[nos-bbs] JNOS closer to Winlink than many realize + hf.ampr.org anyone ?

[maiko at pcs.mb.ca]

Skip wrote :

> Maiko,  you started a significant thread here...

I'm wishing now that I had not :-)

> In a way, the WINlink looks and behaves alot like IMAP ...

I was speaking from a conceptual point of view. Perhaps IMAP was
a bad choice of words. I personally don't like IMAP, but that's
for another thread and time.

> feature development might better be toward an IMAP model.

>From day one, I believe I had said that I see JNOS mostly as a
router first, and services a far second. I don't ever plan on writing
an IMAP server for JNOS. I don't see the point. If we were ever to
have a centralized mail system, it would not be JNOS running as
the central server. Nope ! JNOS would be a ground station, a
simple client. Now - an IMAP client ? perhaps.

But even IMAP would not work out here. IMAP and POP are user
specific. We would need a protocol that copies headers for ALL
users located on the central server, and make all of that
available to all participating JNOS clients. This has to
be done without prior knowledge of who ALL the users are.

IMAP and POP both would not be suitable for that. Or am I wrong ?

> HMMM - mimic winlink?  Interface with winlink for sure...  Maybe not
> clone...

I never said I wanted to mimic Winlink. I like the concept of how
their users can get their messages. It's actually quite brilliant,
and it would an interesting experiment to see if we could come up
with a similar system, and ultimately have the ability to integrate
with other systems SUCH AS Winlink and others out there. It would
be cool if F6FBB could do the same for instance.

> Maiko you may not have intended to go directly toward imap

Correct.

> Still it seems that imap has potential to simplify mail handling
> from the user standpoint ... while at the same time reducing
> bandwidth requirements.

I want the underlying protocol to be completely transparent. The
user on a JNOS system should not have to care if IMAP or whatever
is being used. All they want to see is their messages. IMAP is
also not *that* simple. We use it at work, it can consume ALOT
of bandwidth, it can eat up ALOT of server cpu time, trust me.

> To that end, is there any use for a user "how to" and mock up
> configuration for admins as though imap was supported by jnos?

I wouldn't waste your time right now Skip. It was just me thinking
outloud. The IMAP was not meant to be taken literally. My apologies
for perhaps not being more clear on it.

Maiko