorted before you even log in to look at it.  The best bit about this is
> > that it is email client independant.  I can change email client, and all my 
> > sorting rules continue to work.
> 
> But what's the difference between that and simply logging in to your
> machine, where all your saved mail has "the same filder setup and
> structure, regardles of the email client you use".  I mean, this account
The fact that you can access it using any client is important. If
nothing else is available, you can use webmail to check that mail.

> here is my mailing list account, and I have maildrop (I used to use
> procmail, but recently changed over to maildrop -- it's so much
> simpler!) which pre-sorts all the different lists into different
> mailboxes, which I then look at -- what's the difference?
The whole point of IMAP is to be able to access your mailboxes from
anywhere, and possibly from more than one location at once.
<snip>  
> But I don't use filtering rules in the email *client*, so that's no
> advantage.  Wouldn't it be more of a disadvantage, since one would be
> limited to mail clients that understand IMAP, and surely that is a
> subset of the range of email clients around.
Most good clients support IMAP.
<snip>  
> Again, I don't understand the advantage of using IMAP versus simply
> logging in to one's system, if one had an always-on system at home
> (which I don't, but I'd like to some day).
I do. I shell in and use mutt. However, if I am travelling around, and
getting a PC with a ssh client might be an issue, I turn on IMAP.

Devdas Bhagat