email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

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email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

by robert burrell donkin :: Rate this Message:

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i'm interested in associating meta-data with emails stored in a central
repository accessible from multiple clients. on day i'd like to be able
to share my mails and meta-data over the internet.

but this is brings me to IMAP. as a developer, IMAP sucks. IMAP really
sucks. IMAP *really* sucks for so many reasons.

it's a big, complex, obscure protocol. good secure server
implementations are tough to code available only in a limit number of
languages. it does too much. it's just not safely hackable.

webDAV is cool. it's a modern hackable mashable protocol. running over
http means security, scalability, caching and mirroring can be left to
httpd. this is great if i want to share my email archives and meta-data
over the internet. protocols have been successfully layered on top of it
(subversion, calDAV for example). it strikes me as a good match for an
IMAP alternative whose strength is read only performance and associating
meta-data with emails.

has it been done before? is this just a crazy idea?

tell me why it won't work!

- robert




Re: email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

by Wilfredo Sánchez Vega :: Rate this Message:

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   Jim Whitehead has in the past suggested that looking into this may  
be a good idea, but I don't think anyone has picked it up and run  
with it yet.  Seems to me like it might be interesting to try putting  
something together; go for it!

   Subversion isn't a good example, by the way; it basically  
shoehorns it's needs into existing DAV specs rather than coming up  
with something new, but CalDAV is a good example.

        -wsv


On Jul 5, 2006, at 1:35 PM, robert burrell donkin wrote:

>
> i'm interested in associating meta-data with emails stored in a  
> central
> repository accessible from multiple clients. on day i'd like to be  
> able
> to share my mails and meta-data over the internet.
>
> but this is brings me to IMAP. as a developer, IMAP sucks. IMAP really
> sucks. IMAP *really* sucks for so many reasons.
>
> it's a big, complex, obscure protocol. good secure server
> implementations are tough to code available only in a limit number of
> languages. it does too much. it's just not safely hackable.
>
> webDAV is cool. it's a modern hackable mashable protocol. running over
> http means security, scalability, caching and mirroring can be left to
> httpd. this is great if i want to share my email archives and meta-
> data
> over the internet. protocols have been successfully layered on top  
> of it
> (subversion, calDAV for example). it strikes me as a good match for an
> IMAP alternative whose strength is read only performance and  
> associating
> meta-data with emails.
>
> has it been done before? is this just a crazy idea?
>
> tell me why it won't work!
>
> - robert



Re: email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

by Julian Reschke :: Rate this Message:

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robert burrell donkin schrieb:

> i'm interested in associating meta-data with emails stored in a central
> repository accessible from multiple clients. on day i'd like to be able
> to share my mails and meta-data over the internet.
>
> but this is brings me to IMAP. as a developer, IMAP sucks. IMAP really
> sucks. IMAP *really* sucks for so many reasons.
>
> it's a big, complex, obscure protocol. good secure server
> implementations are tough to code available only in a limit number of
> languages. it does too much. it's just not safely hackable.
>
> webDAV is cool. it's a modern hackable mashable protocol. running over
> http means security, scalability, caching and mirroring can be left to
> httpd. this is great if i want to share my email archives and meta-data
> over the internet. protocols have been successfully layered on top of it
> (subversion, calDAV for example). it strikes me as a good match for an
> IMAP alternative whose strength is read only performance and associating
> meta-data with emails.
>
> has it been done before? is this just a crazy idea?
> ...

It think this is what Hotmail and/or Outlook WebAccess are doing.


> tell me why it won't work!
> ...

I won't, because it would :-)


Re: email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

by robert burrell donkin :: Rate this Message:

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On Thu, 2006-07-06 at 10:37 -0700, Wilfredo Sánchez Vega wrote:
> Jim Whitehead has in the past suggested that looking into this may  
> be a good idea, but I don't think anyone has picked it up and run  
> with it yet.  Seems to me like it might be interesting to try putting  
> something together; go for it!

great :-)

what's the best way to start? (other than hacking an implementation ;-)

is this subject on topic for this list?

anything much out there i should read?

> Subversion isn't a good example, by the way; it basically  
> shoehorns it's needs into existing DAV specs rather than coming up  
> with something new, but CalDAV is a good example.

good. i attended Lisa Dusseault's session at apachecon and that the
reason why i started looking at webDAV as a solution to one of the parts
missing from my jigsaw.

- robert




Re: email over webDAV as IMAP replacement?

by Wilfredo Sánchez Vega :: Rate this Message:

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   Well, a prototype implementation may be the way to go.  The useful  
thing if you're looking to share ideas for a protocol is to document  
some ideas of what's needed beyond what WebDAV offers, and suggest  
some options.

        -wsv


On Jul 6, 2006, at 3:31 PM, robert burrell donkin wrote:

> what's the best way to start? (other than hacking an  
> implementation ;-)