Re: mail in linux

[Shyamal Prasad <shyamal.prasad@sbcglobal.net>]

    "Sandip" == Sandip P Deshmukh <Sandip> writes:

    >> Typically, in such a scenario, you will run fetchmail as a
    >> daemon. In my case, it polls my POP mailbox every 5 minutes, 24
    >> hours a day, 7 days a week. I never turn off my computer. When
    >> I read mail, it is all there on my local machine. Headers and
    >> all. Sure, it takes more bandwidth, but I'm not billed for
    >> bytes transferred, or the the time I am connected to the
    >> network.
    >> 
    Sandip> and what do lesser mortals, and quite a few of them, who
    Sandip> do not have the luxury of always on net connections do?

You could always have fetchmail dial out on demand if you don't mind
the phone bill. I assumed, from your network description, that you had
an always-on connection. But if you don't have this, yes, I agree that
looking at headers might be nice. Use IMAP if you can.

While doing some admin box on a debian machine at work I found a
pop3browser package and the description matches what you want.

    Sandip> moreover, are we not dealing with the threat of viruses
    Sandip> more effectively?

Not really. You are assuming (1) you can determine a virus from
looking at headers and (2) your MUA is so buggy that a virus will get
to it (welcome to Linux).

Cheers!
Shyamal