[BUGS] Request for comment on email sorting

[harrywwc]

hey y'all,
> 
> Currently all users get their mail from external mail boxes over the  
> internet using what ever clients they want, which is usually what ever  
> version of outlook is on their computer. Beyond that, nothing is in  
> place!

ok - is all this mail that is going via gmail/y!mail/hotmail/etc 
"business related"? if so, then this is a *very* "bad look". don't 
worry, been there, done that - or rather 'inherited that'. I had to 
'fix' it using MS-Exchange - that was the company std - {sigh}.

> 
> How the results I want are to be achieved is completely open. The  
> solution I had in mind was to have their clients pass all the mail to  
> a local server and sort it with procmail.

fetchmail will pull the mail from disparate locations, and deposit into 
your local mail server.

So, I suggest you set up a mail server - such as Scalix Community 
Edition[1] - and use fetchmail to retrieve the 'old' addresses and feed 
them into the appropriate mailbox - at the same time ensuring that the 
old addresses are not used for sending mail - only the new "corporate" 
mail server & addresses.

> 
> But there are a number of variables such as how is the local mail  
> server accessed (pop/imap/shell/none), how the mail gets sent to the  
> local server (smtp/imap) and how I get procmail to sort it all (as it  
> arrives/cron job on mail boxes/etc). There are probably ways to do it  
> I haven't even thought of.. Just looking for some ideas/suggestions on  
> how other people would do it before I begin. =)

as implied above - fetchmail can go to each outside account in a round 
robin fashion, and direct each external mail to the appropriate internal 
mail.

you don't mention the scale of the organisation - small / medium / 
large. I'm guessing from the ad-hoc-ness of the request that it's a 
small business that is growing kinda like topsy. no real plan, no real 
organisation, just lurching from crisis to crisis. :')

1 - register domain name
2 - link domain name to ip address
3 - put in mail server (such as scalix)
3a - put MX record in dns of domain name register
4 - use fetchmail to keep getting 'old' mail
5 - get management to 'enforce' use of 'new' mail for all future 
communications
6 - eventually stop using fetchmail and close 'old' accounts

or something similar.

Using something like scalix, it is possible for the users to continue 
using LookOut (either the free one - yuk! - or the Office Version - 
better), or just about *any* client. I would suggest standardising on 
one client for ease of support. Which one is up to the managers. 
Thunderbird is standards compliant (mostly) but doesn't have all the 
bells and whistles of MS-Office/LookOut. If they all have real copies of 
MS-Office Pro, then they will already have Office/LookOut and that would 
appear to be the choice - on the assumption that they are using MS-WinXP.

If your client desktop environment is BSD/Linux, you could check 
Evolution, as that too provides a 'rich user experience'.

All in all, I don't envy you - convincing users to change the way they 
work if you have no 'authority' (just 'responsibility') is like hearding 
cats.

hth,

.h

[1] it may be possible to run on FreeBSD in the Linux environment - I 
can recommend it on CentOS (RHEL clone).

-- 

harry [at] woodward-clarke [dot] com
imago Dei in quolibet homine' inveniartur