mailsync 5.2.2-3 / usr / share / doc / mailsync / ABSTRACT

Mailsync is a way of synchronizing a collection of mailboxes.  The
algorithm is a 3-way diff.  Two mailboxes are simultaneously compared
to a record of the state of both mailboxes at last sync.  New messages
and message deletions are propagated between the two mailboxes.  If
you're familiar with CVS, it's the same principle, except there's no
opportunity for conflicts.

Mailsync can be used for many things.  I wrote it for synchronizing
my desktop mail with my laptop.  You can also use it if your mail is
kept on an IMAP server, but your favorite mail client doesn't totally
grok IMAP---for instance, I use VM under Emacs, and VM keeps a copy of 
my mail in my home directory, and I synchronize that with the IMAP
server.  You can keep your mail in arbitrarily many places and keep it 
all consistent.

Mailsync is based on the "c-client" library developed at the
University of Washington.  C-client was designed for writing IMAP
clients, but it also can access local mailbox files in many formats,
with a nearly consistent API.  Mailsync's mailboxes can be on IMAP
servers, on the local filesystem in UNIX, MH, or any other format
c-client supports.

What about "detached client" mode in an IMAP client?  Mailsync
attempts to solve the same problem in a different way.  The "detached
client" idea assumes that there's a master server and a
periodically-connected client.  Mailsync does not designate a server
or a client.  (In fact, it acts sort of like a client that arbitrates
between two servers.)

Currently, the concept of message identity is based entirely on the
Message-ID field.  This may change.