Escaping Google part 3
it’s been a while since i commented about my esacpe from google, but the fight continues.
so far i’ve just been attacking the ability to gather new information about me, but it’s high time i mounted an offencive and took some of my data back…
this is going to be the hard one, since they actually do a damn good job at running an email service.
i’m not going to self-host email because fuck that hassle… it’s not worth it..
but in order to prepare to leave i need a copy of all my stuff..
google takeout is good, but it only provides a snapshot in time, we can do better..
- Create a new vm
- Install imap server and configure to point to per-user maildir folders
- set up local smtp server and only allow local delivery (pointing to maildir)
- install fetchmail (yeah it’s a hack.. but it works)
right.. that’s my side set up.. now for gmail..
- enable POPs on gmail
- enable pop for all mail even mail that’s already been downloaded
- when the messages are accessed, keep gmails copy in the inbox
- configure fetchmail to grab my email
ok, that will keep my local email constantly in sync with gmail - as often as i sync.
Why bother with this?
well, this will keep my local email copy in sync with gmail so if i find a new provider that works better i can just pick up sticks and move, no transfer or download is needed as i have it all already.
an added bonus is that by downloading all my email i can nuke the older ones and keep my accout in the free tier of storage. although google drive is the current space consumer.. i’ll tackle this next.
so, yeah