From ceebdb1e882e7ffb9ce2f56915a9914ab116fe86 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Eric S. Raymond" Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 04:20:56 +0000 Subject: Initial revision svn path=/trunk/; revision=1231 --- fetchmail-features.html | 135 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 135 insertions(+) create mode 100644 fetchmail-features.html (limited to 'fetchmail-features.html') diff --git a/fetchmail-features.html b/fetchmail-features.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000..3302ed37 --- /dev/null +++ b/fetchmail-features.html @@ -0,0 +1,135 @@ + + + +Fetchmail Feature List + + + + + + +

Back to Fetchmail Home Page +

To Site Map +

$Date: 1997/08/05 04:17:57 $ +

+ +

Fetchmail Feature List

+ +Here are fetchmail's main features. Those unique to fetchmail +are listed first.

+ +

Since 4.0:

Support for responding with a one-time password when a POP3 server + issues an RFC1938-conforming OTP challenge. (Still experimental) +

+ +

Since 3.0:

Support for IMAP RFC 1731 authentication with Kerberos v4. + +
Support for multiple-folder retrieval in a single session + under IMAP. + +
Following SMTP 571 response to a From line, fetchmail no longer + downloads the bodies of spam messages. + +
Support for a `hunt list' of SMTP hosts. + +
Support for ESMTP 8BITMIME and SIZE options. + +
Support for ESMTP ETRN command. + +
The stripcr & forcecr options to explicitly control carriage-return + stripping and LF->CRLF mapping before mail forwarding. +

+ +

Since 2.0:

Support for secure use with ssh. + +
Mailserver passwords can be parsed out of your .netrc file. + +
When forwarding mail via SMTP, fetchmail respects the 571 + "spam filter" response and discards any mail that triggers it. + +
Transaction and error logging may optionally be done via syslog. + +
(Linux only) Security option to permit fetchmail to poll a host + only when a point-to-point link to a particular IP address is + up. + +
RPOP support (restored; had been removed in 1.8). +

+ +

2.0 and earlier versions:

Support POP2, APOP, RPOP, IMAP2, IMAP2bis, IMAP3, IMAP4, IMAP4rev1. . + +
Support for Kerberos V4 user authentication (either MIT or Cygnus). + +
Host is auto-probed for a working server if no protocol is + specified for the connection. Thus you don't need to know + what servers are running on your mail host in advance; the + verbose option will tell you which one succeeds. + +
Delivery via SMTP to the client machine's port 25. This + means the retrieved mail automatically goes to the system + default MDA as if it were normal sender-initiated SMTP mail. + +
Configurable timeout to detect if server connection is dropped. + +
Support for retrieving and forwarding from multi-drop mailboxes + that is guaranteed not to cause mail loops. + +
Large user community -- fetchmail has a large user base (the + author's beta list includes well over two hundred people). This + means feedback is rapid, bugs get found and fixed rapidly. + +
Carefully written, comprehensive and up-to-date man page describing + not only modes of operation but also how to diagnose the most + common kinds of problems and what to do about deficient servers. + +
Rugged, simple, and well-tested code -- the author relies on it + every day and it has never lost mail, not even in experimental + versions. (In the project's entire history there has only been + one recorded instance of lost mail, and that was due to a quirk + in some Microsoft code.) + +
Strict conformance to relevant RFCs and good debugging options. + You could use fetchmail to test and debug server implementatations. +

+ +

Features in common with other remote-mail retrieval programs:

+ +The other programs I have checked include fetchpop1.9, PopTart-0.9.3, +get-mail, gwpop, pimp-1.0, pop-perl5-1.2, popc, popmail-1.6 and upop.

+ +

Support for POP3. + +
Easy control via command line or free-format run control file. + +
Daemon mode -- fetchmail can be run in background to poll + one or more hosts at a specified interval. + +
From:, To:, Cc:, and Reply-To: headers are rewritten so that + usernames relative to the fetchmail host become fully-qualified + Internet addresses. This enables replies to work correctly. + (Would be unique to fetchmail if I hadn't added it to fetchpop.) + +
Message and header processing are 8-bit clean. +

+ +

Back to Fetchmail Home Page +

To Site Map +

$Date: 1997/08/05 04:17:57 $ +

+ +

Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>

+ + + -- cgit v1.2.3