S
Sam Hobbs
This is a comment, not a question.
See: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1939.txt
The Post Office Protocol - Version 3 RFC 1939 says "the interval of session
initiation may be on the order of five minutes". First I will make it clear
that the word "may" is ambiguous; in this context it means might, not can.
It is does not state a session initiation interval that a POP3 server must
support.
In the context of the APOP command, the RFC explains that since a session
might be initiated as frequently as five minutes, the APOP command can be
used as an alternate method of authentication instead of using passwords. I
am not sure how the APOP command works but the point here is that the RFC
acknowledges that a server might be checked as frequently as five minutes.
Some experts say that a server cannot be used that frequently. I agree that
it is good advice to not use the server that frequently. My point is that
the RFC clearly implies that it should work, but the RFC does not specify
that it must work. You can continue saying it won't work if you want to; I
know that most people don't need to check for messages as frequently as five
minutes or less and it is better for everyone if they don't. The
non-technical people that are most likely to want to check for messages too
frequently won't see this thread since they don't go searching for things
like this.
The RFC does say a "POP3 server MAY have an inactivity autologout timer"
that "MUST be of at least 10 minutes' duration", which means that if a
client system messes up, it might not be able to re-connect with the server
for at least 10 minutes. I am not sure about that, but I do see that after
authentication "the POP3 server then acquires an exclusive-access lock on
the maildrop".
Overall the POP3 RFC is quite simple; the APOP command is the most
complicated part.
See: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1939.txt
The Post Office Protocol - Version 3 RFC 1939 says "the interval of session
initiation may be on the order of five minutes". First I will make it clear
that the word "may" is ambiguous; in this context it means might, not can.
It is does not state a session initiation interval that a POP3 server must
support.
In the context of the APOP command, the RFC explains that since a session
might be initiated as frequently as five minutes, the APOP command can be
used as an alternate method of authentication instead of using passwords. I
am not sure how the APOP command works but the point here is that the RFC
acknowledges that a server might be checked as frequently as five minutes.
Some experts say that a server cannot be used that frequently. I agree that
it is good advice to not use the server that frequently. My point is that
the RFC clearly implies that it should work, but the RFC does not specify
that it must work. You can continue saying it won't work if you want to; I
know that most people don't need to check for messages as frequently as five
minutes or less and it is better for everyone if they don't. The
non-technical people that are most likely to want to check for messages too
frequently won't see this thread since they don't go searching for things
like this.
The RFC does say a "POP3 server MAY have an inactivity autologout timer"
that "MUST be of at least 10 minutes' duration", which means that if a
client system messes up, it might not be able to re-connect with the server
for at least 10 minutes. I am not sure about that, but I do see that after
authentication "the POP3 server then acquires an exclusive-access lock on
the maildrop".
Overall the POP3 RFC is quite simple; the APOP command is the most
complicated part.