[Bug 189441] New: Backup kmail/mail-dir mails to fat/vfat filesystem on usb stick not possible

[Toni]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=189441

           Summary: Backup kmail/mail-dir mails to fat/vfat filesystem on
                    usb stick not possible
           Product: kmail
           Version: 1.9.9
          Platform: Debian stable
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: kdepim-bugs at kde.org
        ReportedBy: lukas901 at freenet.de


Version:           1.9.9 (using KDE 3.5.10)
OS:                Linux
Installed from:    Debian stable Packages

Situation: 
----------
- Mails stored kmail in maildir format use special characters (at least comma
and colon). E.g. "1120923112.4769.TEuXE:2,R"

- Current usb sticks are mostly formatted with fat/vfat file system

Problem: 
--------
fat/vfat isn't able to store files with at least the colon character, so you
aren't able to backup kmail mails on usb stick out of the box.

Fix:
----

I know that problem (or at least the restriction) concerns to the old Windows
(v)fat format, there would be no problem if usb sticks would use a better file
system. I know also that one can work around it (pack mails into tar file,
...).

But apart from the fact that the above mentioned restriction means also
compatibility (least common denominator regarding the charset): Is it really
necessary to use these special chars in the file names? User don't have to deal
with these files directly, so readability isn't necessary. On the other side
software doesn't (at least in principle) matter wether there's a colon or an
"x", "y" or "z".

Or is it a requirement of the maildir format?

Suggestion: Avoid special chars in filenames if it isn't necessary

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