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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="application/xhtml+xml;charset=iso-8859-1" />
    <title>getmail documentation (version 5)</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Charles Cazabon" />
    <meta name="description" content="Official documentation for getmail version 5, an extensible mail-retrieval program with support for POP3, IMAP, SDPS, SSL, domain mailboxes, message filtering, and other features." />
    <meta name="keywords" content="getmail, getmail 5, getmail 4, POP3, IMAP, SSL, domain mailbox, multidrop, fetchmail replacement, message filtering, maildir, mboxrd, MDA" />
    <link rel="Contents Up Index" title="Charles Cazabon's Software" href="../" />
    <style type="text/css" media="all">@import "getmaildocs.css";</style>
    <style type="text/css" media="all">@import "/style/styles.css";</style>
</head>
<body id="top">
    <div class="content">

<h1 id="title">getmail documentation</h1>
<p class="introduction">
    This is the documentation for getmail version 5.  Version 5 includes
    numerous changes from version 3.x; if you are using getmail version 3,
    please refer to the documentation included with that version of the
    software.
</p>
<p class="about">
    getmail is Copyright &copy; 1998-2019 Charles Cazabon.
    &lt;charlesc-getmail @ pyropus.ca&gt;
</p>
<p class="about">
    getmail is licensed under the
    <a href="COPYING">GNU General Public License version 2</a>
    (only). If you wish to obtain a license to distribute getmail under other
    terms, please contact me directly.
</p>

<h1 id="toc">Table of Contents</h1>
<ul>
    <li><a href="documentation.html">getmail documentation (version 5)</a></li>
    <li>
        <ul>
        <li><a href="documentation.html#title">getmail documentation</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#features">Features</a></li>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#v4differences">Differences from previous versions</a></li>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#requirements">Requirements</a></li>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#obtaining">Obtaining getmail</a></li>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#installing">Installing getmail</a></li>
            <li>
                <ul>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-impatient">For the impatient</a></li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-full">Full installation instructions</a></li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-rpm">Installing from the RPM</a></li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-source">Installing directly from the source</a></li>
                <li>
                    <ul>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-source-default">Installing in the default location</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-source-altprefix">Installing under an alternate <span class="file">prefix</span> directory</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-source-altdirs">Installing parts of the package to alternate directories</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#install-alt-libdir">Installing the <span class="file">getmailcore</span> package in a non-standard location</a></li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#installing-binary">Building a binary package from the source</a></li>
                </ul>
            </li>
            <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-lists">getmail mailing lists</a></li>
            <li>
                <ul>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users">getmail-users' mailing list</a></li>
                <li>
                    <ul>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users-subscribe">How to subscribe</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users-unsubscribe">How to unsubscribe</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users-post">How to post</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users-archive">Archives of the getmail-users' mailing list</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-users-notes">Notes on the getmail-users' mailing list</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-announce">Announcements List</a></li>
                <li>
                    <ul>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-announce-subscribe">How to subscribe</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-announce-unsubscribe">How to unsubscribe</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-announce-post">How to post</a></li>
                    <li><a href="documentation.html#mailing-list-announce-archive">Archives of the getmail announcements mailing list</a></li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
                </ul>
            </li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="configuration.html">getmail configuration (version 5)</a></li>
    <li>
        <ul>
        <li><a href="configuration.html#configuring">Configuring getmail</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
            <li><a href="configuration.html#rcfile">Creating a getmail rc file</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li><a href="configuration.html#running">Running getmail</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
            <li><a href="configuration.html#running-commandline-options">Commandline options</a></li>
            <li><a href="configuration.html#running-mda">Using getmail as an MDA</a></li>
            <li><a href="configuration.html#running-fetch">Using getmail_fetch to retrieve mail from scripts</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="troubleshooting.html">getmail troubleshooting (version 5)</a></li>
    <li>
        <ul>
        <li><a href="troubleshooting.html#troubleshooting">Troubleshooting problems</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
            <li><a href="troubleshooting.html#error-messages">Error messages</a></li>
            <li><a href="troubleshooting.html#warning-messages">Warning messages</a></li>
            <li><a href="troubleshooting.html#unexpected-behaviour">Unexpected Behaviour</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="faq.html">getmail frequently-asked questions (FAQs) (version 5)</a></li>
    <li>
        <ul>
        <li><a href="faq.html#faq">Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
            <li><a href="faq.html#faq-about">About getmail</a></li>
            <li><a href="faq.html#faq-configuring">Configuring getmail</a></li>
            <li><a href="faq.html#faq-how">How do I &hellip;</a></li>
            <li><a href="faq.html#faq-integrating">Using getmail with other software</a></li>
            <li><a href="faq.html#faq-notabug">I think I found this bug in getmail &hellip;</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

