Michael Collette wrote: > Jorey Bump wrote: > > >>Opera also stores mail in the mbox format. When I decided to switch to >>IMAP (not supported by Opera), it was very easy to upload my mboxes to >>the server. No file conversion was necessary. All I had to do was rename >>them. By using an open standard, Opera made my life easier. >> > > As I stated in a previous message, you need not move away from mbox for > storing the text portion of the message. The main difference in what I'm > suggesting is how attachments are handled. > > If Mozilla went down the road I'm describing you would still have been able > to migrate off to that IMAP server you described. What wouldn't have moved > to the server are the attachments, which your admin probably would have > appreciated :)
I would have had to recombine the mail with the attachments, somehow, and this is where I am worried about proprietary format changes creeping in. As far as the admin is concerned, he can bend over and tie my shoelaces! Since I'm the admin, I certainly don't want to deal with user issues caused by the new format breaking synchronization with IMAP accounts, or other such bug-bears. As I mentioned, I would use an attachment-stripping feature, but I would like it to be initiated by the user consciously, so I don't get irate calls about my server stripping their attachments. > Eudora's approach looks to be very similar to what Mozilla is doing now for > the most part. One big mbox file with the message text, and an index file > for sorting. Just no encoded attachments stored within the mbox file. Attachments pose a security risk, no matter where they are stored. How safe is mozilla's attachment handling? I would like to see more work go into protecting against exploits. I've only been using mozilla a short while (so far, I'm very impressed), and I feel a bit safer using it to read mail and news than OE. Have I been lulled into a false sense of security? To be honest, I usually read the mail on the server using pine, then switch to mozilla after deleting spam and virus mail. I'd like a Windows client that takes pains to handle mail safely.
