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There were multiple formats for storing mails through the times. And many are using folders. But each format has their own problems, and were optimized for cert
by PurpleRamen 2y ago
There were multiple formats for storing mails through the times. And many are using folders. But each format has their own problems, and were optimized for certain benefits. And on unix you have to make this workable with multiple programs accessing them in parallel, because in the early days there were no servers who had tight control over everything. So, formats were often designed around using or preventing file locks, making efficient use of storage or allowing fast handling and management of mail-flags.
- ck45 2y agoFor a quite long time, a very popular format was mbox (the most popular?), which is a single file. With the arrival of qmail, it was slowly replaced by Maildir.
- mbreese 2y agoNot even just common formats, but way back, Mail was delivered by copying files from one server to another. I (barely) remember using UUCP before SMTP/NNTP to sync Mail and news. So, the format that you stored messages in was very important. It’s easy to copy a single message when it is a complete file.
- p_l 2y agoSMTP followed on from MTP, which in turn attempted to replace previous schemes involving FTP or similar "manipulate mailbox remotely" approaches. Along the lines, bridging UUCP and other text-only email systems was also taken into account.