On 08/04/09 16:53, Darren New wrote:
> Neeum Zawan wrote:
>> As for your complaint, sorry: No sympathies. Of all the mail readers
>> I've used, Outlook was the *only* one that did not use a standard
>> format for storing emails.
>
> Possibly true for you. Certainly not for others of us.
>
> Solaris mail. GMail. Lotus Notes. Lots of examples.

	No idea about Solaris Mail.

	As for Gmail, I should have said "mail clients". Obviously, it doesn't 
matter too much what format online mail services use if they don't give 
you access to the actual files.

	Never used Lotus Notes. You're saying its format is nonstandard (and/or 
nonopen) even now?

	I've used some software on VAX. It was a simple text file - probably 
mbox format.

	I hacked the BBS QWK format to use email. And I think some services 
used it as well. It's an open format, I believe. Ever since then, 
everything was mbox - except Outlook Express. I'm thinking of switching 
to gnus and using some of their weird backends (which I'm sure are 
nonstandard, but at least they're open).

>> There's simply no excuse for it,
>
> Sure there is. They store more than email in the email.

	Well, if they really need a feature that an open/standard format can't 
handle, I can see the point. However, what's the excuse for not 
providing a straightforward way to export to an open/standard format? 
(Perhaps they do so now - not when I used it, though).


-- 
Brain damage is all in your head -- Karl Lehenbauer

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