Re: Configuring multiple SMTP hosts

[Mike Witt <msg2mw gmail com>]

On 2022-03-14 01:40:54 PM, Albrecht Dreß via balsa-list wrote:
> Hi Mike!
>
> Am 13.03.22 18:59 schrieb(en) Mike Witt via balsa-list:
> > Is this related to some recent email I got from google, saying in  
> > part:
> [snip Google message]
>
> This message is actually somewhat unclear to me…  Google tries  
> heavily to promote OAuth2 which they advertise as being more secure  
> than standard methods (which is just wrong if TLS is used, either  
> immediately = POP3S/SMTPS/IMAPS or after a STARTTLS command).  So,  
> yes, it *might* be possible that they simply disable the standard  
> methods and require the use of OAuth2.
>
> The “oauth2-support” branch of Balsa includes more or less usable  
> OAuth2 support for the following providers:
>
> * Microsoft/outlook.com: Balsa is registered, but as we are a FOSS  
> project without a commercial audit, it is some kind of “low grade”.   
> As a result, you have to re-enable Balsa every few months, which is  
> trivial: Balsa will display a dialogue with a button to open your  
> browser with the M$/Outlook.com web site where you have to enter your  
> credentials and (IIRC) a pin which is sent to your mobile.
> * Yahoo: works, but with the credentials stolen^H^H^H^H^H^Hborrowed  
> from the Thunderbird sources.  I.e. Yahoo thinks its talking to  
> Thunderbird.  Apart from that, the activation process is as before.
> * GMail: I registered Balsa in my Google developer space, so IIRC it  
> is usable for me and for testing only for the time being.  The  
> Thunderbird hack /might/ work as for Yahoo as intermediate solution,  
> though.
>
> I *think* it should be possible to go through the registration  
> process for the latter two providers (there are actually more) to  
> reach the status as for M$, but it seems to be somewhat complex.  As  
> I'm not a native speaker, I must admit that it is somewhat difficult  
> for me to understand all the legal talk (but this would probably the  
> same in German…).  Unfortunately, I'm packed with real-life work  
> (i.e. for €€) – working in operational cyber defence is not funny  
> since ~last autumn.
>
> I'll try to find some spare time to push this issue…
>
> Best,
> Albrecht.

I am a native English speaker and I can never figure out what Google is  
talking about.

I am basically just to going make sure that I'm not really "dependent"  
on my gmail address, and that I can use address in domains that I own  
for the purposes I'm currently using gmail for. It *seemed* like a good  
idea at one time to have my "main" email be independent of everything  
else (to ease debugging of problems with my domain's email) but perhaps  
being involved with Google is not the best approach.

-Mike