<!-- ********************************************************************** -->

<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<p>
    getmail is a mail retriever designed to allow you to get your mail from one
    or more mail accounts on various mail servers to your local machine for
    reading with a minimum of fuss.  getmail is designed to be secure, flexible,
    reliable, and easy-to-use. getmail is designed to replace other mail
    retrievers such as fetchmail.
</p>
<p>
    getmail version 5 includes the following features:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        simple to install, configure, and use
    </li>
    <li>
        retrieve virtually any mail
        <ul>
            <li>
                support for accessing mailboxes with the following protocols:
                <ul>
                    <li>POP3</li>
                    <li>POP3-over-SSL</li>
                    <li>IMAP4</li>
                    <li>IMAP4-over-SSL</li>
                    <li>SDPS (Demon UK's extensions to POP3)</li>
                </ul>
            </li>
            <li>
                support for single-user and domain mailboxes
            </li>
            <li>
                retrieve mail from an unlimited number of mailboxes and servers
            </li>
            <li>
                can remember which mail it has already retrieved, and can be set
                to only download new messages
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        support for message filtering, classification, and annotation by
        external programs like spam filters and anti-virus programs
    </li>
    <li>
        support for delivering messages to different destinations based on the
        message recipient
    </li>
    <li>
        reliability
        <ul>
            <li>
                native safe and reliable delivery support for maildirs and
                mboxrd files, in addition to delivery through arbitrary external
                message delivery agents (MDAs)
            </li>
            <li>
                does not destroy information by rewriting mail headers
            </li>
            <li>
                does not cause mail loops by doing SMTP injection, and therefore
                does not require that you run an MTA (like qmail or sendmail) on
                your host
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        written in Python, and therefore easy to extend or customize
        <ul>
            <li>
                a flexible, extensible architecture so that support for new mail
                access protocols, message filtering operations, or destination
                types can be easily added
            </li>
            <li>
                cross-platform operation; getmail 5 should work on Unix/Linux,
                Macintosh, and other platforms.  Windows support available
                under the free <a href="http://cygwin.com/">Cygwin</a> package.
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        winner of various software awards, including DaveCentral's &quot;Best of
        Linux&quot;
    </li>
</ul>

<!-- ********************************************************************** -->

<h2 id="v4differences">Differences from previous versions</h2>
<p>
    getmail version 4/5 has been completely rewritten.  It is designed to closely
    mimic the interface and user experience of getmail version 3, but the new
    architecture necessitates some differences you will notice:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        the getmail rc file (configuration file) format has changed.  If you are
        upgrading from version 3, you will need to write a new configuration
        file based on the contents of your old one.  The new file format
        resembles the old in many ways.  Each account you retrieve mail
        from will require a separate rc file, but getmail can operate with
        multiple rc files simultaneously if you wish to retrieve mail from
        multiple accounts.
    </li>
    <li>
        support for protocols other than POP3/SDPS.  IMAP support is now
        included, and other protocols can be added with relative ease.
    </li>
    <li>
        support for SSL-encrypted protocols.  The included  POP3 and IMAP
        retriever classes are complemented by SSL-enabled counterparts.
    </li>
    <li>
        messages can be filtered or annotated by external programs like
        spam filters and anti-Microsoft-worm programs.  Filters can cause
        messages to be dropped completely.
    </li>
    <li>
        a flexible, extensible architecture.  Additional classes for handling
        new mail protocols, filter types, or destination mailstores can be
        added without needing to modify the main script at all.  Feel free
        to contact me if you need a custom retriever, filter, or destination
        class written, or if you want commercial support for getmail.
    </li>
</ul>

