[Dovecot] Automatically subscribe to folder?

pod pod at herald.ox.ac.uk
Fri Jan 4 16:18:28 EET 2008


>>>>> "NS" == Nikolay Shopik <shopik at inblock.ru> writes:

    NS> I forgot to add some MUA don't like be subscribed to folders which
    NS> doesn't exist so you should probably aware of this too in case
    NS> such MUA used in your environment .

While it doesn't surprise me that there may well be MUAs which don't like
subcriptions to folders that don't exist it seems to me that such MUAs are
sailing pretty close to the wind as regards RFC 3501.

The wording of sections 6.3.6 and 6.3.9 as I read it pretty heavily imply
that clients must be prepared to deal with subscribed folders that no
longer exist because a server is explicitly prevented from attempting to
'protect' a client from such a situation.

6.3.6.  SUBSCRIBE Command

[...]

      A server MAY validate the mailbox argument to SUBSCRIBE to verify
      that it exists.  However, it MUST NOT unilaterally remove an
      existing mailbox name from the subscription list even if a mailbox
      by that name no longer exists.

           Note: This requirement is because a server site can
           choose to routinely remove a mailbox with a well-known
           name (e.g., "system-alerts") after its contents expire,
           with the intention of recreating it when new contents
           are appropriate.

[...]

6.3.9.  LSUB Command

[...]

      The server MUST NOT unilaterally remove an existing mailbox name
      from the subscription list even if a mailbox by that name no
      longer exists.


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