fetching mail (but not fetchmail)

[Chris Brennan]

On Fri, Dec 24, 2010 at 1:07 AM, Polytropon <freebsd at edvax.de> wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:01:48 -0500, Chris Brennan <xaero at xaerolimit.net>
> wrote:
> > Thanks but I I think maybe I wasn't entirely clear. With fetchmail (which
> is
> > why I said but not fetchmail in the subject) I very well can download all
> my
> > mail. For reading locally, on the console (not what I had in mind). Or is
> > this where dovecot comes into play? To prepare the previously fetched
> mail
> > and prepare it for pop/imap access?
>
> No. The fetchmail program usually fetches (copies and flushes,
> or not flushes) the POP mailbox and places the content on your
> local machine into your user's mailbox, /var/mail/$USER. From
> there on, you can do with the mail what you want, e. g. view
> it with mail (from the base system), incorporate "from spool"
> into Sylpheed, Thunderbird, pine, whatever program you want,
> or continue processing with another program (e. g. to transfer
> the messages elsewhere - this is where docevot enters the
> scene).
>
>
Ok so fetchmail is step 1, step 2 is to unleash dovecet on /var/mail/$USER
and then just point ex: thunderbird at my local server:port and happy
hunting?