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What is maildir?

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  • Last reply by MJRJ

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I have received several email messages from "[email protected]" with the subject "Maildir in Thunderbird was edited by Tonnes". Then: "Discussion of the Maildir interface introduced in version 38. Further down in the message it states a warning about not using Maildir if I'm not an advanced user.

I have no idea why I have been receiving these messages nor do I understand the concept of Maildir. I don't know if I did something to my settings or what but can someone help me with this?

Thank you,

I have received several email messages from "[email protected]" with the subject "Maildir in Thunderbird was edited by Tonnes". Then: "Discussion of the Maildir interface introduced in version 38. Further down in the message it states a warning about not using Maildir if I'm not an advanced user. I have no idea why I have been receiving these messages nor do I understand the concept of Maildir. I don't know if I did something to my settings or what but can someone help me with this? Thank you,

Chosen solution

Thunderbird, in common with a couple of other email clients, stores your messages in a format known as mailbox, where all the messages in a folder are stored back-to-back in a single file. This leads to large files and some procedural compromises. An alternative is a system known as maildir where each message is stored as a standalone file. This places greater stress on the computer's file system and has complications in terms of managing the links between related messages.

For most of us, it doesn't really matter how it is done. I've used maildir myself and haven't seen any real advantages, but then if you don't have any problems there no reason to change. Maildir facilitates certain practices favoured by more technically inclined users (I didn't say geeks...)

I don't know why you're receiving these. I'd guess that you have inadvertently subscribed to a newsletter or mailing list. Is there an unsubscribe link?

Tonnes is one of the Thunderbird developers.

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Chosen Solution

Thunderbird, in common with a couple of other email clients, stores your messages in a format known as mailbox, where all the messages in a folder are stored back-to-back in a single file. This leads to large files and some procedural compromises. An alternative is a system known as maildir where each message is stored as a standalone file. This places greater stress on the computer's file system and has complications in terms of managing the links between related messages.

For most of us, it doesn't really matter how it is done. I've used maildir myself and haven't seen any real advantages, but then if you don't have any problems there no reason to change. Maildir facilitates certain practices favoured by more technically inclined users (I didn't say geeks...)

I don't know why you're receiving these. I'd guess that you have inadvertently subscribed to a newsletter or mailing list. Is there an unsubscribe link?

Tonnes is one of the Thunderbird developers.

Modified by Zenos

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Zenos said

Thunderbird, in common with a couple of other email clients, stores your messages in a format known as mailbox, where all the messages in a folder are stored back-to-back in a single file. This leads to large files and some procedural compromises. An alternative is a system known as maildir where each message is stored as a standalone file. This places greater stress on the computer's file system and has complications in terms of managing the links between related messages. For most of us, it doesn't really matter how it is done. I've used maildir myself and haven't seen any real advantages, but then if you don't have any problems there no reason to change. Maildir facilitates certain practices favoured by more technically inclined users (I didn't say geeks...) I don't know why you're receiving these. I'd guess that you have inadvertently subscribed to a newsletter or mailing list. Is there an unsubscribe link? Tonnes is one of the Thunderbird developers.

Thank you for your response. No, I didn't see an "unsubscribe" link on these most recent emails. And I don't know if I'm subscribing to any newsletters. But, if this isn't something I need to be concerned about, I will disregard it.

Thank you for your quick response.