portables, mail, and sporadic connectivity

[Norman Walsh <norm@ora.com>]

I apologize for the fact that this query is only obliquely debian.
Never-the-less...

I'm considering installing debian on a laptop.  Assuming that I solve
all of the hardware issues, one of the uses of a laptop (obviously) is
to have connectivity on the road.  I can handle the update issues
surrounding reading my mail, but I wonder about the issues raised
by sending mail.

Can a system be configured (i.e., has anyone configured debian) so that
a reply sent when the system is not connected is silently saved until
a connection is established and then sent.  Bells and whistles would
be warnings about really old unsent mail and the ability to confirm
sends before they actually leave.

I don't care if the process is absolutely automatic (i.e., I don't
mind running a command to send my mail), but I would like the
"store-for-forwarding" aspects to be transparent to my mail reader/sender.

I imagine that sendmail can be setup to do this, but the default behavior
is warnings and errors after hours and a few days.  Is the solution as
simple as uping some warning and expiration times?

Suggestions sought.  Thoughts and comments most welcome.

                                                  Cheers,
                                                    norm
---
Norman Walsh <norm@ora.com> | "The eternal mystery of the world is its
Production Tools Specialist | comprehensibility." -- A. Einstien
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. |  
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