Re: Mail client/server. . .

>>What software would I use to relay email from remote POP and SMTP servers
>>to a Linux box running Samba for Outlook Express users on Windows XP Pro
>>clients using roaming profiles, and be able to keep the downloaded emails in
>>the Linux home directory?
>>
>>For example, User A logs on from WinPC A, pulls the roaming profile from the
>>Samba box, fires up Outlook Express and downloads email from Remote Server
>>WWW. User A then logs off and later logs on to WinPC B, pulls the roaming
>>profile from the Samba box, fires up Outlook Express, and in the inbox is
>>contained all prior undeleted emails (including those recently downloaded
>>via WinPC A), hosted on the Samba box.
>>
>>What Linux software(s) would I use to successfully fulfill this purpose?
>
> ----
> Trick question right?
>
> POP mail accounts download all email to the individual system. All you
> really need to do is configure Outlook Express to use locations that are
> stored in the roaming profile, which is not generally the default
> behavior. Go to Micosoft.com and search roaming profiles.
>
> As for the trick question part...Linux users would not recommend use of
> Outlook Express.

OE under 2k/XP will save the data to the "Documents and Settings" area, which is
copied to and from samba when a user logs in (at least it is with roaming
profiles and Samba acting as an NT4 PDC).

A problem with this setup is:
User A logs into System A and fetches mail to OE. Without logging off, user A
also logs into System B and again checks for mail. Now what he will end up
having in his roaming profile is determined by the last system the user logs off
of, so if he logs off System B and then off System A he will lose all the mail
that System B retrieved. Reverse is true for logging off A first then B.

What would probably be better is to setup IMAP on a system and just have OE or
other mail client (eudora, thunderbird, mozilla, etc...) configured to view mail
off the IMAP system. That way mail is truly held by that system and not on the
individual PCs. You could setup fetchmail or some other user controllable app
to retrieve the mail and stick it in the IMAP storage for that user (since it
should just be a specific folder under /home/<username/, usually as Mail/ or .Mail/
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