Re: laptop "metapackage"
On Fri, Sep 24, 1999 at 02:01:15PM -0800, Adam Shand wrote:
> > This is certainly wrong. My UUCP configuration files, all together, make
> > less lines than my sendmail or PPP configuration.
But you need a MTA additionally - I am using postfix, bsmtp and uucp
together and that setup is more complicated than just fetchmail + smail.
> i have watched many new comers to the net struggle with uucp, both first
> hand and being on the other end of a phone as tech support for them. it
> hasn't been easy for any of them. under unix/dos/windows/mac uucp is
UUCP isnt complicated. It is completely straigforward and the correct
solution to multiple-user offline email, which ETRN is NOT an solution.
> complicated because it's designed to be so much more then just an offline
> mail protocol.
*Aehm* UUCP is not a MAIL protocol. It is a file copy protocol which is
extended with some kind of "Take this file x with protocol y and after
receiving to z" ...
> * it is difficult for a new comer to find a uucp provider
This is the biggest problem. I am myself an ISP and I do UUCP for
my Customers. But many with the Windows boxes dont even now anything
else than POP-3 and/or SMTP.
> * methods for retrieving mail are not laptop specific and should not be
> included in the meta package.
But offline mail is laptop specific. You have 2 choices. Fetchmail
compatible pop-3 fetching and uucp.
> > If you have several users on your laptop (and we are talking about Unix
> > here), fetchmail is not really convenient: you'll need several accounts
> > on the ISP and you'll need to put the passwords for all of them in
> > fetchmail's configuration.
>
> or to have all domain mail routed to one pop account at your isp (most isps
> support this) and have fetchmail pick up all the mail and redistribute it
> locally. regardless though this is an unusual configuration for a laptop.
This is NOT a solution. The splitting of the one POP-3 account
into multiple unix accounts is NOT standardized and mostly not working
as the normal mail envelope gets lost (There are workarounds available).
> you miss the point, lets say pine or mutt then. both support the pop3
> protocol but are not laptop specific.
Yes - But nobody suggested putting pine or mutt into the laptop
package.
> my vote is that the laptop meta package have the bare minimum needed to help
> a user get laptop hardware to work, and to help them get tasks that are
> much more likely to be needed on a laptop (roaming, vpn, disconnected file
> systems) etc etc.
But the "normal" laptop user wont to "disconnected file system" things, the
mail case is much more common.
Flo
--
Florian Lohoff flo@rfc822.org +49-5241-470566
... The failure can be random; however, when it does occur, it is
catastrophic and is repeatable ... Cisco Field Notice
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