Subject: How to prevent attachment files from saving in a server disk using pine?

From: Tang Yuk Wai <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 16:09:04 +0800 (HKT)

Hello,

I am writing to see if someone can a find a work around solution for the
system adminstrators in my college who are going to shut down the telnet
service of our e-mail account from next month. The reason for that is
they say a lot of user save attachment files in the server disk when
they check mail using pine. They end up having the account locked
and have to ask for technical support to get the file removed (we are
logging to a shell without command prompt and we could not delete any
files).

I should like to know if it is possible to disable the "save attachment"
key in pine, either from the configuration setup file or compilation of
pine. I hope someone here can give me a soluation so that I can pass it to
the system administrators and hope they could change their mind. Thank
you.

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From: Frederik Vervaet <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 14:25:55 +0200 (CEST)

> Hello,
<snip>
> the system administrators and hope they could change their mind. Thank

I'm not aware of such an option (doesn't mean it does not exist ...)

However, seems to me if you're not allowed to save attachments you might
aswell not get them :)

On my system i needed smth to filter out dangerous attachments before they
got to the user. I used anomy defang for that. Since this works on
file-extensions I had to somehow store these files incase it deleted a
valid file. Our clients get a unique filename in the mailmessage the attach was
removed from which allows them to d/l the file from our server using a
webform.

Basically you could ask your admins to do the same. HAve them strip off
ALL attachments and store them on a disk with plenty of room. Setup a
webform so you can still get to them and delete everything in that
directory once a month to save space. As long as you don't share that
unique filename with anyone the file cannot be accessed by anyone else.
The filename on my system is smth like

<nnnn>-<date>-<nnnn>-<original_file_name>.<original_extension>.<nnnn>

nnnn being a random number. (kinda overkill but hey ...)

This would fix the problem imo :)

-- 
Frederik Vervaet <[email-masked]>
-The Lean Mean Mailing Machine

Alcohol is for the weak-minded who can't handle things as they are and need
chemicals to help them escape. I enjoy being able to think clearly.

We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the
ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now
qualified to do anything with nothing. - Mother Teresa

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From: Tang Yuk Wai <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 10:11:18 +0800 (HKT)

> removed from which allows them to d/l the file from our server using a

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually, they provide a website for us to
check the e-mails and save attachments so it is not a problem if the save
attachment option in pine (access through telnet) is disabled. However, I
think it is more convenient to check mail with pine, which I have been
using for many years and if I could find a solution here and tell the
system administrators they may change their mind.

Tang Yuk Wai

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From: Matt Ackeret <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 12:18:50 -0700 (PDT)

>service of our e-mail account from next month. The reason for that is

You can still use pine -- just compile it on your computer or on another
shell account (inside the college's firewall most likely), and point it at the
same mail account.

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From: Mats Dufberg <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 22:35:40 +0200 (CEST)

> the system administrators and hope they could change their mind. Thank

I'm not really sure what you mean, but it is possible to remove the
attachment before you save the message.

Mats

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Mats Dufberg                                      [email-masked]
Blaoarvsgraend 42                                  +46-8-38 48 59
SE-162 45 Vaellingby, Sweden                      +46-70-258 2588