[Imap-protocol] IMAP MOVE extension

[Mark Crispin]

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010, Arnt Gulbrandsen wrote:

> Dave, you're talking about an extension AOL already has put into the

> world, and which Tb already implements. Is the barrier between

> "XAOL-MOVE" and "MOVE" really so large?


Is AOL's implementation certified not to have any of the potential
failures that have discussed?  I'm not saying that it is impossible to
have such an implementation; but I am saying that it's awfully cocky to
claim it without submitting the details for examination.

For what it's worth, I've worked out how a store can be designed to do it.
In such a store there is no particular benefit to MOVE over COPY; MOVE is
comparable (slightly slower) to COPY in performance.  Any store which has
a slow COPY can not have a faster yet safe MOVE.

I daresay that AOL is just a small percentage of overall IMAP usage; and
AOL users using Thunderbird are a smaller percentage.  What happens if we
jump off this cliff and discover that there really is no net at the
bottom?  What responsibility will AOL take?

-- 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.