Re: bad (i.e. serious) mail problems

[Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

* Kai.Grossjohann@CS.Uni-Dortmund.DE  on Tue, 30 Mar 1999
| Why should a POP server delimit messages in mbox style?

It does not.  The POP server uses the whatever delimiters have been created
by the MTA to determine where messages begin.  What as this is usually an
RFC 821 envelope, RFC 821 envelopes are used as delimiters.

| The POP protocol says (I think) that a message is terminated by a "."
| line,

The '.' is just that, a terminator for the RETR command.  It tells the POP
client that the server has finished transmitting a message.  The dot
terminator is stripped by the client.

| and internally, the POP server could well use any mechanism for storing
| messages, such as a file per message, or an RDBMS.

POP servers do not store anything anywhere.  IMAP does, but IMAP is so
different from POP that comparing them is like comparing Gnus to a ball of
yarn.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v0.9.5 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iD8DBQE3AOukgl+vIlSVSNkRAm6VAKD5MQBuP/MO5g6cbJjJaBlo9vXCtwCeIS9V
PkBo6I8xWYaTBOsdbBic6I8=
=D0FS
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

-- 
Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>    \ When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be
Minion of Nathan - Nathan says Hi! \ returned to its special container and
PGP Key: at a key server near you!  \ kept under refrigeration.