Hallo,
is it possible to implement a "flat folder view" for POP3 users?
The problem is that POP3 only knows one folder: INBOX. Now, if a user logs in via POP3, he won't see messages that live outside the INBOX folder - this could be e.g. a *SPAM*-flagged message moved to another folder via Sieve/LDA/other mechanism.
What about adding a feature pop3_remap_folders to virtually place *all*
messages spread across different folders inside INBOX, only for the POP3
session, and without impact on the actual folder structure as seen thru
IMAP?
I see some issues though:
- How would SENT and TRASH be handled? These special foldersshouldn't be part of the game.
- What happens if the POP3 client deletes a message, which is thedefault behavior of Outlook and friends? Proposed logic: really delete message if not logged in via IMAP since ($filemtime_of_message - $user_configurable_amount_of_seconds), else gracefully ignore client's delete request. This *could* become a problem if quotas are enabled, but then again it should be the admin's decision to offer this feature to his users.
- Message IDs: Would the above Delete-only-if workaround confusesome mail clients and make them download the same messages over and over?
- Perhaps another way: create a separate POP3 directory inside themailbox, only used by dovecot-pop3. Inside reside symlinks to the actual messages spread across different IMAP folders, which can safely be deleted by a POP3 client and also following the real-delete logic described above.
The benefit of such a virtual folder remapping would be great for systems also using webmail and/or Sieve.
Regards, James
-- jbdovecot@fcgh.net