email-client for this "special" IMAP usage ???

Master One · l33t Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 754 Location: Austria

At the moment I just use our ISPs pop3-mailserver with the Eudora email-client (WinXP), and I am used to be able to search for sent or deleted email all the time (so all email, incoming, stored, sent, deleted are all in the eudora-datafolder on the client-machine, and I never empty the trashcan). The downside is, I can only access my emails from this single computer, that's why I am interested to install my own IMAP server on a Gentoo machine.

I never used an email client under Linux before, but as I intend to install Gentoo with KDE on my upcomming notebook, I'd like to use an email-client, that integrated into the KDE environment (so probably kmail).

My question now is:

Is there any email-client, or can any email-client (kmail?) be configured, to store all data (including sent and deleted emails) on the IMAP server?

As I have seen in the Eurora email-client during some tests in the past, the use with IMAP is usually handled like this: emails arrive on the IMAP server and stay there, you can create folders, let the email server sort incoming emails into different folders, you can store emails on the server, BUT: sent emails and deleted emails always end up in the client's "sent" and "trash" folders (or am I wrong on this?)

So this way, I can access incoming and stored emails on the IMAP server from any computer and any client, that can access my account on the IMAP server, but I can only search through sent and deleted emails on that particular computer, on which the messages were sent or deleted.

So I need an email-client, that handels all emails (incoming, stored, sent, deleted) directly on the IMAP mailserver itself, like a webmail-application, without putting anything locally onto the harddrive of the used computer.

Is this possible with kmail or any other email-client, or am I totally lost and a webmail-client is the only thing, that can handle it this way?
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Galabriel · Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject:

Schönen Tag aber auch... auf deinem Linux Gentoo wird sicherlich eine Version des Evolution Email Clients sein... der erlaubt dir all das zu tun was du gern tun würdest

jedoch würd ich dir den Thunderbird mit seinen Extensions von Mozilla raten...

ich hoffe ich konnte weiterhelfen

greets

gabriel
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Zuti · Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 5:03 pm Post subject:

short answer: yes

a bit longer: with IMAP all your email stays on the server. Almost every email client supports IMAP, so no need to use webmail.
Be sure to put your 'sent' folder in your mail client to your inbox sent-mail folder and not to a sent folder on your local machine. This way the sent email will be placed on the server.

Personally, I dont like Kmail. Sylpheed looks like Eudora. Evolution looks like Outlook, and nothing beats Thunderbird. They all can handle IMAP.

Thats about it i think.
good luck

Master One · l33t Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 754 Location: Austria

Thank's for your answers, guys (Galabriel, please let's stick with English, this is an international forum, and others may also benefit from this thread).

I actually can't test it, because I don't have access to an IMAP server, and I didn't even start setting up my own machine (also it really sounds just too promising).

I really didn't think, it could be that easy, because at least in Eudora it does not look like there is any possibility to change the "sent" and "trash" folder to be on the IMAP server instead in a local folder (at least I didn't find anything under options, that could have to do with this matter -> but this is not really important right now, because as soon as I have a new notebook, I wipe WinXP and do a Gentoo installation to be used as the single OS).

As I have no Gentoo desktop installation until now, I also don't have any of the mentioned programs in use, but I intend to use KDE as my DE, so it's all about Konqueror for webbrowsing (which is also the only browser under Linux which can access our Panasonic network-cameras), I will not install Mozilla and most likely also no Thunderbird and Evolution, just because they do not fit into KDE that well, like Kmail (I assume). I heard about Sylpheed / Sylpheed claws, but I am not especially after a mailclient, that looks like Eudora.

Is there anything about Kmail, I should know, because you don't like it, Zuti? Kmail was my first choice, because it's a real KDE app, it integrates with KDE well, and also with the KDE Kontact, I assume it to be very mature since it has been arround for a long time already. And what makes Thunderbird that extraordinary?

But to stay on topic: Can anyone give an example for one of the popular email clients, what exactly has to be configured, that the applications puts sent and deleted emails in the "sent" and "trash" folder on the IMAP server, instead into local folders? I still can not imagine, how this can be done (without setting up any difficult filters, which transfer mails from local folders to folders on the IMAP servers on event)?
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Zuti · Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 1:06 am Post subject:

Well, just like you, I use DE specific apps.
My DE is xfce4, so any QT apps look ugly, and I try to avoid them.
I never really used Kmail, so I cant really comment on it sucking bad or something. I think you can configure Kmail anyway you like (I dont suspect Kmail being different)

meyerm · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:35 pm Post subject:

OK, KMail is capable of doin all you wanted and what was suggested in this thread (sent-mail and trash on the server) and much, much more. It is the prefered client for security sensitive organisations since it is very good in doing S/MIME stuff using the new Ägypten2 patches. It integrates very good into KDE (including adressbook) and is very capable of handling multiple threads (nice when using IMAP - no blocking of UI). And it does not go to its knees on big folders (5000+ mails).

So, just use it. :-)

You won't be disappointed.

Master One · l33t Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 754 Location: Austria

Ägypten2 patches? Never heard about these before.
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meyerm · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject:

Master One · l33t Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 754 Location: Austria

meyerm · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:21 pm Post subject:

To be honest, I don't know. But as far as I remember reading the CVS comments it is now ready for KMail 1.7 but not included in the default KDE packages. This is due for KDE 3.4. Since I don't use S/MIME for myself I'm not sure.

fourhead · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 4:53 pm Post subject:

Just found this thread and I hope someone can help me. I've just set up my own mailserver with Postfix & Courier-IMAP. I can connect to the IMAP server with KMail just fine, and I find the following folder structure there: