> I want to switch to Linux. However, I have a lot of email and other
> files on MS Outlook that do not seem to be compatible with Linux email
> software. Is there a way to convert them?
Other folks have talked about software that's available to convert mail
data from the format used by Outlook to the format(s) used by 'nix-based
mail clients, so I'll skip that and just talk about what those formats are.
Unix/Linux mail clients tend to store mail messages in either of two main
ways. There are performance, space and flexibility differences between them
and neither is intrinsicly "better": which is preferred depends heavily on
what requirements are in play and how much mail need to be stored.
"mbox format" has been around 'nix has supported email. In mbox format,
many messages are kept in a single file, with a delimiter between them.
It looks kinda sorta like this:
From fred Mon Jan 22 2006 13:17:52 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: where are my rocks?
Hey! Gimme back my boulders!
-Fred
From you Mon Jan 22 2006 13:19:52 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: where are my rocks?
I don't have them. Talk to that ingrate Barney.
-me
Mail programs that can read that format, like plain old vanilla 'nix "Mail",
or mutt, or pine, or mozilla, or [a very long list] have been around forever.
The other main format is called "maildir". In maildir format, every message
is an individual file -- so the mbox above would become two files. Those
files are kept in 'nix directories (of course) which in turn means that
someone's "mailbox" turns out to be a tree of directories and files; what
they perceive as their "work" folder in the mail client is probably a
directory (possibly with subdirectories) on the 'nix side.
There are a _lot_ of programs out there which can convert mbox and maildir
formats back and forth. (There are also a fair number that can convert
them to/from other formats, such as the .pst used in the M$ world.) So
chances are pretty good, I think, that somebody out there has crafted
a tool which will convert {anything} to {just about anything}.
A number of links to such programs can be found here:
http://www.interguru.com/MailInformation.htm
