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I've been doing this for years, though I don't really think of it as "having a backup" so much as "using an IMAP client". Works fine. It's really useful to be a

I've been doing this for years, though I don't really think of it as "having a backup" so much as "using an IMAP client". Works fine. It's really useful to be able to make up a new email address for every company who wants one; they each get their own folder. If I get any unexpected mail, it's obvious where it came from and easy to deal with, though in practice this rarely happens.

BeetleB 1y ago
> I've been doing this for years Downloading email via POP or IMAP? Ever since I started using email in the 90's. I never deviated from it. In the old days, even the free mail hosts gave you POP access. My own domain? Doing it for over 20 years.
- marssaxman 1y ago
  Yep, pretty much the same story here. The only (relatively) recent innovation is the bit where mail sent to foo@domain.com lands in a folder called "foo", so I neither have to sort out a messy inbox nor check many accounts individually.
- bigwheels 1y ago
  As of last week, Google is on-track to discontinue POP-polling functionality. I've been using this for about 20 years, not sure what to do. What a pain. Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts via POP (support.google.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45439670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45439670 - 6 days ago, 372 comments
  - pessimizer 1y ago
    This is alarming if you just skim the headline (which I did, and was slightly alarmed), but it is about having gmail download from third-party accounts, not downloading emails from gmail. I don't think many people do this anyway, but I'm sure it was very convenient for some.
layer8 1y ago
The caveat is that if your account gets banned, the IMAP access will also be blocked. An email forward is more likely to remain active, is the point made in TFA.
- marssaxman 1y ago
  There is nobody but me who can ban my account. If the hosting service I rent my mail server from chose to drop me as a client, I could sign up with a different service, transfer the domain name, and keep on going with minimal disruption.

BeetleB 1y ago

> I've been doing this for years Downloading email via POP or IMAP? Ever since I started using email in the 90's. I never deviated from it. In the old days, even the free mail hosts gave you POP access. My own domain? Doing it for over 20 years.

marssaxman 1y ago
Yep, pretty much the same story here. The only (relatively) recent innovation is the bit where mail sent to foo@domain.com lands in a folder called "foo", so I neither have to sort out a messy inbox nor check many accounts individually.
bigwheels 1y ago
As of last week, Google is on-track to discontinue POP-polling functionality. I've been using this for about 20 years, not sure what to do. What a pain. Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts via POP (support.google.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45439670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45439670 - 6 days ago, 372 comments
- pessimizer 1y ago
  This is alarming if you just skim the headline (which I did, and was slightly alarmed), but it is about having gmail download from third-party accounts, not downloading emails from gmail. I don't think many people do this anyway, but I'm sure it was very convenient for some.

layer8 1y ago

The caveat is that if your account gets banned, the IMAP access will also be blocked. An email forward is more likely to remain active, is the point made in TFA.

marssaxman 1y ago
There is nobody but me who can ban my account. If the hosting service I rent my mail server from chose to drop me as a client, I could sign up with a different service, transfer the domain name, and keep on going with minimal disruption.