Understanding RFC1939 - lock of maildrop

[Pelle]

Hello group,

I've got some trouble understanding the POP3 RFC (that is RFC1939).
Acquiring the lock on a maildrop is meant to prevent changes and
deletion of any messages before the update-state is active.
But what does a lock on a maildrop mean concerning incoming messages?
I would assume that the user won't see any new messages while the
mailddrop is locked. However, this is in contradiction to the
behaviour of most e-Mail systems I have seen.

Any hints?
Thanks,
regards,
Pelle.

[Mark Crispin]

POP3 has no means to announce new messages. The only way to learn about
new messages is to exit the current POP3 session and open a new one. POP3
is not intended for online interactive use. POP3 is intended to be used
to open a session, download the messages, then close.

IMAP is the protocol for online interactive use; and IMAP has mechanisms
to announce new messages.

On Wed, 7 May 2008, Pelle posted:

-- Mark --

http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.