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I've been using Purelymail as my sole mail provider for over a year now (previously with Fastmail) and it has been my best email experience. It's a one-man ent

I've been using Purelymail as my sole mail provider for over a year now (previously with Fastmail) and it has been my best email experience. It's a one-man enterprise, which may frighten some people, but I prefer boutique internet companies to the faceless monoliths. (I'd like more of the internet to be made of these small corner bodegas.)

eganist 5y ago
> It's a one-man enterprise For this reason alone, I can't trust that they meet all the security considerations email providers now have as a consequence of all the services effectively delegating either secondary or primary authentication factors (or reset mechanisms) to email.
jakecopp 5y ago
> It's a one-man enterprise, which may frighten some people Email is super critical for most people these days (eg. 2FA). That sounds like a really scary bus-factor [1] risk, especially considering data is encrypted at rest. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor
- Felz 5y ago
  I actually get asked about this semi-frequently. Probably nobody could replace me as a _developer_ on Purelymail, but I've been training my brother to handle extended maintenance and to have handover credentials if anything happens to me personally. (This might be in the FAQ?)
  - mfashby 5y ago
    Thanks! Have you looked into source code escrow for this situation?
    - Felz 5y ago
      No, but I will. Thanks for giving me a term to research!
  - jakecopp 5y ago
    That eliminates some of my worry! Thanks for replying.
- donmcronald 5y ago
  I think my odds of getting banned by Google’s shitty AI is just as much of a risk for me as the bus-factor for a one person show.
- lawl 5y ago
  > Email is super critical for most people these days (eg. 2FA). That sounds like a really scary bus-factor [1] risk Not such a big deal if you have your own domain (you should). Update the MX record and point it elsewhere. I've switched from Gmail to a similar setup a year ago. Honestly, it's been way easier than I expected, in terms of updating everywhere. And I can just point my MX somewhere else should I ever be unhappy with the current provider. No delivery issues either so far. Seriously, the hardest part about this whole ordeal was getting imapsync to run, to transfer my mails over. Not using gmail or another big silo is really not that hard, as HN often makes it out to be.
- mfashby 5y ago
  I _always_ use that particular phrase for highlighting the importance of information sharing, but I never knew this page existed, thanks!
zerof1l 5y ago
From the FAQ > Occasionally, obscure email servers will block emails sent through us. Maybe it's good for personal use or as a throwaway email, but it is not good for main business email. Certainly not a replacement for Gmail or Fastmail kinds. Because you expect the email service to have 24/7 availability and near-perfect email delivery and receiving. > It's a one-man enterprise A person can get sick or just wish to take a holiday for a couple of weeks. What happens when service goes down or I need customer support urgently?
- pwrplus1 5y ago
  > A person can get sick or just wish to take a holiday for a couple of weeks. What happens when service goes down or I need customer support urgently? I think the expectation of urgency should be put into perspective alongside the $10/year price tag, i.e. if you need someone to get out of bed in the middle of the night $10 is probably not enough incentive. That said, any issues or questions I've had have been resolved way faster than I experienced with Fastmail.
- EveYoung 5y ago
  For me, this would be a major issue for personal emails as well. Even if an undelivered email wouldn't cause a monetary loss it still could have significant consequences, such as upsetting friends or family or missing the signup deadline for your kid's sports team. Personally, I don't mind paying the higher Fastmail prices to not have to worry about this.
brongondwana 5y ago
Fastmail isn't entirely faceless either :p But we're definitely not still the 3-man show that we were before the Opera years (up until 2010). Obviously, I think Fastmail is worth the extra for the multi-copy redundancy & backups, new features, contributions we're making to the standards world, and not being dependent on a single person - the past few years in particular we've been focusing on not only being able to survive any server dying, but also being able to survive the unavailability of any single person! Anyway - glad you're happy. Fastmail will still be here if you ever find that you want to move back.
- pwrplus1 5y ago
  Oh sorry I did not mean to suggest Fastmail was a faceless megacorp, I was thinking of Google, MS, Apple, etc. I fondly recall many years ago I had some WebDAV issue and got a reply directly from you saying you'd fixed the issue but you were just heading out to dinner and so you'd push to production when you got back. That convinced a few friends to join too. After about 10 years, Fastmail felt it was shifting to a more "enterprise" focus, which I can understand, and I just wanted to try something a little more "indie web".
  - brongondwana 5y ago
    Hah, yeah - fair enough. Glad I could fix your issue. Ahh, Webdav. I know the XML libraries a lot better these days and could make that code a lot tighter, but it's still chugging along just fine, pretty much untouched since :) As for enterprise focus - not so much enterprise, but we are focusing more on the non-technical user. All the power is still there under the hood and available, but it's not so much in your face if you don't want it to be!
    - crossroadsguy 5y ago
      Hi, is there going to be a plan like the lowest tier of mailbox.org (esp. the price)? People who just need email with 1-2GB and probably a catch all?

