[15] WHERE IS MY EMAIL!!?? ITS IN WEBMAIL BUT NOT THE SHELL! It's OK, your email has probably been sorted by the email client or protocol you have used to read your email. First be sure that you are looking on the right group of machines. If you are using webmail on the SDF cluster, the URL you use is https://mx.sdf.org. If you are using webmail on the SDF MetaArray, the URL you use is https://ma.sdf.org. Some quick places to check for your email on those groups of machines at the shell would be: $HOME/mbox $HOME/mail/mbox $HOME/Mail/received Traditionally your email is received and stored in what is called a 'spool file'. This file is defined by the $MAIL environment variable. 'mail', 'mailx', 'mutt', 'elm' and such always read mail from that defined location unless told otherwise. However, programs such as 'pine' and 'alpine' insist on moving your email out of the spool and into your home directory. This is their default behaviour and can be confusing to new users. They use the 'IMAP' or Internet Message Access Protocol. The webmail system also uses IMAP. It does have its advantages once you get over the shock of thinking you've lost your email. You haven't though, IMAP thinks it has improved things for you and maybe you'll feel that way someday. |
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