On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:16:29 -0500 Ron Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On 07/14/08 22:41, Brian Marshall wrote: > > On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:43:38 -0500 > > Ron Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> On 07/14/08 21:04, Brian Marshall wrote: > >>> On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:46:07 -0500 > >>> Ron Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>> > >>>> I keep telling people that Gmail is evil, but no one will listen. > >>>> > >>>> If you care about your data, and want to get to it at any time, > >>>> keep your data and your apps on your local machine. > >>> So what would you recommend for a free, ISP-independent email > >>> service with IMAP and a sensible amount of storage space? > >>> > >>> The reason I use Gmail is because there is no way I can set up > >>> everything for email on a local server > >> Why not? Unless I am misunderstanding you, it's perfectly > >> possible. Here's a link to an emal from just last week about > >> someone doing that: > >> http://lists-archives.org/debian-user/3509138-imap-is-teh-r0x0rz.html > > > > Maybe I am just misunderstanding you or the ramifications, but I > > only have a residential ISP package with a dynamic IP and the only > > domain pointing towards it is free from DynDNS. I don't find myself > > in the situation to run a complete mail package like what Gmail and > > others provide. > > I'm certain that you *are* running a "complete mail package" and > don't even know it! :O > > Just about all Unix systems use the same MTA[0] to transfer intra- > system mail as they do to transfer mail across the world. Exim is > the Debian default, but many replace it with Postfix. > > Most people must configure their MUA to send email to > smtp.bigisp.net, and receive mail from pop.bigisp.net. But with > Unix (and Debian makes this very easy) you can configure your MTA to > be a relayhost[1]. > > The way I've configured my system. Thus, in Icedove, I don't set > the smtp server to be smtp.east.cox.net but "haggis", which is my > machine's name. The MTA (Postfix, in my case) then routes the email > to smtp.east.cox.net which then takes it and sends it on to it's > final destination. > > Conversely, fetchmail retrieves my mail from pop.east.cox.net then > passes it to Postfix (which feeds it thru Spam Assassin) and then to > an IMAP server running on my desktop. That's where I (and my wife > and children) read our email from, anywhere on our LAN. > > [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_transfer_agent > [1]http://www.postfix.org/BASIC_CONFIGURATION_README.html#relayhost Thanks, that was very informative. I had an understanding of MTAs but not how they interacted with other POP and SMTP servers. After reading your message, I think it's finally coming together now. :P Would this also be possible using Gmail's servers? As I see it, using your ISP's email address would be a pain if you ever had to change ISPs. -- Brian
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