Dovecot - Why & What is it?

clubhost

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Oct 28, 2004
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Sydney, Australia
This may sound like a silly question, but what exactly is Dovecot?

For years I've seen it mentioned here in these forums, but my email was working fine (although spam is always an issue)

By converting to Dovecot, what exactly am I getting rid of and to the end user what changes at their end if anything?

Should I convert to Dovecot?

pros & Cons please.
 
I am curious about the features. How are the features different?
 
The most important feature for me is that it uses Maildir format rather than mbox format.

The reason it's important is that mbox format mailboxes store all emails in one long file, so whenever one must be deleted (for example) the entire mailbox must be rewritten. This can work with pop3 mailboxes, but it doesn't work well with imap, as every time an email is manipulated the entire mailbox file is locked and rewritten.

Also, the mailbox file can get so large as to make for obvious delays in reading/writing email.

Jeff
 
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