eganist 5y ago

> It's a one-man enterprise For this reason alone, I can't trust that they meet all the security considerations email providers now have as a consequence of all the services effectively delegating either secondary or primary authentication factors (or reset mechanisms) to email.

jakecopp 5y ago

> It's a one-man enterprise, which may frighten some people Email is super critical for most people these days (eg. 2FA). That sounds like a really scary bus-factor [1] risk, especially considering data is encrypted at rest. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor

Felz 5y ago
I actually get asked about this semi-frequently. Probably nobody could replace me as a _developer_ on Purelymail, but I've been training my brother to handle extended maintenance and to have handover credentials if anything happens to me personally. (This might be in the FAQ?)
- mfashby 5y ago
  Thanks! Have you looked into source code escrow for this situation?
  - Felz 5y ago
    No, but I will. Thanks for giving me a term to research!
- jakecopp 5y ago
  That eliminates some of my worry! Thanks for replying.
donmcronald 5y ago
I think my odds of getting banned by Google’s shitty AI is just as much of a risk for me as the bus-factor for a one person show.
lawl 5y ago
> Email is super critical for most people these days (eg. 2FA). That sounds like a really scary bus-factor [1] risk Not such a big deal if you have your own domain (you should). Update the MX record and point it elsewhere. I've switched from Gmail to a similar setup a year ago. Honestly, it's been way easier than I expected, in terms of updating everywhere. And I can just point my MX somewhere else should I ever be unhappy with the current provider. No delivery issues either so far. Seriously, the hardest part about this whole ordeal was getting imapsync to run, to transfer my mails over. Not using gmail or another big silo is really not that hard, as HN often makes it out to be.
mfashby 5y ago
I _always_ use that particular phrase for highlighting the importance of information sharing, but I never knew this page existed, thanks!

zerof1l 5y ago

From the FAQ > Occasionally, obscure email servers will block emails sent through us. Maybe it's good for personal use or as a throwaway email, but it is not good for main business email. Certainly not a replacement for Gmail or Fastmail kinds. Because you expect the email service to have 24/7 availability and near-perfect email delivery and receiving. > It's a one-man enterprise A person can get sick or just wish to take a holiday for a couple of weeks. What happens when service goes down or I need customer support urgently?

pwrplus1 5y ago
> A person can get sick or just wish to take a holiday for a couple of weeks. What happens when service goes down or I need customer support urgently? I think the expectation of urgency should be put into perspective alongside the $10/year price tag, i.e. if you need someone to get out of bed in the middle of the night $10 is probably not enough incentive. That said, any issues or questions I've had have been resolved way faster than I experienced with Fastmail.
EveYoung 5y ago
For me, this would be a major issue for personal emails as well. Even if an undelivered email wouldn't cause a monetary loss it still could have significant consequences, such as upsetting friends or family or missing the signup deadline for your kid's sports team. Personally, I don't mind paying the higher Fastmail prices to not have to worry about this.

brongondwana 5y ago

Fastmail isn't entirely faceless either :p But we're definitely not still the 3-man show that we were before the Opera years (up until 2010). Obviously, I think Fastmail is worth the extra for the multi-copy redundancy & backups, new features, contributions we're making to the standards world, and not being dependent on a single person - the past few years in particular we've been focusing on not only being able to survive any server dying, but also being able to survive the unavailability of any single person! Anyway - glad you're happy. Fastmail will still be here if you ever find that you want to move back.

pwrplus1 5y ago
Oh sorry I did not mean to suggest Fastmail was a faceless megacorp, I was thinking of Google, MS, Apple, etc. I fondly recall many years ago I had some WebDAV issue and got a reply directly from you saying you'd fixed the issue but you were just heading out to dinner and so you'd push to production when you got back. That convinced a few friends to join too. After about 10 years, Fastmail felt it was shifting to a more "enterprise" focus, which I can understand, and I just wanted to try something a little more "indie web".
- brongondwana 5y ago
  Hah, yeah - fair enough. Glad I could fix your issue. Ahh, Webdav. I know the XML libraries a lot better these days and could make that code a lot tighter, but it's still chugging along just fine, pretty much untouched since :) As for enterprise focus - not so much enterprise, but we are focusing more on the non-technical user. All the power is still there under the hood and available, but it's not so much in your face if you don't want it to be!
  - crossroadsguy 5y ago
    Hi, is there going to be a plan like the lowest tier of mailbox.org (esp. the price)? People who just need email with 1-2GB and probably a catch all?