Timo Sirainen:
One possibility is to just wait for dbox with multiple-messages-per-file feature. I can't really say when it'll be ready (or when I'll even start implementing it), but I know I want to use it myself and some companies have also recently been asking about it.
Have you considered making dbox a major priority for v. 1.2?
I have been holding back on v.1.2 because I dont really see the big improvements in it that I saw in v.1.0 and v.1.1. With 1.0 and 1.1 I hurried off using them in production environments even while they where still in beta (of course only after proper testing) because they posed so many advantages (primarily speed and stability) over other solutions.
Since Im focused almost entirely on stability and speed, and very little on fancy functionality, what v.1.0 offers in terms of functionality is just fine. What drove me towards 1.1 were speed improvements (and stability on NFS). I remember you made a post about not many people testing v.1.2. I think the reason may be that most users feel the same as me. Theyd like to se a major feature that benefits their primary needs, which isnt in term of functionality but more in term of speed improvements. Dbox could be that feature as I think there isnt much room for further developing the Maildir format (and as far as I can see you have gone as far as possible with regards to optimizing speed while working within the boundaries of the Maildir standard).
Maildir is nice compared to mbox but it really isnt optimal. In days where IOPS is the most difficult resource to get into your server (and dovecot already using close to nothing in terms of CPU time and memory) having one file per e-mail is less than sub-optimal especially when a large amount of users just downloads the whole mailbox using POP3 (not to mention backing up Maildirs).
Now don't take this as a critic, I love your software. I just would really like to se dbox evolve and think it would be a major driving force for v.1.2 :)
Develop dbox, Do it. Do it naoughw! (preferably pronounced with a schwarzeneggerish accent like in the last three seconds of this splendid video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adc3MSS5Ydc).
Best regards, Mikkel