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Email On Both the Desktop and the Laptop?
RapterOfParadox asks: "I recently purchased a new laptop and have everything configured except for my e-mail. I've always liked having a single location where I know my e-mail is safe, secure and gets backed up automatically. If I've needed access to new messages then I use webmail, since I close down the email client when I leave the house. I'm currently using Outlook XP for my desktop and was thinking about using the same for my laptop. My only issue is that I'm a little weary about using only my laptop for storing e-mail, since it's a lot more likely to fail. I've been thinking about just synchronizing my Outlook data directories at login, or even using IMAP. Has anyone seen/bought/built an e-mail client that will allow me to have my main e-mail client on my desktop and then update my laptop e-mail client when ever I'm in range, or through a personal IMAP Server?"
http://fastmail.fm/
I use it from my latop / desktop / web browser / Nokia 6600
etc. etc.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
leave a copy of the messages on the server and have both the workstation and laptop check them. set them to delete the messages after 7-10 days or whatever time period you think would be sufficient for both places to check the mail.
Get paid to code OSS
Exactly, and if you want double protection for some important messages, just forward them (just those or all!) to a gmail account. You can set up filters to redirect mails from certain persons, or on certain subjects, or just everything, automatically!
Your IMAP suggestion is the way to go.
Here's the recipe:
use fetchmail to get your mail from all the mail accounts you might have,
use spamassassin to check your mail for spam,
use clamav to check for virusses (if you are on Windows, like you are),
use procmail to filter the mail to seperate folders,
set up imap so you can read the mail from any mailclient without removing it from the server,
install some kind of webmail so you can reach your mail from internet-kiosks and other places with browser-only access.
Finally, BACK IT UP! Bacula is quite good.
Really easy, really simple. Just use remote desktop and connect back to your home machine. I have been doing this for years and works fantastic. Not to mention it's an easy way to bypass any corporate website blocking too..
I'd recommend IMAPS (IMAP with SSL) for a secure connection between your client and server. And a webmail client that accesses the IMAPS server as well. Whether you should do it yourself or subscribe to a service depends on how much time you want to spend setting it up (assuming you have the skills to do so -- it's not trivial).
Software sucks. Open Source sucks less.