[Spambayes] Multiple accounts on one POP3 server? Also choosingports?

[Michael Kimball]

Tony Meyer wrote:
> 
> > snip snip snip (re configuring SpamBayes for multiple accounts on the same POP3 server)

> 
> No, you don't need to do that.  Because SpamBayes is a simple proxy, it
> doesn't care what account you use, just which server:port it needs to
> connect to (i.e. pretend to be).  For example, if you set SpamBayes to proxy
> mail.example.com:110 on localhost:110, then when you connect to
> localhost:110, SpamBayes will present you with what you'd normally get from
> mail.exmaple.com:110.  You (well, your mail client) then says "USER michael"
> or "USER michael_wife", and SpamBayes simply puts that directly through to
> the actual mail.example.com:110 connection.  It doesn't care who you connect
> as.
> 
> If you were connecting to two different servers, then you'd need to enter
> them both, on separate local ports (8110 and 8111, for example).
> 
> If you do enter the same server twice, this won't matter, and won't make any
> difference at all.

Thanks, Tony.  She's still not ready to try it yet, but I think the
upshot of this is that when she is ready, I simply configure her account
to use "localhost", assuming she is using the same port.  I.E. No
further configuration of SpamBayes.


> 
> > And as for ports:  There is no indication in the info as to
> > which ports I should be using, and I have no idea myself
> > which ports are in use already by other apps, and which are
> > customarily used by specific apps.
> 
> I could have sworn that there was a suggestion there, but apart from a brief
> mention in README.txt (which isn't included with the binary sb_server) there
> isn't, so I guess my memory is wrong :)  I think there probably should be -
> where do you think the information would be best placed?  In the explanation
> text next to the option, or in the help text for the configuration page
> (i.e. from the "help" link at the bottom of the page), or in the initial
> readme document, or in a combination of these?

A combination:  right next to the option something like "if your email
client doesn't show which port it uses, try 110.  If that doesn't work,
check :this link:" Which would be a link into a specific section of the
help file with pretty much the same info as you have in the following
paragraphs.  Probably a similar brief description in the Readme and
something in the FAQ as well.


> 
> If you're using Windows, you should be fine with using port 110 for incoming
> mail (and you can leave out the outgoing settings, unless you want to train
> via mail forwarding).  This makes it easier to setup the mail clients, too.
> It's unlikely to already be in use, unless you're already running a POP3
> proxy/server.  If it is in use, or you're using Linux/Mac OS X, then you
> should probably use a high-numbered port, like 8110.
> 
> To see if it is in use with Windows, do: START->Run->cmd.exe (or
> START->Run->command.exe with old versions of Windows), then in the command
> prompt, type "telnet localhost 110" and press enter.  If it says that it
> failed to connect, then the port is free.  If you do connect to something,
> then it's taken (press control-] then q then enter to disconnect).
> 
> > my email client doesn't specify any ports (at least not in
> > the user interface, where I could see them).
> 
> Most clients hide the port in some sort of advanced configuration
> page/tab/dialog.  IIRC Eudora goes even further and you have to edit the
> config file manually if you want to have different ports for each
> connection.  It should be there somewhere, though.  But if you use 110 (for
> both your connection and your wife's) then you should be able to leave it
> unchanged.
> 
> =Tony Meyer

Thank you Tony.  My wife and I both use Netscape 4.79, which doesn't
allow two profiles running at once, so only one of us will be using
SpamBayes at any given time.  Probably, somewhere in the various
Netscape newsgroups, there will be someone who knows which files
identify the port, and how one would go about changing it, if need be.

There was one other minor problem/annoyance that might show up if you
use my suggestion to provide a link to more detailed info about which
port to use:  Whenever I leave the configuration page to check
something, and then come back to it, any settings I had made are gone,
and I have to redo them. (Since the only changes I had made were
identifying the mail server and port to use. it wasn't a particularly
onerous task :) MK


> 
> ---
> Please always include the list (spambayes at python.org) in your replies
> (reply-all), and please don't send me personal mail about SpamBayes. This
> way, you get everyone's help, and avoid a lack of replies when I'm busy.