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Linux Desktop Hacks
book

Linux Desktop Hacks

by Nicholas Petreley, Jono Bacon
March 2005
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
342 pages
15h 55m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Linux Desktop Hacks
188
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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 ...
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596009119Supplemental ContentCatalog PageErrata