switching to the cloud

[Achim Bohnet]

> On 1. Jul 2022, at 09:24, Ingo Klöcker <kloecker at kde.org> wrote:
> 
> On Freitag, 1. Juli 2022 07:10:19 CEST Erik Quaeghebeur wrote:
>>> 1.  She wants to load her existing kmail files on her new
>>> computer, […]. She has POP3 emails.  Suggestions re helping her do
>>> this are appreciated.  My
>>> suggestion to her was to archive her files to a usb stick and
>>> then import the archived files
>>> to her new machine.
>> 
>> Yes, that should work. The mails can either be put in the default ‘Local
>> folders’ maildir resource location or an alternative one (created
>> specifically for that purpose).
> 
> As always, my suggestion is to simply copy the complete home directory to the 
> new computer. Ideally, with `rsync -a ...` to ensure that all file properties 
> are preserved. That's what I've been doing since decades and it has never 
> failed me or caused trouble. After copying everything over, I simply started 
> KMail on the new machine and everything was there.

FWIW, I would suggest to use at least rsync -aX ..    Dolphin File Tags, Comments  and Rating
are stored in the extended attributes of files.   Several tools also store the
URL when you download a file from the internet.

> 
> Any other approach will almost certainly cost much more time and is certainly 
> much more hassle than simply copying everything.

Agreed.

Achim

> 
>>> 2.  She is also thinking that she might out to switch from pop3
>>> to imap so she could access
>>> her current (up to date) information from both her home and her
>>> office desktops.  Any suggestions that might help her do this?
>> 
>> Just start accessing from IMAP and stop using POP. Get used to kmail's IMAP
>> (akonadi) peculiarities. Namely, don't assume it retreived all mails
>> automatically, but poll from time to time.
>> 
>> Upload tho mails previously downloaded by POP to the IMAP account! You can
>> have kmail cache them all locally, so then it is easy to access them from
>> anywhere via a system designed to do so.
> 
> Ideally, you do the uploading to IMAP from the old computer. Then you don't 
> have to bother with getting the old mail from the old computer to the new 
> computer because all you have to do on the new computer is set up the IMAP 
> account and grab a cup of coffee or tea or whatever while KMail downloads all 
> old mails from the IMAP account to the new computer.
> 
> Important: When you do the uploading, either from the old or the new computer, 
> use "copy". Do *not* use "move"! Using "copy" ensures that the old mail is 
> still available locally even if the upload to IMAP failed.
> 
>>> "The intent would be to access my kmail through my dropbox account from
>>> any
>>> computer which I may log into for work and still be able to
>>> access all of my
>>> kmail history."
>> 
>> That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Kmail (akonadi) ‘assumes’ the files
>> are stored locally, but this way, they can change in unexpected ways.
>> Moreover, it makes the complete setup more complex than just using one
>> system, IMAP.
> 
> I fully agree with Erik. It's amazing how creative people are. And I mean this 
> in a good way. But trying to use dropbox with KMail is a sure way to shoot 
> yourself in the foot.
> 
> Regards,
> Ingo