Hello.
Help!
A customer is reporting that she keeps getting a please do not
erase message otherwise the folder
will disappear. I believe this is a fake, but why?
--
Member - Liberal International
This is doctor@nl2k.ab.ca Ici doctor@nl2k.ab.ca
God, Queen and country! Beware Anti-Christ rising!
Merry CHRISTmas 2007 and Happy New Year 2008! CHRIST is the reason for the season!
On 12/20/2007 10:07 PM, The Doctor wrote:
> A customer is reporting that she keeps getting a please do not erase
> message otherwise the folder will disappear. I believe this is a
> fake, but why?
This sounds like the generic message that is put at the top of a mbox
file by some MUAs, i.e. Pine. I'm not entirely sure why the message is
there other than as a holding place for the mbox file its self. I have
deleted the message in numerous folders with out problems. However that
does not mean that your particular install will not have problems. Try
re-creating the situation and see if you can safely delete the message
in a scratch mail box.
Grant. . . .
In article
Grant Taylor
> On 12/20/2007 10:07 PM, The Doctor wrote:
> > A customer is reporting that she keeps getting a please do not erase
> > message otherwise the folder will disappear. I believe this is a
> > fake, but why?
>
> This sounds like the generic message that is put at the top of a mbox
> file by some MUAs, i.e. Pine. I'm not entirely sure why the message is
> there other than as a holding place for the mbox file its self. I have
> deleted the message in numerous folders with out problems. However that
> does not mean that your particular install will not have problems. Try
> re-creating the situation and see if you can safely delete the message
> in a scratch mail box.
Two issues:
1. It's not necessarily Pine's fault, it is usually the result of an odd
design choice in the UW IMAP server that seems to be intertwined with
the author's pathological aversion to POP. In fact, modern Pine sanely
configured should hide the message it used to show and is sometimes
responsible for creating, and some other MUA's will try to do so as well
with variable results. The result of deleting that message is that
whichever piece of UW-ware found it useful will no longer have a record
of the mailbox metadata (stashed in its headers) and may loose track of
the mailbox format as well, although that is unlikely to be a real
problem. The canonical explanation from the horse's mouth (or some
part...) is at http://www.washington.edu/imap/IMAP-FAQs/index.html#6.14
2. Please do not feed the troll. Posting questions about various odd
mail behaviors with no background information and absurd analysis is
what "The Doctor" does here. It seems to be a form of performance art,
but anyone would find it entertaining is beyond me. If you look back
over the past few months you'll notice the pattern, including a careful
and consistent resistance to the most basic of clues about how to
effectively seek technical help. If you've filled your
daily/monthly/lifetime quota for the most annoying sort of helpdesk
work, you are likely to find it useful to ignore him completely.
--
Now where did I hide that website...
Bill Cole
news:bill-4F3EF5.09205021122007@news.det.sbcglobal.net:
> 2. Please do not feed the troll. Posting questions about various odd
> mail behaviors with no background information and absurd analysis is
> what "The Doctor" does here. It seems to be a form of performance art,
> but anyone would find it entertaining is beyond me. If you look back
> over the past few months you'll notice the pattern, including a
> careful and consistent resistance to the most basic of clues about how
> to effectively seek technical help. If you've filled your
> daily/monthly/lifetime quota for the most annoying sort of helpdesk
> work, you are likely to find it useful to ignore him completely.
>
yeah, he makes friends wherever he goes
Andy
Bill Cole wrote:
> 1. It's not necessarily Pine's fault, it is usually the result of an odd
> design choice in the UW IMAP server that seems to be intertwined with
> the author's pathological aversion to POP. In fact, modern Pine sanely
> configured should hide the message it used to show and is sometimes
> responsible for creating, and some other MUA's will try to do so as well
> with variable results.
As far as I can tell, Pine do still create that message, but I have never seen
it during the years I have used Pine (since 1994) and I have have used it on
SunOS, NetBSD, AmigaOS and Linux without any difference.
But I have noticed if switching to other news clients, then they may show the
message (at least NetScape 1.2 did).
--
//Aho
In article <5t2f6iF1c2b0rU1@mid.individual.net>,
J.O. Aho
>Bill Cole wrote:
>
>> 1. It's not necessarily Pine's fault, it is usually the result of an odd
>> design choice in the UW IMAP server that seems to be intertwined with
>> the author's pathological aversion to POP. In fact, modern Pine sanely
>> configured should hide the message it used to show and is sometimes
>> responsible for creating, and some other MUA's will try to do so as well
>> with variable results.
>
>As far as I can tell, Pine do still create that message, but I have never seen
>it during the years I have used Pine (since 1994) and I have have used it on
>SunOS, NetBSD, AmigaOS and Linux without any difference.
>
>But I have noticed if switching to other news clients, then they may show the
>message (at least NetScape 1.2 did).
>
>
>--
>
> //Aho
1) I am no troll.
2) Your suspicions confirm that this is a glitch in the clientware.
Best to advise the client that a simple fix is in order.
--
Member - Liberal International
This is doctor@nl2k.ab.ca Ici doctor@nl2k.ab.ca
God, Queen and country! Beware Anti-Christ rising!
Merry CHRISTmas 2007 and Happy New Year 2008! CHRIST is the reason for the season!