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- Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
- Path: sparky!uunet!caen!merit.edu!mad
- From: mad@merit.edu (Mark Davis-Craig)
- Subject: Explanation of POP/IMAP followed by list of available clients
- Message-ID: <mad.37.712247296@merit.edu>
- Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 10:28:16 EDT
- Organization: Merit Network, Inc.
- References: <36482@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu>
- Nntp-Posting-Host: ajax.merit.edu
- Lines: 233
-
- In article <36482@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu> nh@condo.cis.ufl.edu (Nadeem Haider) writes:
- >From: nh@condo.cis.ufl.edu (Nadeem Haider)
- >Subject: any tpc/ip mail client/server needed...
- >Date: 22 Jul 92 05:07:39 GMT
-
-
- >hi
-
- >I'm a newcomer to the world of TCP/IP so please correct me if I
- >am misinformed!
-
- >Here is the situation:
-
- >We have a bunch of PCs that are linked with ethernet and TCP/IP
- >software and a socket library is already up and running. At this point
- >in time I am not sure who provided the tcp/ip protocol implementation.
-
- >Now what is needed is a 'mail' utility...actually there is talk about
- >writing one from scratch, both the client/server ends but I am sure
- >something like this already exists, right? I would appreciate it if
- >anyone could provide me with more details.
-
- >thanks
- >(Please respond via email)
- >
- >+------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
- >| | |
- >| Nadeem Haider | Internet : nh@cis.ufl.edu |
- >| Computer & Information Sciences | Office : CSE 409 |
- >| University of Florida, Gainesville | Telephone: (904)392-2594 |
- >| | |
- >+------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
-
-
- I don't know this man from Syracuse, but I sure appreciate his
- posting to the POP mail list.
-
- To: haugen@bma.com (John M. Haugen)
- Cc: pop@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu, jmwobus@mailbox.syr.edu
- Subject: Re: Looking for a POP3 server
- In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 23 Jul 92 09:30:53 EDT."
- <9207231330.AA10316@bulus98>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 14:23:59 -0400
- From: "John M. Wobus" <jmwobus@mailbox.syr.edu>
- John Wobus
- Syracuse University
- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- Serving PCs and Workstations Using a Central Mail Server on an Internet
- ------- --- --- ------------ ----- - ------- ---- ------ -- -- --------
-
- There are advantages to collecting mail destined to PCs and
- workstations on a central server, to be turned over to the PC or
- workstation on demand:
-
- - Your PC or workstation may be down quite a bit and less network
- bandwidth and less of the processing resouces of the sending computer
- are used if the computer receiving your mail is ready.
- - Some people use more than one PC or workstation to read mail.
- - A PC or workstation may not have the resources to store all the mail
- you receive.
- - It can make your e-mail address more like other users'.
-
- The easiest way to "implement" this is to run the central mail server
- like any multi-user system: let people sign on to it and use some mail
- utility. Then PC and workstation users can use "terminal sessions" to
- sign on to the central mail server and read their mail. This has the
- disadvantage of making the PC and workstation users learn and use the
- central mail server's procedures.
-
- SMTP, the "internet" mail protocol used to deliver mail between
- multi-user systems only supports mail transfer initiated by the
- sender. Other protocols have been devised to allow a workstation or PC
- to request transfer of mail, thus able to make use of a cnetral
- server. These include the published protocols POP (probably not used
- anymore), POP2, POP3, IMAP2, IMAP3 and DMSP.
-
- POP, POP2, POP3: These are rather minimal and are designed to be so.
- The three are similar but not enough alike to be interoperable. They
- are basically designed to identify the user by username and password,
- to transfer the mail from server to PC or workstation and to delete the
- mail transferred. It is assumed that SMTP will be used to send mail.
- Messages can be retrieved individually, but the only information you
- can get about a message without transferring it is its length in
- bytes-- useful for PCs with limited storage.
-
- POP2 and POP3 are still used a good deal. POP3 has a couple of
- optional extensions: one to avoid sending passwords, and one to aid in
- reading bulletin boards.
