Re: [exim] imap vs pop contemplations

On 6/1/11, Mark Elkins <mje@???> wrote:
> (really off topic - but..)
>
> I'd assume that some people access the mail service using a Laptop.
> As soon as that device is stolen or broken beyond repair and all the
> 'pop-ed' e-mail is lost - and backups are not quite as up to date as
> they should be - and the e-mail from last week outlining some
> multi-million contract is now lost....
> ...with a new laptop and iMAP - all the mail is still there.

Or all your mail can go missing even if you didn't lose your laptop,
if your mail client has a software bug such as purging local store
despite being told not to.

Personally, I'll never forget the WTF experience of having to scramble
to find critical info in older mails after switching to IMAP as
"recommended" for maintaining synchronicity for sent mails.

So despite the fact many people seem to decry POP3, I'm wouldn't use
IMAP except on my tablet and phone.

It's a lot safer to know what email was sent by BCCing to myself and
setting an appropriate filter, than to trust that I wouldn't lose
access to my email on a server a few thousand miles away when I
absolutely need it. And being paranoid, I have all those mail nicely
POP'd down at home on an archive machine and could remote in to
retrieve it even if I did lose my laptop ;)

>From the other side of the fence, I don't feel comfortable being
wholly responsible for my users' valuable emails when they don't
backup their stuff and don't want to pay for backup service. Not to
mention having to repeatedly explain and point to FAQs about why their
4GB inbox is full despite them "deleting" away old mails.

Similar to the OP, most of my users don't access their emails from
anything but their work desktops or laptops permanently sitting on
their desk. I leave IMAP functions available but always recommend them
to use POP3 on their desktops.