Re: [Evolution] IMAP vs. POP

[Patrick O'Callaghan <poc usb ve>]

On Wed, 2010-03-17 at 08:42 -0400, Adam Tauno Williams wrote:
> On Wed, 2010-03-17 at 05:13 -0600, Bart wrote:
> > Hope this is not too far off topic.
> > I am using pop for all my email accounts.  I receive all my mail on one
> > machine at one location.  But I keep seeing remarks that indicate IMAP
> > as being just "SO" much better.
> > Would someone either explain or point me to a place where I can learn
> > the reasons for these comments?
>
> It depends upon your server;  if you have a powerful full-featured IMAP
> server like Cyrus IMAPd [you can get a free Cyrus IMAP account at
> <http://fastmail.fm/>] you can really exploit the power of a real
> mailbox management protocol and server features.  If you are using some
> hack ISP's IMAP implementation then it may not matter - or your ISP may
> provide nothing but POP3.
>
> With IMAP you can have multiple folders on the server, move messages
> between folder [on the server], access the mailbox from multiple
> clients/hosts/interfaces, etc... all of which are impossible with POP
> [which simply uses the INBOX on the server as a store-and-download
> bucket].  Mail on the server is backed up by the server admins - a BIG
> advantage over mail stored on the client.
>
> If your server supports it you can also setup rules [filters] on the
> server that are invoked when the message is *delivered* vs. the crappy
> client side filters that most mail clients try to implement.  There is a
> lot of power in having the server filter [discard, file into folder,
> flag as important, forward, auto respond, etc...] your messages - it
> happens even when you are on vacation.   Real IMAP servers also let you
> set annotation on folders that might do things like discard messages
> after a certain number of days;  again, without you having to do
> anything [you don't even have to login].

While all of this is true, it should also be said that Evo doesn't
support server-side filtering or folder annotations, so you have to use
some other means to set these up.

poc