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Re: IMAP extensions needed for SPAM/HAM and WHITE/BLACK listing




On Sun, 5 Jul 2009, Ned Freed wrote:



> Please explain how moving a message to a random, arbtirarily named
> folder tells the server anything useful.



Seems to me this is up to the server configuration and software running on
the server.  I don't see why you need a specific contract between IMAP
client and server for flagging spam,


The primary reason is so that the server can use the information to
automaticallly refine it's filtering policies on a per-user basis.

Other uses include, but are not limited to, setting expiration and arhival
policies.


and it's of limited usefulness.


On the contrary, such a mechanism would be HUGELY useful. We have any number of
customers begging for it, as a matter of fact.


For
one thing, it was pretty painless for me to set up cron jobs to suck in
whatever messages I save to certain folders (that could have been named
anything) for training my spam filter.


Are you serious? Cron jobs? Do you have any idea how minute a fraction of the
users of email even know what a cron job is, let alone know how to set one up?

The minute you start talking about setting up your own cron jobs, it  pretty
much goes without saying that you're operating entirely outside the space where
99+% of the use of IMAP takes place.


I also have other cron jobs set up
to do other things with email completely unrelated to spam that also
simply involve saving to a particular folder (e.g. a tickler file for
email--I move messages to folders named for a month or day, and cron jobs
automatiacally reinsert them back in my inbox later).  That kind of thing
isn't addressed by having something spam-specific, but as far as my email
client is concerned, they're flagged the same way.


And no doubt you also tweak SpamAssasin rules, set up milters, etc. etc. This
is far beyond the capability of most users.

				Ned