<!-- ********************************************************************** -->

<h2 id="requirements">Requirements</h2>
<p>
    getmail version 5 requires
    <a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a>
    version 2.3.3 or later. If you have only an earlier version of Python
    available, you can install the latest version without disturbing your
    current version, or use getmail version 3, which requires only Python
    version 1.5.2 or later.
</p>
<p>
    At the time of this writing, the current stable version of Python is
    2.3.4.  You can download that version from the page at
    <a href="http://www.python.org/2.3.4/">http://www.python.org/2.3.4/</a>
    .  Binary packages are available for RPM-based
    Linux systems, or building Python from source is typically as easy
    as unpacking the source tarball, and running the following commands:
</p>
<pre class="example">
./configure
make
make install
</pre>
<p>
    Since the above was written, Python 2.4 has been released.  getmail 5
    will work with that version of Python as well.
</p>
<p>
    getmail 5 also requires that servers uniquely identify the messages
    they provide (via the
    <span class="file">UIDL</span>
    command) to getmail for full functionality.  Certain very old or broken
    POP3 servers may not be capable of this (I have had only one report of such
    problems from among the tens of thousands of people who have downloaded
    getmail 5 from my website and from other archives), or may not implement
    the
    <span class="file">UIDL</span>
    command at all, and limited support is available for such servers via the
    <span class="file">BrokenUIDLPOP3Retriever</span>
    and
    <span class="file">BrokenUIDLPOP3SSLRetriever</span>
    retriever classes.
</p>

<!-- ********************************************************************** -->

<h2 id="obtaining">Obtaining getmail</h2>
<p>
    Download getmail 5 from the official website main page at
    <a href="http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/#download">http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/</a>
    .
</p>

<!-- ********************************************************************** -->

<h2 id="installing">Installing getmail</h2>

<h3 id="installing-impatient">For the impatient</h3>
<p>
    Installing getmail is very easy; just download the tarball
    distribution, unpack it, change into the directory
    it unpacks into, and run this command:
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ python setup.py install
</pre>
<p>
    That's all there is to it.  99.9% of users don't need a special
    package/port/etc.
    If you'd like more details on install options, keep reading.
</p>

<h3 id="installing-full">Full installation instructions</h3>
<p>
    Once you have downloaded or otherwise obtained getmail, unpack it.
    On GNU-ish Unix-like systems, this means:
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ tar xzf getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>.tar.gz
</pre>
<p>
    On Macintosh systems, use a Zip-type archiver program to unpack
    the tarball.
</p>
<p>
    On SystemV-like Unix systems, you may instead need to break this down
    into two steps:
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ gunzip getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>.tar.gz
$ tar xf getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>.tar
</pre>
<p>
    Then, change into the extracted getmail directory and start the build
    process.  The easiest installation method is to use the included
    <span class="file">setup.py</span>
    <a href="http://docs.python.org/inst/inst.html">Python distutils script</a>
    to build and install getmail directly.  Alternatively, you can build a
    binary package (i.e., an RPM or similar managed software package) for your
    system from the source package and install the resulting package, but the
    Python distutils support for this is
    <a href="http://docs.python.org/dist/postinstallation-script.html">spotty</a>
    at present.
</p>

<h3 id="installing-rpm">Installing from the RPM</h3>
<p>
    If you downloaded the RPM, you should be able to install it with the
    following command:
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ rpm -ihv getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>-<span class="meta">release</span>.noarch.rpm
</pre>

<h3 id="installing-source">Installing directly from the source</h3>
<p>
    To build and install directly from the included source, follow these
    steps.
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ cd getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>
$ python setup.py build
</pre>
<p>
    When that completes in a few seconds, become root and then install the
    software.  You can install in the default location, or specify an alternate
    location to install the software, or specify alternate directories for
    only part of the package.
</p>

