glep-0032.rst


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---
GLEP: 32
Title: Maildir Location
Author: Georgi Georgiev <chutz@gg3.net>
Type: Standards Track
Status: Deferred
Version: 1
Created: 2004-11-03
Last-Modified: 2014-01-17
Post-History: 2004-11-03
Content-Type: text/x-rst
---


Abstract
========

Ebuilds that install mail delivery agents often need to know the default
location of users' mailbox. When the mailbox is of a maildir type, there is no
set standard what the name of the directory should be. The most popular
extensions are "Maildir", ".Maildir" and Gentoo has adopted its own ".maildir"
name.

This GLEP proposes a user-definable maildir location.

Motivation
==========

To provide the means to change the default location of a maildir, that is
currently hardcoded in ebuilds.

The ".maildir" name is not adequate for most situations.

- "Maildir" is the defacto standard name for maildir mailboxes.

- People transferring e-mail configuration from other systems prefer to keep
  the original naming conventions.

- In a virtual hosting environment, having a hidden file in a directory
  dedicated for e-mail delivery is not a plus.

- All postfix and qmail related documentation gives "Maildir" as an example
  name.

Rationale
=========

The following comments were made in a discussion [#bugreport]_ on the Gentoo
bugzilla

- The default location should be specified in ``rc.conf``

- Preventing users from shooting themselves in the foot is not an issue

Implementation
==============

A ``maildir.eclass`` has been submitted to Bug 52076 [#bugreport]_.

Patches that implement features similar to this GLEP have already been
submitted to Bug 52076 [#bugreport]_.

MAILDIR variable
----------------

The default location for maildir delivery is specified by the ``$MAILDIR``
variable. This variable is specified in ``rc.conf``.

maildir.eclass
--------------

This eclass exports a ``$MAILDIR`` variable to the ebuilds that inherit it. If
``$MAILDIR`` has not been specified in ``rc.conf`` the eclass exports
``MAILDIR=.maildir`` for backwards compatibility reasons.

Patching ebuilds
----------------

Since most ebuilds that currently need to know what the maildir delivery
location is already take the default ``.maildir`` location into account when
installing, modifying ebuilds to implement this GLEP is as simple as
inheriting the ``maildir.eclass`` and substituting ``.maildir`` in the ebuild
with the ``$MAILDIR`` variable. Care should be taken, to also modify any
patches or scripts that are used by the ebuild, that already have ``.maildir``
hardcoded (vpopmail, exim).

Backwards Compatibility
=======================

The default location is ".maildir", unless it is overridden. This way, there
would be no backwards compatibility issues.

References
==========

.. [#bugreport] Bug 52076 (http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=52076)

Copyright
=========

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License.  To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.