Staying Connected to a POP3/SMTP Server

[Peter Hansen]

Amos Joshua wrote:
> 
> Would any Bad Things happen if I stayed connected to a POP3 and an
> SMTP server for say, an hour, while checking for new emails say, every
> ten seconds, and sending some at small intervals like that too?

Isn't it the case that POP3 servers basically "lock" the mailbox when 
you authenticate yourself, such that you would never see these new 
messages that might possibly be arriving?  If that's so, it wouldn't
be "bad" except in the sense that it would do nothing useful, and 
would prevent any subsequent login attempts from succeeding on that
mailbox until you disconnected.

With SMTP you could, however, stay connected as long as the server 
lets you, sending messages only when you feel like it.  Given how fast 
the typical SMTP server accepts connections, however, you likely 
shouldn't need/want to do that.

-Peter