<h4 id="installing-source-default">Installing in the default location</h4>
<p>
    To install in the default location, become user root and install with
    the following commands:
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ su
<span class="meta">enter root password</span>
# python setup.py install
</pre>
<p>
    This will, by default, install files into subdirectories under the directory
    <span class="meta">prefix</span>,
    which is the directory that your Python installation was configured to
    install under (typically
    <span class="file">/usr/local/</span>
    or
    <span class="file">/usr/</span>,
    but other values are sometimes used):
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        the scripts
        <span class="file">getmail</span>,
        <span class="file">getmail_fetch</span>,
        <span class="file">getmail_maildir</span>,
        and
        <span class="file">getmail_mbox</span>
        will be installed under
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">prefix</span>/bin/</span>
    </li>
    <li>
        the Python package
        <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
        (which implements all the protocol&ndash;, filter&ndash;, and
        destination-specific code for getmail, plus various other bits) will be
        installed under the site-specific packages directory of your Python
        library directory.  This directory is
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">prefix</span>/lib/python-<span class="meta">python-version</span>/site-packages/</span>.
    </li>
    <li>
        The documentation directory
        <span class="file">getmail-<span class="meta">getmail-version</span></span>
        will be installed under
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">prefix</span>/doc/</span>
    </li>
    <li>
        The manual pages for the four scripts will be installed under
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">prefix</span>/man/</span>
    </li>
</ul>
<p>
    You can see a list of the default installation locations by running:
</p>
<pre class="example">
# python setup.py install --show-default-install-dirs
</pre>

<h4 id="installing-source-altprefix">Installing under an alternate <span class="file">prefix</span> directory</h4>
<p>
    You can specify an alternate
    <span class="meta">prefix</span>
    directory by supplying the
    <span class="file">--prefix</span>
    option to the install command, like this:
</p>
<pre class="example">
# python setup.py install --prefix=<span class="meta">path</span>
</pre>
<p>
    This will install the various parts of the package in subdirectories like in
    the default installation (see the section
    <a href="#installing-source-default">Installing in the default location</a>
    above), but under your specified
    <span class="file">prefix</span>
    directory. These alternate installations allow you to install the software
    without root privileges (say, by installing under
    <span class="file">$HOME/</span>).
    Note, however, that the
    <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
    package will not be in the default Python module search path if you do
    this; see the section
    <a href="#install-alt-libdir">Installing the <span class="file">getmailcore</span> package in a non-standard location</a>
    if you use this option.
</p>

<h4 id="installing-source-altdirs">Installing parts of the package to alternate directories</h4>
<p>
    If you only want to change the directory for some of the components, use
    the following options:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        <span class="file">--install-lib=<span class="meta">path</span></span>
        specifies the directory the
        <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
        package is installed under (i.e., it will be installed as
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">path</span>/getmailcore</span>
        ).  See the section
        <a href="#install-alt-libdir">Installing the <span class="file">getmailcore</span> package in a non-standard location</a>
        if you use this option.
    </li>
    <li>
        <span class="file">--install-scripts=<span class="meta">path</span></span>
        specifies the directory the four scripts are installed under  (i.e.,
        they will be installed directly in
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">path</span>/</span>
        ).
    </li>
    <li>
        <span class="file">--install-data=<span class="meta">path</span></span>
        specifies the directory the documentation is installed under (i.e., the
        HTML and plaintext documentation will be installed in the directory
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">path</span>/doc/getmail-<span class="meta">getmail-version</span>/</span>,
        and the man(1) pages will be installed in
        <span class="file"><span class="meta">path</span>/man/man1/</span>.
    </li>
</ul>
<p>
    For example, if your Python installation is located under
    <span class="file">/usr/</span>
    because it was installed as part of your OS, but you would like the getmail
    scripts installed into
    <span class="file">/usr/local/bin/</span>
    instead of
    <span class="file">/usr/bin/</span>,
    while still letting the
    <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
    package be installed under
    <span class="file">/usr/lib/python-<span class="meta">python-version</span>/site-packages/</span>,
    and the documentation and man pages under
    <span class="file">/usr/doc/</span>
    and
    <span class="file">/usr/man/</span>
    you could use this command to install:
</p>
<pre class="example">
# python setup.py --install-scripts=/usr/local/bin/
</pre>
<p>
    If you also wanted to locate the documentation and man pages under
    <span class="file">/usr/local/</span>
    but still install the
    <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
    package in the default
    <span class="file">/usr/lib/python-<span class="meta">python-version</span>/site-packages/</span>,
    you would instead use this command to install:
</p>
<pre class="example">
# python setup.py --install-scripts=/usr/local/bin/ --install-data=/usr/local/
</pre>

