nnimap - authentication

nnimap - authentication

[Harry Putnam]

Haven't been able to figure out how to get a better setup for
authentication on an imap server.  After looking through that section
of the nnimap info, I guess I need the `login' option.

The author of nnimap info came perilously close to breaking a long
standing unix tradition of not giving a usable example on pain of
death.

The author comes very close to supplying a usable example, but must
have begun to feel the weight of tradition, and resolve strengthened
we get comments that can only be understood by lisp programmers. And
no real usable example:

     Please note that the value of `nnimap-authenticator' is a symbol!

It must be pretty exciting news to require an exclamation point.
Too bad us non-programmer types, get nothing from that... except, "OK
so what is a `symbol!'?"

Does it mean I need something like this?

          (nnimap "mail.server.com"
                  (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)) 

Putting the `login' part in place of anonymous?

       * "login:" Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.

But then what about the `username' `password' part? Where does it go.?

Re: nnimap - authentication

[Kai Großjohann]

On 26 Dec 2000, Harry Putnam wrote:

> Does it mean I need something like this?
> 
>           (nnimap "mail.server.com"
>                   (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)) 
> 
> Putting the `login' part in place of anonymous?

Yes.  (nnimap-authenticator foo) uses the symbol foo, whereas
(nnimap-authenticator "foo") would use a string (because of the double
quotes).

>        * "login:" Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.

I think it is unfortunate that the manual contains double quotes and a
colon where the Lisp code should not contain either.  The double
quotes are not easy to recognize as markup.  Maybe it would be better
if it looked like this:

* `login': Plain-text ...

Hm.

> But then what about the `username' `password' part? Where does it
> go.?

In ~/.authinfo, if you like.  Hm.  The default username might be your
login name.  I think you have to put a line in ~/.authinfo if you want
to use a different username.  But you don't have to put the password
in ~/.authinfo, Gnus will ask you for it.

machine frumple login harry password verysecret

This machine name would be for a server (nnimap "frumple" ...).

kai
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Re: nnimap - authentication

[Georg C. F. Greve]

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 || On 27 Dec 2000 10:20:19 +0100
 || Kai.Grossjohann@CS.Uni-Dortmund.DE (Kai Großjohann) wrote: 

 >> But then what about the `username' `password' part? Where does it
 >> go.?

 kg> In ~/.authinfo, if you like.  Hm.  The default username might be
 kg> your login name.  I think you have to put a line in ~/.authinfo
 kg> if you want to use a different username.  But you don't have to
 kg> put the password in ~/.authinfo, Gnus will ask you for it.

 kg> machine frumple login harry password verysecret

 kg> This machine name would be for a server (nnimap "frumple" ...).

Yep. Although it doesn't seem to work for the IMAP over SSL
stuff. Although I have my username/password combination in there (and
it works with plaintext), it does prompt me for IMAP over SSL. It
would be good if that could somehow be controlled (haven't seen
anything about that in the docs).

Later,
        Georg

-- 
Georg C. F. Greve                                       <greve@gnu.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe	             (http://www.fsfeurope.org)
Brave GNU World	                           (http://brave-gnu-world.org)

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