-
- IMAP2, IMAP3: The IMAP family is similar to the POP family, but also
- gives clients a way to do string searches through mail that still
- resides on the server. This is designed to allow the PC or workstation
- to be more selective as to which mail will be transferred. The POP
- protocols, on the other hand, are designed for simpler server
- software.
-
- IMAP2 is used quite a bit. IMAP3 is an incompatible offshoot that has
- not been implemented much. Recent work not yet documented in an RFC
- has extended IMAP2 to include support for multimedia mail.
-
- DMSP (aka PCMAIL): PCs and workstations can use this protocol to both
- send and receive mail. The system is designed around the idea that
- each user can own more than one workstation; however, the system
- doesn't seem to handle the idea of a "public workstation" very well.
- The PCs and workstations are assumed to hold state information about
- the mail, a directory so to speak, and when the PC or workstation is
- connected to the server, this directory is updated to "reality".
-
- More about the protocols:
-
- Name: Post Office Protocol, Version 2
- Nickname: POP2
- Document: RFC 937 (Butler et al, February 1985)
- TCP-port: 109
- Sites:
-
- Name: Post Office Portocol, Version 3
- Nickname: POP3
- Document: RFC 1225 (Rose, May 1991)
- TCP-port: 110 (109 also often used)
- Sites: UC Irvine, MIT
-
- Name: Distributed Mail Service Protocol
- Nickname: DMSP, Pcmail
- Document: RFC 1056 (Lambert, June 1988)
- TCP-port: 158
- Sites: MIT
-
- Name: Interactive Mail Access Protocol, Version 2
- Nickname: IMAP2
- Document: RFC 1176 (Crispin, August 1990)
- TCP-port: 143
- Sites: Stanford, U Washington
-
- Name: Interactive Mail Access Protocol, Version 3
- Nickname: IMAP3
- Document: RFC 1203 (Rice, February 1991)
- TCP-port: 220
- Sites: Stanford
-
- Implementations:
-
- Prot Computer Implementation End Source
- ------ ----------- ------------------- ------- --------------------------------
- DSMP ? Pcmail 3.1 reposit. server allspice.lcs.mit.edu
- DSMP PC pc-epsilon (3.1) client allspice.lcs.mit.edu
- DSMP PC pc-netmail (3.1) client allspice.lcs.mit.edu
- DSMP PC pc-reader client allspice.lcs.mit.edu
- DSMP Unix/EMACS Pcmail 3.1 client allspice.lcs.mit.edu
- DSMP PC PC/TCP client FTP Software
- DSMP OS/2 PC/TCP client FTP Software
- DSMP OS/2 TCP/2 client Essex Systems
- DSMP OS/2 TCP/2 SERVER PACK server Essex Systems
- DSMP OS/2 TCP/2 ADV CLIENT client Essex Systems
- IMAP2 Macintosh MacMS 2.1b1 client sumex-aim.stanford.edu
- IMAP2 Macintosh Mailstrom (beta?) client sumex-aim.stanford.edu
- IMAP2 NeXT EasyMail client ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- IMAP2 NeXT MailManager server ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- IMAP2 TOPS20 ? server ?
- IMAP2 Unix ? client ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- IMAP2 Unix imapd 3.1 server sumex-aim.stanford.edu
- IMAP2 Unix imapd server ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- IMAP2 Unix pine client ftp.cac.washington.edu
- IMAP2 Xrx Lsp Mch ? client ?
- IMAP2 MS-DOS pine (future) client ?