<h3 class="warning" id="install-alt-libdir">Installing the <span class="file">getmailcore</span> package in a non-standard location</h3>
<p>
    Note:  if you use one of the above methods to install the
    <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
    package into a directory other than the default, the four scripts
    (<span class="file">getmail</span>,
    <span class="file">getmail_fetch</span>,
    <span class="file">getmail_maildir</span>,
    and
    <span class="file">getmail_mbox</span>)
    will almost certainly be unable to locate the required files from the
    <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
    package, because they will not be in a directory in the standard Python
    module search path.  You will need to do one of the following to make those
    files available to the scripts:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        <p>
            set the environment variable
            <span class="file">PYTHONPATH</span>
            to tell Python where to find the appropriate modules.  See the
            <a href="http://docs.python.org/tut/node8.html#SECTION008110000000000000000">
                documentation at the Python.org website
            </a>
            for details.
        </p>
        <p class="warning">
            Note that setting
            <span class="file">PYTHONPATH</span>
            in
            <span class="file">$HOME/.profile</span>
            (or equivalent) is
            <strong>not</strong>
            sufficient -- for instance,
            <span class="file">cron</span>
            runs jobs in a simpler environment, ignoring
            <span class="file">$HOME/.profile</span>,
            and getmail would therefore fail when run as a user cron job.
            It is
            <strong>strongly recommended</strong>
            that you install the Python library files in the
            <span class="file">site-packages</span>
            directory which Python provides for exactly this reason.
        </p>
    </li>
    <li>
        modify the scripts to explicitly tell Python where you've installed
        them.  Insert a line like this:
<pre class="example">
sys.path.append('/path/to/installation-directory')
</pre>
        containing the path to the directory you installed the
        <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
        directory in, somewhere below the line which reads
<pre class="example">
import sys
</pre>
        and before the first line which references
        <span class="file">getmailcore</span>
        .
    </li>
</ul>

<h3 id="installing-binary">Building a binary package from the source</h3>
<p>
    To build a binary package from the included source, run the following
    command from inside the unpacked getmail source.
</p>
<pre class="example">
$ cd getmail-<span class="meta">version</span>
$ python setup.py bdist --format=<span class="meta">package-format</span>
</pre>
<p>
    The useful allowed values for <span class="meta">package-format</span> are:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
        <span class="file">rpm</span>
        &mdash; build a
        <span class="file">.noarch.rpm</span>
        file which can then be installed with the
        <span class="file">rpm</span>
        package manager.
    </li>
    <li>
        <span class="file">pkgtool</span>
        &mdash; build a package for the Sun Solaris
        <span class="file">pkgtool</span>
        package manager.
    </li>
    <li>
        <span class="file">sdux</span>
        &mdash; build a package for the HP/UX
        <span class="file">swinstall</span>
        software installer.
    </li>
</ul>
<p>
    Ideally, if you use this method, it will result in a &quot;built
    distribution&quot; binary package in a subdirectory named
    <span class="file">dist</span>
    which can then be installed using the appropriate system-specific tool.
    If you have problems with this process, please do not ask me for assistance;
    ask your OS vendor or
    <a href="news:comp.lang.python">the comp.lang.python newsgroup</a>.
    The install-directory-from-source process above is the only one I can
    support, and it should work on all platforms.
</p>
<p>
    You can discuss issues with building binary packages on the
    <a href="#mailing-list-users">getmail users' mailing list</a>.
</p>

