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diff --git a/content/posts/2004-10-10-response-to-wp-article.html b/content/posts/2004-10-10-response-to-wp-article.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06ff422 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2004-10-10-response-to-wp-article.html @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +--- +date: "2004-10-10T12:47:04Z" +title: Response to WP Article +--- + +Here's an email I just sent in response to <a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A10089-2004Mar20¬Found=true'>this Washington Post article</a>. + + +<blockquote> +<p> +Hi Rob, +</p> + +<p> +I just read "Internet Providers Should Find Their Way to IMAP" [1], your +article on migrating email from POP3 to IMAP. I'm a UNIX system +administrator and programmer by day, and, as a hobby, I provide email +and web site hosting for a handful of family members, friends, and small +businesses. I'd like to share my experience configuring various mail +servers (also referred to as daemons), and offer some advice for readers +asking about IMAP or looking for a decent email client, and for ISPs +touting the high cost of providing IMAP service. +</p> + +<p> +For readers looking for a decent email client, I recommend Mozilla +Thunderbird [2]. Thunderbird is free, easy to use, and available for +several operating systems. Thunderbird is also small (about the size +of a decent quality MP3 file), and easy to install; my parents were able +to switch from Outlook to Thunderbird without any assistance from me or +their ISP. Best of all, Thunderbird is immune to existing email worms +and viruses, has powerful built-in spam filtering, supports signed and +encrypted email, and can communicate with secure email servers (POP3s +and IMAPs). Oh, Mac users might want to try Mail [3], which comes +pre-installed in recent versions of MacOS and supports many of the +features I mentioned above. +</p> + +<p> +As for ISPs, offering IMAP can be a real pain. Three of the most +popular IMAP daemons are Cyrus IMAPd, Courier IMAPd, and UW-IMAP [4]. +The problem with all of them is essentially the same: each requires +complicated and haphazard configuration, and none integrate gracefully +with existing server configurations. For example, the IMAP daemons +listed above store email messages on the server in MH or Maildir format, +while most UNIX systems and POP3 daemons store email messages in mbox +format. +</p> + +<p> +The solution? An IMAP daemon called Dovecot [5]. Dovecot is a free +POP3 and IMAP daemon which supports mbox and Maildir mail spool formats, +supports IMAPs and POP3s, and is incredibly easy to set up. In Debian +Linux [6], Dovecot basically configures itself. Dovecot also supports +the most common user authentication schemes out of the box: PAM, +/etc/passwd, and LDAP. Dovecot works great in Linux and Solaris (the +two most common UNIX variants used by ISPs), and also in other operating +systems such as FreeBSD and MacOS. +</p> + +<p> +I'm available to answer questions from readers about IMAP and IMAP +daemons. I can be reached via email at pabs@pablotron.org or +paul@paulduncan.org. +</p> + +<p> +References: +</p> + +<ol> +<li>"Internet Providers Should Find Their Way to IMAP": <a href='http://tinyurl.com/5kzbc'>http://tinyurl.com/5kzbc</a></li> +<li>Mozilla Thunderbird: <a href='http://mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/'>http://mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/</a></li> +<li>Apple Mail: <a href='http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/mail/'>http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/mail/</a></li> +<li>Cyrus, Courier, and UW-IMAP: <a +href='http://asg.web.cmu.edu/cyrus/imapd/'>http://asg.web.cmu.edu/cyrus/imapd/</a>, + <a href='http://www.courier-mta.org/'>http://www.courier-mta.org/</a>, and <a href='http://www.washington.edu/imap/'>http://www.washington.edu/imap/</a> + (respectively)</li> +<li>Dovecot: <a href='http://www.dovecot.org/'>http://www.dovecot.org/</a></li> +<li>Debian Linux: <a href='http://www.debian.org/'>http://www.debian.org/</a></li> +</ol> + +<p> +--<br /> +Paul Duncan <<a href='mailto:pabs@pablotron.org'>pabs@pablotron.org</a>><br /> +<a href='http://www.pablotron.org/'>http://www.pablotron.org/</a> +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p> +<b>Update:</b> Changed the <acronym title='Washington Post'>WP</acronym> +<acronym title='Uniform Resource Locator'>URL</acronym> to a <a +href='http://tinyurl.com/'>TinyURL</a> link instead, in order to fix +page reflow. +</p> + |