[Users] Access to messages

[Steve Litt]

On Fri, 2 Nov 2012 17:24:45 -0400, john Culleton said:
> On Fri, 2 Nov 2012 16:49:57 -0400
> Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:

> > Hi John,
> > 
> > My only other suggestion would be to do what I do and run Dovecot
> > IMAP server locally. This actually has a lot of advantages besides
> > being able to refresh your connection. Let me explain...
> > 
> > 2001-2011 I used Kmail, storing my email in Kmail's maildirs and
> > mboxes. As you know, in 2011 Kmail became Kmail2, with so many
> > ponderous and useless moving parts that I had to stop using it, and
> > it was VERY, VERY hard to get my emails out of Kmail. It was almost
> > impossible to convert my email out of Kmail because it had two
> > different storage methods. Additionally, my choices of replacements
> > for Kmail were dependent on the email client's storage methods.
> > Whata PITA!
> > 
> > My LUG friends suggested that from now on I store all my email (and
> > we're talking about tens of thousands of messages) on a local IMAP
> > server on my desktop. Then I could use any IMAP enabled email
> > client, secure in the knowledge that my emails were contained in a
> > maildir format (what Dovecot uses) independent of my email client's
> > capabilities. Additional benefit was that in Kmail I could create
> > parallel mailboxes on my IMAP server, and copy all my email to the
> > IMAP server, and then use any email client to hit that same email.
> > Another benefit is now, when I have a problem that might be Claws
> > related or might be IMAP related, I can use Thunderbird as a
> > diagnostic tool to peer into my IMAP server without using Claws.
> > And of course, when I go on the road, I no longer neeed to copy
> > my old messages to my laptop, nor sync the laptop to the desktop
> > when I get back. I just ssh tunnel into my IMAP server through a
> > pinhole in my firewall and get my email. 
> > 
> > Perhaps the greatest benefit, though, is NEVER AGAIN would my email
> > client hold my past emails hostage. I know, I know, Claws is
> > wonderful and why would I ever want to switch? Well, back in 2001 I
> > was saying that about Kmail too -- things change.
> > 
> > By the way, my desktop grabs my emails via fetchmail, and defines my
> > MTA as procmail, which knows exactly how to deliver mail to a
> > maildir, like the one used by Dovecot. So my filters are now
> > in /home/slitt/.procmailrc, a text file much easier to back up and
> > change than the filtering mechanism in an email client.
> > 
> > I'm really pleased because now my email client is exactly what it
> > should be -- a front end, not a storage mechanism. With
> > my .procmailrc based filters, I can switch email clients at a
> > moment's notice, and I like it that way.
> > 
> > HTH,
> > 
> > SteveT
> > 
> > Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
> >                           *  http://twitter.com/stevelitt
> > Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance
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> > Users at lists.claws-mail.org
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> 
> 
> Very interesting!!
> 
> With your setup, when you fire up Claws Mail, are your various
> folders displayed as usual? 

Yes. Pretty much just like they were displayed in Kmail.

> I have about 30 folders, most of
> them subordinates to the main Inbox folder. I just can't grok how 
> your particular lashup works from the user point of  view.

As a user, you just set up Claws to pull mail from your IMAP server
(port 993 I believe, because you're going to use SSL IMAP.

> 
> What about bogofilter? Where does it hook in?

I can't answer about bogofilter, but spamassassin goes in the tape
monitor loop of Procmail. See this:

http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/200402/200402.htm#_Quick_and_Dirty_Spamassassin

Look specifically at the first diagram in the article. I'd imagine
you'd plug in Procmail the same place I plugged in SpamAssassin.

> 
> BTW the entire KDE4 thingamabob was so awful that I
> installed Trinity  which is a KDE 3.5 clone running in a KDE4
> world. That is what I am using now. Faster, cleaner, and less
> annoying. 

I kicked all KDE libraries out of my business. Here is my thinking:

http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/201202/201202.htm#_Steve_You_Sound_Angry

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
                          *  http://twitter.com/stevelitt
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance