nDiScReEt wrote:
> Randy Kramer wrote:
> > There are at least two ways to do this:
> >
> > Assuming you only want to share mail among computer on your home LAN,
> > and they are all Linux, I think the simplest way is via a shared
> > directory.  Simply pick one of your computers to be the "main" computer
> > for the purposes of mail, then share your ~/home/mail directory (or
> > Mail, or whatever) on the network.  On the other computers, simply point
> > your mail client to that shared directory.  One disadvantage -- the
> > computer you designated as main should always be up when you are using
> > any other computer to look at mail, so all the mail gets to and stays in
> > that shared directory.  (I do this in Windows, and I even (for a short
> > period) read the mail on the Windows main computer using Netscape 3.0x
> > on Linux.)
> >
> > The next way is somewhat similar, except set up an imap server on that
> > "main" computer, then read your mail from the other computers using an
> > imap client.

> Thank you for replying and providing me with such vital information!
> The computer that I want to grab and share all my email from will and
> always is up (it is my router/server). Isn't there an inherent flaw or
> security issue with imap? I will go with either if and only if I can
> read my email on either computer with any email client. From mutt and
> sendmail to mozilla messenger and mircosoft outlook.

altoine,

Don't know about the security flaw in imap, but if there is one I would
expect that there is a fix or it is being worked on -- and it probably
depends on which imap server you run.  There may be some issues with
things like transmitting clear text passwords, but again, I assume there
are workarounds for that.

But, if you want to use any mail client it gets tougher.  Many mail
clients store their read mail in file folders and there is not a common
approach among all mail clients.  You might be able to access the inbox
(like /var/mail/<username> (or similar)) by putting it on a shared
directory, but many mail clients would want to store read mail in a
slightly different location and slightly different format.  I don't know
of an easy way to deal with that.  

I know that Netscape Navigator (at least in the 3.0x versions, and I
suspect since then) let me access mail on a Windows partition from the
Windows or Linux version of Netscape.  I stopped using the client in
Linux (and just read my mail in Windows) because Netscape 3.0x under
Linux is much "clunkier" than the Windows version.  Assuming the 4.x and
6.x versions are still compatible (with each other), such an approach
might be satisfactory -- I'm guessing they are nicer clients.  

Notes:
   * Netscape 3.0x under Linux would not allow me to resize the panes
(IIRC) and seemed to use bigger everything so less text was visible on
the screen.
   * I did try reading the Windows Netscape 3.0x mail files with Linux
Netscape 4.7x -- it worked, but the indexes were not compatible, so
everytime I switched from Windows to Linux or vice versa (or my wife
read some mail) there was a long delay while (I believe) the mail files
were reindexed by the "active" client.  

Good luck,
Randy Kramer

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