Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:48:08 -0600 (CST) From: Ryan Thompson <freebsd@sasknow.com> To: imcdn@altavista.net Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: mail server Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10002161630000.72423-100000@sasknow.com> In-Reply-To: <000216125722EC.18387@weba1.iname.net>
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On Wed, 16 Feb 2000 imcdn@altavista.net wrote: > Hi, im a student at Nait and we are doing a report on amil servers, I > was wondering if a FreeBSD server setup for email could be setup so > the email stays on the server. > I know FreeBSD uses pop3 Actually, FreeBSD does not, by default, install any sort of POP3 mail server. The only mail application that is installed in the base system is sendmail, which, without help, only provides local maildrop access. Read my elaboration below, which explains what is required to obtain a working POP3 or IMAP implementation. > and That sends > the email to the computer, are there any applications for this? also > what operating systems CANNOT use the FreeBSD mail service? > > Thanks Blake > Hi Blake. Please format your messages as plain text, 72 characters per line or less. Doing so ensures that a substantially wider audience can view your mail. There are several applications available in the FreeBSD ports directory that provide conventional POP3 server functionality. Check /usr/ports/mail/ on a running FreeBSD system, or browse the ports collection at http://www.freebsd.org/ports/. I have personally used various versions of qpopper and Cyrus IMAPD on production and development servers for the purposes of delivering mail to external hosts via POP3. Essentially, any application that correctly supports the POP3 standard should leave messages on the server after download at the users' request. I can personally verify this functionality in both qpopper and Cyrus IMAPD. (Actually, if you know the POP3 protocol itself, you will know that mail needs to be explicitly deleted then flushed to be removed from the server. The relevant RFC states that mail user agents SHOULD issue the delete command unless told otherwise. If you're interested, I can pull up a URL for that RFC...) Note that for persistent mail files (for multiple users on one account, or one user that has a tendency to roam between hosts), IMAP is often a better choice, as mail is stored ONLY on the server, and is, in theory, not supposed to stay on the client machine. (Of course, messages need to be downloaded individually to be displayed to the user, and many intelligent IMAP clients incorporate some level of caching to promote a more responsive session). IMAP also allows for individual access control, heirarchical folders, shared folders and some other goodies that the relatively simple POP3 maildrop protocol does not accomodate. I hope I've provided some useful information. For your bibliography, if you choose to quote, paraphrase or synthesize information from this message: Ryan Thompson Head Systems Administrator, SaskNow Technologies Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 2000/02/16 Virtually yours, - Ryan -- Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com> 50% Owner, Sysadmin SaskNow Technologies http://www.sasknow.com #106-380 3120 8th St E Saskatoon, SK S7H 0W2 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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