Re: [9fans] gmail 0: messages

[Russ Cox <rsc@swtch.com>]

> I'm out of option for now as how to get my gmail emails on my plan9 box.

Gmail pop is not compatible with Plan 9.  Gmail
assumes that clients are running in what is
usually called "move messages off the server"
mode, and so once the client has downloaded a
message, gmail doesn't show the message to the
client again.  This confuses upas/fs, which
expects to see the same set of messages the next
time it connects, assuming that if a message is
gone, it has been deleted.

In Gmail's defense, they're using pop3 in a
context it wasn't designed for, namely having
thousands or more messages to show the user.
Rather than respond to the "list messages" command
with thousands of lines, they show 100, and once
those 100 have been downloaded, they show the next
100.  It works for clients that use pop3 as a
download protocol, but not for clients that want
to leave the messages on the server.

Upas/fs isn't the only pop3 client that gmail
confuses.  My roommate's cell phone exhibits
exactly the same problem: it downloads enough to
show the message list, and then when you open a
message, it tries to redownload the message, but
the message is gone.  So you can see the message
but not open it.

You could run a separate pop3 fetch program and
then deliver the mail to a local Plan 9 mail box.
See /n/sources/contrib/rsc/cmd/pop3get.c.

You cannot use gmail's pop server directly.

Russ