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<h2 id="mailing-lists">getmail mailing lists</h2>
<h3 id="mailing-list-users">getmail-users' mailing list</h3>
<p>
    A mailing list has been set up to discuss getmail.  Only subscribers may
    post to the list.
</p>
<p>
    The list is available for free getmail support from me and other users,
    for discussions of bugs, configuration issues, documentation,
    and other technical issues related to getmail.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-users-subscribe">How to subscribe</h4>
<p>
    To subscribe to the list, send a blank email to
    &lt;getmail-subscribe @ lists.pyropus.ca&gt;
    and follow the instructions in the message you receive.
    <strong>Read and save the &quot;welcome&quot; message you receive when you subscribe</strong>;
    it contains valuable instructions about how to use the list.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-users-unsubscribe">How to unsubscribe</h4>
<p>
    To un-subscribe from the list, send a blank email from the same address you
    subscribed with to
    &lt;getmail-unsubscribe @ lists.pyropus.ca&gt;
    and follow the instructions in the message you receive.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-users-post">How to post</h4>
<p>
    Once you have subscribed to the list, you may post messages to the list
    by sending them to
    &lt;getmail @ lists.pyropus.ca&gt;.  Complete instructions for
    using the list are sent to you when you subscribe.
</p>
<p>
    The list allows plaintext message bodies and plaintext attachments.
    Do not attempt to send binary files (gzip, etc), HTML, or other types,
    as they will be stripped from your message.
</p>
<p>
    Note:  please ensure you have read the
    <a href="documentation.html">documentation</a>
    and
    <a href="faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions</a>,
    and browsed/searched the
    <a href="#mailing-list-users-archive">mailing list archives</a>
    before posting a question to the mailing list.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-users-archive">Archives of the getmail-users' mailing list</h4>
<p>
    There are browsable archives of the list at
    <a href="https://marc.info/?l=getmail">
        https://marc.info/?l=getmail
    </a>
    and
    <a href="http://news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.user">
        http://news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.user
    </a>.
    The
    <a href="news:news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.user">
        GMANE getmail users' archive is also available via NNTP
    </a>
    if you prefer to read it with a newsreader, rather than a web browser.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-users-notes">Notes on the getmail-users' mailing list</h4>
<p>
    When subscribing to the getmail users' mailing list, please note the
    following:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>
    The mailing list software
    <a href="http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html">does not, and will not munge the Reply-To: header</a>
    of list messages.  I encourage you to read and post to the list using
    a good MUA that properly supports reply-to-list and reply-to-author
    functionality.  If your MUA lacks a reply-to-list function, you'll
    need to manually ensure your followup messages to the the list
    are actually directed to the list submission address.
    </li>
    <li>
    The mailing list software does <strong>not</strong> munge the Subject:
    header of list messages, so don't look for &quot;[getmail-users]&quot;
    or anything like that.  If you want your MUA to recognize list messages,
    there are a number of header fields added to allow it to do so.
    </li>
    <li>
    Subscribing and unsubscribing from the list are both secure and
    completely automatic.  When you try to do either, the list manager
    software will send you a special message you have to reply to to
    finish the operation; this prevents others from subscribing you to or
    unsubscribing you from the list without your permission.
    </li>
    <li>
    You must be a list subscriber to post messages to the list.
    </li>
</ul>

<h3 id="mailing-list-announce">Announcements List</h3>
<p>
    If you only want to be notified of new releases of getmail, an announce-only
    list has been set up.  The list is very low-volume; you can expect to
    receive only a small number of messages per month.
</p>
<p>
    All announcements are sent to both lists, so there is no need to subscribe
    to the announcements list if you are on the discussion list.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-announce-subscribe">How to subscribe</h4>
<p>
    To subscribe to the list, send a blank email to
    &lt;getmail-announce-subscribe @ lists.pyropus.ca&gt;
    and follow the instructions in the message you receive.
    <strong>Read and save the &quot;welcome&quot; message you receive when you subscribe</strong>;
    it contains valuable instructions about how to use the list.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-announce-unsubscribe">How to unsubscribe</h4>
<p>
    To un-subscribe from the list, send a blank email from the same address you
    subscribed with to
    &lt;getmail-announce-unsubscribe @ lists.pyropus.ca&gt;
    and follow the instructions in the message you receive.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-announce-post">How to post</h4>
<p>
    You cannot post messages directly to the announcements list.  If you feel
    you have an announcement regarding getmail which should be distributed,
    send it to me and request that I send it to the announcements list.
</p>
<h4 id="mailing-list-announce-archive">Archives of the getmail announcements mailing list</h4>
<p>
    There is an archive of the announcements list at
    <a href="http://news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.announce">
        http://news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.announce
    </a>.
    The
    <a href="news:news.gmane.org/gmane.mail.getmail.announce">
        GMANE getmail announcements archive is also available via NNTP
    </a>
    if you prefer to read it with a newsreader, rather than a web browser.
</p>

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