maildrop - mail delivery agent with filtering abilities

Current version is 0.54a

Copyright 1998, Double Precision Inc.

This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. See COPYING for additional information.

Where to find maildrop

The HTML version of the maildrop README is located at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/5799/maildrop.README.html. Although the following files may also be found there, please check your favorite archive for any local copies:

maildrop-0.54a.tar.gz - the source code tarball.

maildrop-0.54a-1.src.rpm - the distribution source code in the RPM format. To build a binary RPM run the command rpm --rebuild maildrop-0.54a-1.src.rpm.

maildrop-0.54a-1.i386.rpm - prebuilt binary RPM for Red Hat 5.1 i386.

The RPMs are signed with my PGP key: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/5799/PGPKEY.txt.

maildrop includes documention in HTML, as well as traditional man pages. The HTML versions may also be found at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/5799/maildrop.maildrop.html.
 

Introduction

maildrop is a replacement for your local mail delivery agent. maildrop reads a mail message from standard input, then delivers the message to your mailbox. maildrop knows how to deliver mail to mbox-style mailboxes, and maildirs. "maildir" is a mailbox format used by the Qmail MTA.

maildrop can optionally read instructions from a file on how to filter incoming mail, and, based upon the instructions, deliver mail to alternate mailboxes, or forward it to somewhere else, like procmail. Unlike procmail, maildrop uses a structured filtering language that's a bit easier on the eyes.

maildrop is written in C++, and is significantly larger than procmail, in compiled form. However, it uses resources much more efficiently. Unlike procmail, maildrop will not read a 10 megabyte mail message into memory. Large messages are saved in a temporary file, and are filtered from that file. Files are saved in the user's home directory. If the standard input to maildrop is a file, not a pipe, no temporary file will be necessary.

maildrop performs syntax checks on the filter file before attempting to deliver a message. Unlike procmail, if the filter file contains syntax errors, maildrop will terminate without delivering the message, allowing the user to fix the typo, and try again later without losing any mail.

maildrop uses the GNU autoconf configure script.

Installation

See the file INSTALL for installation information. If you are using an RPM-based Linux distribution, you can install the binary RPM (see above), or rebuild the source RPM, normally.

Using maildrop with sendmail

Maildrop can be easily used as sendmail's local delivery agent, instead of procmail. Here is the suggested entry for sendmail.cf, courtesy of Eric J. Schwertfeger <ejs@bfd.com>: 
 
Mlocal,         P=/usr/local/bin/maildrop, F=lsAw5:/|@SPfhn, S=10/30, R=20/40,
                T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix,
                A=maildrop -d $u
You may also consider including the D, F, and M flags as well.

Revision history