Comments on: Last POP User in the World http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world The Weblog of Erik J. Barzeski Wed, 23 May 2012 23:05:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Mark Glossop http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world#comment-56899 Mark Glossop Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:41:04 +0000 http://nslog.com/?p=6688#comment-56899 You're not the only one Erik - I'm using Entourage [to the surprise of many others I think should be less opinionated or derisive], and 3 separate POP accounts. For a while I was using Entourage for personal stuff, and Mail for "day job" - and it just became too tedious. Merging to one client was logical. The choice was then "which one do I ditch?" - and for me, Entourage was the clear winner, for much of the same reasons you've described. One major difference is that my primary machine is a MBP [operating as a "desktop replacement".] I've tried using "desktop + laptop" together, and it just ends up being painful. Overall my strategy has been IMHO successful: I'm currently working on building a radio telescope out in the middle of the Australian bush - IMAP doesn't work so well at the other end of a high-latency, slightly dodgy satellite link. So there *are* real use cases where POP still wins :-) You're not the only one Erik - I'm using Entourage [to the surprise of many others I think should be less opinionated or derisive], and 3 separate POP accounts.

For a while I was using Entourage for personal stuff, and Mail for "day job" - and it just became too tedious. Merging to one client was logical. The choice was then "which one do I ditch?" - and for me, Entourage was the clear winner, for much of the same reasons you've described.

One major difference is that my primary machine is a MBP [operating as a "desktop replacement".] I've tried using "desktop + laptop" together, and it just ends up being painful. Overall my strategy has been IMHO successful: I'm currently working on building a radio telescope out in the middle of the Australian bush - IMAP doesn't work so well at the other end of a high-latency, slightly dodgy satellite link.

So there *are* real use cases where POP still wins :-)

]]> By: Daniel http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world#comment-56843 Daniel Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:58:59 +0000 http://nslog.com/?p=6688#comment-56843 Wow. I haven't used POP since I was introduced to IMAP. IMAP really is great, especially for those of us who use multiple computers. I run my own mail server (CentOS, running in a VMware VM on my Mac mini), and it runs Dovecot and postfix. I check mail from mutt on the CentOS box, from squirrelmail, from Mail.ap on {the mini, a MacBook Pro, a MacBook}, and from my iPod touch. There is absolutely no way I could do all that using POP. Wow.

I haven't used POP since I was introduced to IMAP. IMAP really is great, especially for those of us who use multiple computers. I run my own mail server (CentOS, running in a VMware VM on my Mac mini), and it runs Dovecot and postfix.

I check mail from mutt on the CentOS box, from squirrelmail, from Mail.ap on {the mini, a MacBook Pro, a MacBook}, and from my iPod touch. There is absolutely no way I could do all that using POP.

]]> By: The Plaid Cow http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world#comment-56837 The Plaid Cow Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:00:46 +0000 http://nslog.com/?p=6688#comment-56837 If you have absolutely no need to access your mail when you are away from your computer, use a single mail client to check your mail, and have good backups of your main machine, then there is no reason to switch. I check mine through webmail half the day, and have flitted between OSX mail and Thunderbird for a while, so I use IMAP. If you have absolutely no need to access your mail when you are away from your computer, use a single mail client to check your mail, and have good backups of your main machine, then there is no reason to switch.

I check mine through webmail half the day, and have flitted between OSX mail and Thunderbird for a while, so I use IMAP.

]]> By: Gordon Tyler http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world#comment-56836 Gordon Tyler Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:51:51 +0000 http://nslog.com/?p=6688#comment-56836 I know this isn't a solution for but this is what works for me. I have a Linux server running at home (on a PowerMac Cube G4, utterly silent) which runs the Dovecot IMAP server and fetchmail. Every 5 minutes, fetchmail downloads email from my various (POP) accounts: home ISP, GMail, website host, etc. This gets delivered into my Maildir and whatever IMAP client I'm using, wherever I am (home, work, train, etc), is notified and I am able to read it. I don't really care where the email comes from anymore, it all just arrives in one Inbox. I have server-side rules for sorting mailing lists or specific people into subfolders and spam filtering. It all just works. ;) I know this isn't a solution for but this is what works for me. I have a Linux server running at home (on a PowerMac Cube G4, utterly silent) which runs the Dovecot IMAP server and fetchmail. Every 5 minutes, fetchmail downloads email from my various (POP) accounts: home ISP, GMail, website host, etc. This gets delivered into my Maildir and whatever IMAP client I'm using, wherever I am (home, work, train, etc), is notified and I am able to read it. I don't really care where the email comes from anymore, it all just arrives in one Inbox. I have server-side rules for sorting mailing lists or specific people into subfolders and spam filtering. It all just works. ;)

]]> By: Elmak http://nslog.com/2010/01/15/last_pop_user_in_the_world#comment-56833 Elmak Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:50:42 +0000 http://nslog.com/?p=6688#comment-56833 I never liked the idea of my email vanishing if my mail database were to be corrupted, destroyed, computer becomes temporarily unusable, etc,. I've tried at least a good ten email clients for my IMAP-based email; I always end back up in Apple Mail. Most want to segregate you into separate Inboxes, with separate Trash, Drafts, Sent, etc,. Mail, while having that granularity, keeps it collapsed unless you need it. It can be important to put a little bit of work setting Mail up to the specifics of your IMAP server, like defining what folder is actually for Sent mail, etc. Once done though life gets easier. Mail still keeps local copies of all my messages, but I've no fear of database corruption (something that happened to me once or twice on POP. I always had a backup… it would just be a few days old and I'd inevitably lose a few emails). I organize things with <a href="http://www.indev.ca/MailTags.html">MailTags</a> and a couple of smart folders so that I'm not dealing with separate account folders, though they aren't that hard to deal with. For pure archival I have a few scripts that drop messages into account-specific Archive folders dated to the month/year. This is mainly for the fact that MailTags doesn't preserve itself inside IMAP, rather in the local mail database. If everything screws up my messages are still roughly organized by month. (Still not likely, as I rely on the wonderful Backblaze service, and I don't see major problems even if my computer self-combusts). The final reason I think I enjoy IMAP is that I can check over my email anywhere- a simple webmail client on my servers let me have a cursory overview of any one account; as well as my iPhone of course. I never liked the idea of my email vanishing if my mail database were to be corrupted, destroyed, computer becomes temporarily unusable, etc,.

I've tried at least a good ten email clients for my IMAP-based email; I always end back up in Apple Mail. Most want to segregate you into separate Inboxes, with separate Trash, Drafts, Sent, etc,. Mail, while having that granularity, keeps it collapsed unless you need it. It can be important to put a little bit of work setting Mail up to the specifics of your IMAP server, like defining what folder is actually for Sent mail, etc. Once done though life gets easier.

Mail still keeps local copies of all my messages, but I've no fear of database corruption (something that happened to me once or twice on POP. I always had a backup… it would just be a few days old and I'd inevitably lose a few emails).

I organize things with MailTags and a couple of smart folders so that I'm not dealing with separate account folders, though they aren't that hard to deal with. For pure archival I have a few scripts that drop messages into account-specific Archive folders dated to the month/year. This is mainly for the fact that MailTags doesn't preserve itself inside IMAP, rather in the local mail database. If everything screws up my messages are still roughly organized by month. (Still not likely, as I rely on the wonderful Backblaze service, and I don't see major problems even if my computer self-combusts).

The final reason I think I enjoy IMAP is that I can check over my email anywhere- a simple webmail client on my servers let me have a cursory overview of any one account; as well as my iPhone of course.

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