Re: [fetchmail-users] fetchmail and socks5

[Jochen H. <Joc...@Ha...>]

>>>>> Rob MacGregor writes:

> On 3/18/07, Matthias Andree <mat...@gm...> wrote:

    RM> if fetchmail is linked with the socks libraries
    RM> *and* the required socks config file
    RM> is in place then, by default, use socks.

Pls remember: readymade distro fetchmails may come linked with the socks library,
but its user is still quite likely not aware of it.

Socksification is really not an easy peace of cake.

I recently spent quite some hours (to be honest: far too many) on evaluating,
whether and with which socks server certain applications like "wget" and "curl" work resp. don't work.

Trust me (pls!), neither explicit nor implicit sockisification *usually* work out of the box,
ie. w/o changing the code,
so somebody ("a user"), who "moves" into an enforced socks server environment, 
will have to try / verify socksification on every single application on its own,
and not all at once by toggling the one and only global switch.

    RM> As long as there is a command line argument
    RM> to either disable socks or use an alternative socks config file
    RM> (which implicitly enables socks) 
    RM> then that should be fine.

I seriously plea for: the default shall be: "off".



I am sorry, but I cannot spend any more time on this issue.
The topic socksification and all that has already been far too expensive for me during the last couple of weeks.

I presented all the facts I could present to you.
Take it or leave it.



Oh, just a last "word":
After all I honestly do appreciate the abilities of socks servers
and the capabilities of explicit and implicit socksification.
If small applications get developed (or carefully migrated) with explicit socksification in mind,
the code doesn't even get spoilt,
your TCP-whatever programming still looks like in the RFC, Stevens or whatever,
and amazingly enough -- if your IT dept. socks server admin allows the connections, your application needs -- your application transparently gets through a firewall and does its job,
just as if there even wasn't any disturbing firewall
and just as if you were in the "real nature Internet", not within an Intranet.



Kind regards,
JH