- IMAP2 MS-Windows ? client ?Some company in Canada
- POP2 Macintosh MacPOP 1.5 client trident.arc.nasa.gov
- POP2 Macintosh POPMail II client boombox.micro.umn.edu
- POP2 Macintosh MailStop server boombox.micro.umn.edu
- POP2 MS-DOS PC POP 2.1 client trident.arc.nasa.gov
- POP2 MS-DOS LifeLine Mail client SunSelect
- POP2 MS-DOS ka9q server ucsd.edu
- POP2 MS-DOS MD/DOS-IP client U Maryland
- POP2 MS-DOS PC/TCP client FTP Software
- POP2 Unix ? server boombox.micro.umn.edu
- POP2 Unix popd (USC-ISI) server trident.arc.nasa.gov
- POP2 Unix imapd/ipop2d server ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- POP2 Unix mh-6.7 (UCI RandMH) server lilac.berkeley.edu
- POP2 VM FAL server IBM
- POP2 VM ? server Texas Tech University
- POP2 OS/2 TCP/2 SERVER PACK server Essex Systems
- POP3 Macintosh Eudora 1.1 client ftp.cso.uiuc.edu
- POP3k Macintosh Eudora X client run at Brown U.
- POP3 Macintosh MacPOP (Berkeley) client ftp.cc.berkeley.edu
- POP3k Macintosh TechMail 2.0 client net-dist.mit.edu
- POP3 Macintosh TCP/Connect II client InterCon Systems Corporation
- POP3 Macintosh MacMH client jessica.stanford.edu/info
- POP3 Macintosh POPMail II client boombox.micro.umn.edu
- POP3 Unix popper-1.7 server lilac.berkeley.edu
- POP3 Unix mh-6.7 (UCI RandMH) both ics.uci.edu
- POP3 Unix imapd/ipop3d server ftphost.cac.washington.edu
- POP3 MS-DOS PC/TCP client FTP Software
- POP3 MS-DOS TechMail(future) client ?
- POP3 MS-DOS ? client logos.ucs.indiana.edu
- POP3 MS-DOS NUPOP (in beta) client (ftp.acns.nwu.edu)
- POP3 MS-DOS POPMail/PC client boombox.micro.umn.edu
- POP3 MS-DOS Eudora (alpha) client Qualcomm Inc (pc-eudora-info@qualcom.com)
- POP3 MS-DOS ka9q (future) server ?
- POP3x MSwindows WinQVT (2.1) client QPC Software (shareware)
- POP3 MSwindows Eudora (future) client Qualcomm Inc (pc-eudora-info@qualcom.com)
- POP3 VMS IUPOP3 (1.7) server logos.ucs.indiana.edu
- POP3 VMS MULTINet both TGV, Inc.
- POP3 OS/2 TCP/2 SERVER PACK server Essex Systems
- POP3 OS/2 TCP/2 ADV CLIENT client Essex Systems
- POP? MS-DOS UCDmail client ucdavis.ucdavis.edu
- POP? MS-DOS PC POP client ?Bill Schweickert/Sterling Fed
- POP? Macintosh MEWS client ?
- POP? Macintosh byupopmail client ?
- POP? VM ? server TTUVM1
- ? Macintosh Hypermail ? ?
- ------ ----------- ------------------- ------- --------------------------------
- Appendix:
- Some other packages for desktop systems
- ------ ----------- ------------------- ------- --------------------------------
- uucp Macintosh uAccess peer ICE Engineering
- SMTP Macintosh LeeMail 1.2.4 peer Shareware, laf@mitre.org
- uucp Macintosh FernMail peer Shareware, dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us
- prop Macintosh MacPost both ftp.lu.se
- uucp Macintosh Eudora peer ftp.cso.uiuc.edu
- uucp Macintosh UUPC peer dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us
- uucp Macintosh gnuucp peer jim@fpr.com
- ? MS-DOS Pmail 2.3 (R1) client splicer.cba.hawaii.edu
- ? MS-DOS Pmail 2.3 (R2)(fut) client
- ? MS-Windows Pmain/Windows (fut) client
- ? Macintosh Pmail/Mac 1.1 client splicer.cba.hawaii.edu
- ? Macintosh Pmail/Mac 2.0(beta) client risc.ua.edu
- ------ ----------- ------------------- ------- --------------------------------
- Other issues:
- (1) What are the common extensions to POP3 and which clients/servers
- support them?
- ------ ----------- ------------------- ------- --------------------------------
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- Mark Davis-Craig, Merit Network, (313)-936-3000, mad@merit.edu
-