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Kapil Hari Paranjape [kapil at imsc.res.in]
Hello,
In the context of remote access to mail, On Mon, 19 Apr 2010, Kat Tanaka Okopnik wrote:
> I tried running a screen session locally, and then ssh to where my > mail lives, but that resulted in some keystrokes getting interpreted in > ways that I didn't like (e.g. the backspace key becomes something else, > IOW not backspacing). This is probably a whole different question that > should go under another subject line...
So I thought I should try to put together some thoughts on remote usage of mail. Since this has nothing to do with the original question, I have broken the thread.
Case 1: Remote system only allows webmail access ------------------------------------------------This is unfortunately all too common nowadays. Possible solutions:
1. Live with it/abandon it entirely 2. If forwarding is allowed, then forward your mail to a "better" server. 3. "freepops" may work for you. This is a program that acts as a POP3 front-end to a number of webmail interfaces.
Case 2: Remote system only allows IMAP/POP access -------------------------------------------------This is slightly more common, yet often sub-optimal!
1. Setup your favourite mail client to access imap/pop. 2. Use one of the many programs that fetches mail from such servers.Each of these has its own problems. In the first case, you do not get offline access to your mail, while in the second case you might end up paying a lot to download an attachment that you did not really need to access right away.
Case 3: Remote system allows shell access -----------------------------------------This is the best case scenario that is increasingly scarce!
1. Login to system and use whatever client is locally available. In addition you may want to run this client under "screen" or "dtach" in order to re-use sessions in case of lost connections. 2. Filter the mail on the remote system (using procmail and friends) to sort out the mail (optionally separating out attachments). Then download the mail you really want to read using a number of different techniques (rsync, unison, git and others or those mentioned in Case 2).Clearly, Kat was using (Case 3, Para 1).
Kapil. --
Jim Jackson [jj at franjam.org.uk]
On Tue, 20 Apr 2010, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
> Hello, > > In the context of remote access to mail, > On Mon, 19 Apr 2010, Kat Tanaka Okopnik wrote: >> I tried running a screen session locally, and then ssh to where my >> mail lives, but that resulted in some keystrokes getting interpreted in >> ways that I didn't like (e.g. the backspace key becomes something else, >> IOW not backspacing). This is probably a whole different question that >> should go under another subject line... > > So I thought I should try to put together some thoughts on remote > usage of mail. Since this has nothing to do with the original > question, I have broken the thread. > > Case 1: Remote system only allows webmail access > ------------------------------------------------ > > This is unfortunately all too common nowadays. Possible solutions: > > 1. Live with it/abandon it entirely > 2. If forwarding is allowed, then forward your mail to a "better" > server. > 3. "freepops" may work for you. This is a program that acts as a > POP3 front-end to a number of webmail interfaces. > > Case 2: Remote system only allows IMAP/POP access > ------------------------------------------------- > > This is slightly more common, yet often sub-optimal! > > 1. Setup your favourite mail client to access imap/pop. > 2. Use one of the many programs that fetches mail from such servers. > > Each of these has its own problems. In the first case, you do not get > offline access to your mail, while in the second case you might end > up paying a lot to download an attachment that you did not really > need to access right away.
Case 2.5 Local Server allows IMAP/POP/SSH from internet
As in Case 2.2 above, use fetchmail to collect pop/imap mail from ISPs/Mailservers - feeds email to own local servers (allowing procmail et al.) supporting POP/IMAP access and remote shell access.
Big problem if your network link goes down and you need access away from home network.
> > Case 3: Remote system allows shell access > ----------------------------------------- > > This is the best case scenario that is increasingly scarce! > > 1. Login to system and use whatever client is locally available. In > addition you may want to run this client under "screen" or "dtach" > in order to re-use sessions in case of lost connections. > > 2. Filter the mail on the remote system (using procmail and friends) > to sort out the mail (optionally separating out attachments). Then > download the mail you really want to read using a number of different > techniques (rsync, unison, git and others or those mentioned in Case 2). > > Clearly, Kat was using (Case 3, Para 1). > > Kapil. > -- > > > TAG mailing list > TAG at lists.linuxgazette.net > http://lists.linuxgazette.net/listinfo.cgi/tag-linuxgazette.net >