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Chapter 8, Desktop Programs
#59 Convert Your Mailbox
HACK
Other potential uses for procmail include sending all mail through Spam-
assassin to root out all the junk and prevent it from entering your mailboxes.
See Also
• procmailex manpage
• procmailrc manpage
• egrep manpage
—Adam Garside
HACK
#59
Convert Your Mailbox Hack #59
Don’t let your old email become stranded in a format that your new mail
program can’t read.
Switching email clients, MTAs, or mail servers can be a traumatic process.
And getting used to the different interface of an email client and its way of
working can be awkward. Aside from the cosmetic changes, you might have
a far more serious problem if the new client stores its mail differently.
This hack takes you through the steps of converting between the two most
popular formats on Linux: mbox and maildir. This can often be a daunting
and confusing process, but with this hack by your side, you will be convert-
ing your mail in no time.
The most common reasons to switch mailbox formats are as follows:
Switching email clients
Not all email clients support both mailbox formats. If you really want to
use a client that doesn’t support your current format, you need to covert
your old mail to a format that is supported.
Switching your local delivery agent
Many Linux users run an MTA on their desktops to handle mail deliv-
ery to local users. Like email clients, not all email servers support ...