dovecot - Mar 2011 - http://wiki2.dovecot.org/MailServerOverview contains poppycock

Just having another look at http://wiki2.dovecot.org/MailServerOverview 
, it seems to have some statements in it which are misleading, and some 
which are really ... well ... wrong.

Quote: "With the possible, optional, exception of the deliver MDA, 
Dovecot is not involved with reception, delivery, and storage of mail. 
That function is provided by a MTA such as postfix 
<http://www.postfix.org>. It is the MTA that determines where and how 
mail is stored - Dovecot must then be configured to retrieve the mail 
accordingly." (Entered by user "amfes".)

This contains a significant proportion of poppycock.

Dovecot includes extensive functionality for the storage (as in the 
action of storing) of e-mail as well as retrieval, in the shape of the LDA.

Using Dovecot's LDA is /required/ in the case of Dovecot-specific mail 
storage formats (sdbox, mdbox).

With mbox, use of the Dovecot LDA is advisable since it will guarantee a 
locking strategy which is compatible with Dovecot's mail retrieval 
functionality.

And in any case, use of the Dovecot LDA has merit in that it should 
guarantee line-up between the mailstore configurations used for storage 
and retrieval.

It is NOT the MTA that determines where and how mail is stored. It is 
the PERSON who configures the system who decides this, and codifies that 
configuration into whatever systems carry out local delivery and retrieval.

It IS true that use of Dovecot's LDA is optional, but to say that it is 
a "possible exception" is misleading. People /should/ use the Dovecot 
LDA if they are using Dovecot IMAP/POP, and the /option/ is to use the 
MTA's local delivery system /if/ it is so indicated on a particular system.

Quote: "Again, it bears repeating, Dovecot /is not responsible for mail 
delivery or storage/. Any questions on these issues involve your MTA and 
MDA. Get those working first." (Entered by user "DanielMiller".)

Again, contains quite a lot of misleading nonsense.

"Mail delivery" includes the hand-off of the message by the MTA to the
LDA, and the storage of the message by the LDA. The LDA should probably 
be Dovecot, so really Dovecot /is/ partially responsible for mail delivery.

"Storage" involves that placing of message into the message store.
This
should be done by Dovecot, so Dovecot is responsible for this.

Bill

Instead of complaining, why not just fix it (it is a wiki after all) and
*then* post your email explaining the changes you made?

On 2011-03-22 8:28 AM, William Blunn wrote:
> Just having another look at http://wiki2.dovecot.org/MailServerOverview
> , it seems to have some statements in it which are misleading, and some
> which are really ... well ... wrong.
> 
> Quote: "With the possible, optional, exception of the deliver MDA,
> Dovecot is not involved with reception, delivery, and storage of mail.
> That function is provided by a MTA such as postfix
> <http://www.postfix.org>. It is the MTA that determines where and how
> mail is stored - Dovecot must then be configured to retrieve the mail
> accordingly." (Entered by user "amfes".)
> 
> This contains a significant proportion of poppycock.
> 
> Dovecot includes extensive functionality for the storage (as in the
> action of storing) of e-mail as well as retrieval, in the shape of the LDA.
> 
> Using Dovecot's LDA is /required/ in the case of Dovecot-specific mail
> storage formats (sdbox, mdbox).
> 
> With mbox, use of the Dovecot LDA is advisable since it will guarantee a
> locking strategy which is compatible with Dovecot's mail retrieval
> functionality.
> 
> And in any case, use of the Dovecot LDA has merit in that it should
> guarantee line-up between the mailstore configurations used for storage
> and retrieval.
> 
> It is NOT the MTA that determines where and how mail is stored. It is
> the PERSON who configures the system who decides this, and codifies that
> configuration into whatever systems carry out local delivery and retrieval.
> 
> It IS true that use of Dovecot's LDA is optional, but to say that it is
> a "possible exception" is misleading. People /should/ use the
Dovecot
> LDA if they are using Dovecot IMAP/POP, and the /option/ is to use the
> MTA's local delivery system /if/ it is so indicated on a particular
system.
> 
> Quote: "Again, it bears repeating, Dovecot /is not responsible for
mail
> delivery or storage/. Any questions on these issues involve your MTA and
> MDA. Get those working first." (Entered by user
"DanielMiller".)
> 
> Again, contains quite a lot of misleading nonsense.
> 
> "Mail delivery" includes the hand-off of the message by the MTA
to the
> LDA, and the storage of the message by the LDA. The LDA should probably
> be Dovecot, so really Dovecot /is/ partially responsible for mail delivery.
> 
> "Storage" involves that placing of message into the message
store. This
> should be done by Dovecot, so Dovecot is responsible for this.
-- 

Best regards,

Charles

On 22/03/2011 13:00, Charles Marcus wrote:
> Instead of complaining, why not just fix it (it is a wiki after all) and
*then* post your email explaining the changes you made?
For changes for the better to come to fruition, a number of things need 
to happen, only one of which is actually making the changes.

So initially I was identifying problems, and possible solutions. I 
posted a message in case there would be anything to be gained from a 
discussion on the subject.

After reflection, I decided it might be as well to come up with some new 
words which should be right enough that they would be an improvement on 
the existing text even if they needed further work later.

So I made changes to the wiki.

http://wiki2.dovecot.org/MailServerOverview

After making changes in the wiki, I saw your message.

Bill