Gmail has supported POP and IMAP for years, and it's been possible to back up your email using that, e.g. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/backup-gmail-in-linux-wi

Gmail has supported POP and IMAP for years, and it's been possible to back up your email using that, e.g. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/backup-gmail-in-linux-with-getmail/ http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/backup-gmail-in-linux-with-get... but I'm really glad that it's much easier now.