MailRoadmap

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 * In a server environment, our preferred pop3, imap4 and mail reading solutions should all work automatically when installed.  * In a server environment, our preferred pop3, imap4 and mail reading solutions should all work together automatically when installed.
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 * Prepare list of packages which expect an MTA, for what purpose, and propose alternative implementations  * Prepare list of packages which expect an MTA, for what purpose, and determine how to eliminate the dependancy.
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 * Remove the MTA from the base system  * Move exim and postfix to ship seed.
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 * Need to make sure all instances of Depends: exim | mail-transport-agent, gets changed to postfix | mail-transfer-agent or dropped completely.  * Make sure all instances of Depends: exim | mail-transport-agent, gets changed to postfix | mail-transfer-agent or dropped completely.
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 * Need to reduce stupid mails for things like dangling symlinks.  * Ensure that mails for insignificant things like dangling symlinks are quenched.
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 * Integrate with update-notifier to deliver critical notices.

 * Move MTAs to ship seed.		  * Integrate with update-notifier to deliver remaining critical notices.
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 * TBD list of things in desktop that depend on mail-transport-agent  * TBD list of packages in desktop that depend on mail-transport-agent
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 * TBD list of things in base that depend on mail-transport-agent  * TBD list of packages in base that depend on mail-transport-agent
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 * Things in main that depend on exim* | mail-transport-agent  * TBD list of packages in main that depend on exim* | mail-transport-agent

Mail Roadmap

Status

Introduction

Unix systems traditionally assume that mail to various accounts on the local system is being read, sent from, etc. On an Ubuntu desktop system, this generally isn't the case.

Spam bad, mmkay?

There are two common formats of storing mail on a Unix system: mbox and maildir. mbox is the older generation with several known issue, such as locking, corruption, and size. Maildir is a newer format defined by Daniel Bernstein that addresses these three limitations.

Rationale

An enduser configuring their Evolution will never be aware that email is accumulating in their local account warning them of various system events.

Spam bad, mmkay?

Various implementation of MTA and spam processing applications have varying levels of support for mbox and maildir. For seamless integration of these, we need to chose a single default.

Scope and Use Cases

  • Grandma Sue has a harddrive that is failing. She needs to be notified that this is happening.
  • Spam bad, mmkay?
  • In a server environment, our preferred pop3, imap4 and mail reading solutions should all work together automatically when installed.

Implementation Plan

  • Prepare list of packages which expect an MTA, for what purpose, and determine how to eliminate the dependancy.
  • Move exim and postfix to ship seed.
  • Make sure all instances of Depends: exim | mail-transport-agent, gets changed to postfix | mail-transfer-agent or dropped completely.
  • Ensure that mails for insignificant things like dangling symlinks are quenched.
  • Integrate with update-notifier to deliver remaining critical notices.
  • Reenable questions in Postfix.

  • Ensure that release notes clearly say how to install lsb package.

  • Debconf question for mbox or maildir, ask it once, place the answer in /etc/mailbox-format

  • Delivery into homedir by default ([http://www.ubuntu.com/wiki/MailStorageStandardisation MailStorageStandardisation])

  • Move any mail using application that cannot support both mbox and maildir to universe.
  • Ensure that default maildir path is set to ~/.maildir/

Data Preservation and Migration

The user may have mail already collecting in the mailbox on the system. We will never recover this data.

Packages Affected

  • TBD list of packages in desktop that depend on mail-transport-agent
  • TBD list of packages in base that depend on mail-transport-agent
  • TBD list of packages in main that depend on exim* | mail-transport-agent

User Interface Requirements

  • Debconf questions need to be readded for postfix.
  • Need to prompt for preferred mailbox type at priority high. (No good default, but grandma should never be asked)

Outstanding Issues

  • Ongoing review of Free/Open Source Spam and virus prevention technologies with the goal of providing long term spam and virus solutions that extend across the life of the release.
  • Because effective spam filtering requires information only available at delivery time, and because spam scanning is resouce intensive, spam filtering should happen on the server not the client.

UDU BOF Agenda

  • What to do about automated mail
    • cron
    • debconf
    • sudo
    • ...
  • Spam filtering
  • Mail storage

UDU Pre-Work

  • Prepare list of packages which expect an MTA, for what purpose, and proposed alternative implementations

Suggestions/Notes

  • What about replacing the MTA with SSMTP and configure all clients to use that as the standard smtp "gateway"?
    • Unfortunately, since this would have ubuntu-base Depend: ssmtp, it causes some of the very problems we're attempting to eliminate.

UDU BOF Agenda

  • What to do about automated mail
    • cron
    • debconf
    • sudo
    • ...
  • Spam filtering
  • Mail storage

UbuntuDownUnder/BOFs/MailRoadmap (last edited 2008-08-06 16:19:13 by localhost)