[SGVLUG] Who has experience w/mail servers (specifically, message aging/archiving)

[Tom Emerson]

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John E. Kreznar wrote:
> Tom Emerson <osnut at pacbell.net> writes:
> 
>>  Furthermore, in some cases I'd like to auto-archive them to a local
>> archive (because no public archive exists, or it's incomplete or
>> inconsistent), and others I can safely drop.
> 
> Why not bring them all local?  Then conventional file management tools
> can be used.

Ahh, yes, I should clarify: "local" here IS my own server, and it's
those "conventional file management" tools I'd like to use to /automate/
the process, but, sadly, my "shell" scripting skills are not up to par.

So, to better describe my setup: messages in general are addressed to my
ISP account (pacbell)  "fetchmail" runs in daemon mode and "polls" the
pacbell POP server every 10 minutes or so and downloads the messages.
(deleting from pacbell as they are read)  The messages are then sent
more-or-less "traditionally" to postfix running on "localhost" port 25.
 Postfix then routes the message through spamassassin which reviews the
message and returns it on a DIFFERENT port.  Postfix, listening on that
OTHER port, then delivers "local" messages via procmail, which has
recipes for final delivery:

  -- to the spam-trap if tagged
  -- to particular folders if from known message group sources [like
this list]
  -- to "discussion groups" in general if it has "list-id" headers but I
haven't built a rule for that particular group
  -- or if it manages to evade all these filter rules, it then gets
dumped to my "real" inbox.

On the CLIENT side, I run IMAP enabled clients [thunderbird, kmail,
outlook 2003+] to "view" the server, regardless of where I am or what OS
I'm currently using.  (but this gets into my next point -- see below)
Each of these "clients" has their own "ruleset" and/or language for
creating rules, but they ONLY run against the server "when I use that
client" (and in some cases only when I view a particular folder), so I
cannot rely on any one of them as a "global" solution.

> (The idea of putting a query out on the Internet every time I want to
> consult my mail archive is incredibly alien to me.  It's an extreme
> privacy give-away!)

locally (i.e., "in home") this is an intranet query.  When out in the
wild, I'm using IMAP clients [though I know I should use IMAP-SSL] so
either way, I'm responsible for my own privacy (granted, messages can be
sniffed as I'm retrieving them, and if the admin at home ever sells my
e-mails stored on the server to the highest bidder, I'm *really* in
trouble...)

OTOH, I agree with your sentiment.  Likewise, I despise "web" based
mail, but for different reasons (way to slow/clunky for my taste)
Recently (for one task only) I've been using what (I believe...) is
called a "web 2.0 app(*)" for e-mail.  Though I'm a long-time PACBELL
subscriber, my ISP has been bandied about for years and currently
resides at YAHOO.  About a month or two ago, I was forcibly "migrated"
to their "new" servers, and in the process the "spamblocker" service was
automatically enabled.  The long and the short of this is that I need to
check, via the "web based" e-mail client, what messages are in the
"spam" trap (specifically to rescue those that have been mismarked, but
I digress...)

As I said earlier, locally, I'm still running spamassassin and routing
tagged messages to a "to-be-checked" folder of my own (which I haven't
checked in ages -- right now my e-mail client is claiming there are
95,058 unread messages in that folder) and this is exactly what I'm
talking about -- what "conventional file management tool" would I use to
delete messages (files) older than a few days in this folder?

Tom

(*) BTW: this "app" is Yahoo's "beta" e-mail interface, which while
still "web based e-mail", is a bit more "responsive" than traditional
web-mail.  For instance, the "suspected spam" folder captures a couple
hundred messages a day.  With a "traditional" web-based e-mail client,
you (typically) can only "view" 10 messages at-a-time to select/delete.
 With this new version, the entire list of "headers" [subject lines and
 source e-mail addresses] are available, can be "scrolled" just like a
dedicated app, and you can control-click/shift-click to select multiple
items (and I presume, ctrl-a to select all -- haven't tried); then "del"
prompts for an "OK" to delete everything "selected".  I typically sort
it by author, and delete the top and bottom messages as they are in
"unprintable" character sets which I know I can ignore -- the rest need
at least a cursory glance to ensure they aren't from "people I know"
Unfortunately, Yahoo's new e-mail/spamblocker doesn't have proper
"white" listing capabilities, so every now and then I have to "rescue"
certain items...

- --
Top o' the Blog: so, I like puppies...
http://osnut.homelinux.net/mtblog/ya_index.html
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