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That being said, my "attitude" wasn't towards Java, it was towards using Java for the wrong things. I run Java apps. In fact, one of my favorite apps is Zoe which is a Java app. My phone is Java based, and I even learned Java so I could write some stuff for it. My primary issue is with using it as an agent. Secondarily I would have a hard time trusting it for a mission critical piece like Systems Monitoring. That is probably prejudice based on my long experience with Java, and could be overcome if the product was worth it. But in this case, it is not.

I'm not a "PHP" guy. I know PHP, but I also know (some) ruby/python, shell, perl, C, C++, D, etc. It's not my primary focus however and the language itself is really not the point of this discussion.

I'm using ZOE which is collecting & indexing emails for me. You can make it run via SSL, it runs Java. Works pretty well.

We started here at work using http://www.zoe.nu./on each users workstation and enforcing smaller mailbox sizes. This has done several things beyond saving space. One Zoe is fantastic for searching, two the users are even more carefull to remove spam and three Zoe extracts tons of usefull details with each search!

ZOE: http://zoe.nu/ is a nice mail archiver/indexer/server. It has a nice web user interface, it is written in java and it is easy to install.

If it only handled IMAP...

Well, if you're going to be on this topic, a mention of ZOË is pretty much required.

ZOË is a sort of an archiving proxy that sits between your mail client and your mail server. It stores and indexes everything, so you can pop open a browser window and do a search on anything you've ever sent or received. Naturally, this was created before gmail.

With ZOË you don't need to worry about those pesky email folders and waiting for long searches.

Naturally, spam filtering before ZOË is a good idea.

And this is also why search-based systems like GMail and Zoe that let you group and classify things on the fly are so useful. And it's not limited to computer stuff, either. Haven't you ever tried to figure out which of your (manila) file folders you should use to file a receipt?

Your security is only as strong as the weakest link on the system. Forget the Google Desktop, if you have all your mail sitting around unencrypted on your hard disk, it doesn't take much to write code that finds and sniffs through it, no matter which email client you're using. (Makes me wonder what kind of security an email "librarian" like Zoe offers...) Again, the key is to do the right things to keep the malware out in the first place.

Folks, ZOË has been doing a fantastic job of email archiving and searching for some time now. Check it out... it's open source and totally cross platform and will happily co-exist with whatever email client you are already using.

It's such a great system, that it's not uncommon to see comments on the mailing list from users who keep 10's of thousands of emails in ZOË without any problems. I, personally, have email going back to 1995 in ZOË and have back burner plans to copy my old Tapcis emails from the 80's to ZOË.

Welcome to ZOË "Googling Your Email"
http://zoe.nu/

I was going to rant on about how much better Zoe is, but the review really makes it sound like the Google folks have gotten a few things right. Zoe may have to change it's byline of "Googling your email".

Nonetheless, I'd really like to suggest that folks who like GMail give Zoe a try and if you don't think Zoe is feature complete, then help out... it's an open source Java program, so you have the control and it's cross platform.

One caveat is that Zoe is a mail archiver, not a client, so it's best used in conjunction with a desktop client for reading and composing messages. It's not quite in the same niche as GMail, but it's actually more flexible because you get the choice of how to use it and it still stores messages so you don't have to mess with mail folders and you will be able to find any message from any browser.

Another alternate is ZOE, based on the Java Lucene engine:

Google for email

I have used it for over a year and it has become indespensible, and I'll be very interested when GMail is public to compare the functionality

I fully concur. Zoe is wonderful; I haven't deleted any mail in the last two years. But I want something faster!

... try ZOE. The interface is sometimes clumsy, but the idea and the feeling are king.

You already can: Zoe

... like this? Nope, it's not a joke... shame it's only an obscure little project, because there are things to improve in the UI design... but... it IS really cool.

Zoe is an interesting take on email, by doing "for email... what Google did for the web". It acts as email server/client/search engine all in one.

I think it still needs some work, but it looks promising.