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<H2><A NAME="SECTION00339000000000000000">Mail</A></H2>
<P>
Electronic mail is usually the most important method for
communicating via computer. An electronic letter is stored
in a file using a special format, and special mail programs
are used to send and read the letters.
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<P>
Each user has an <b>incoming mailbox</b> (a file in the
special format), where all new mail
is stored. When someone sends mail, the mail program
locates the receiver's mailbox and appends the letter to the
mailbox file. If the receiver's mailbox is in another
machine, the letter is sent to the other machine, which delivers
it to the mailbox as it best sees fit.
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<P>
The mail system consists of many programs. The delivery of mail
to local or remote mailboxes is done by one program (the
<b>mail transfer agent</b> or <b>MTA</b>, e.g.,
<tt>sendmail</tt><A NAME="387"> </A> or <tt>smail</tt><A NAME="389"> </A>), while the programs users use
are many and varied (<b>mail user agent</b> or <b>MUA</b>,
e.g., <tt>pine</tt><A NAME="393"> </A> or <tt>elm</tt><A NAME="395"> </A>). The
mailboxes are usually stored in <tt>/var/spool/mail</tt><A NAME="397"> </A>.
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<BR> <HR>
<P><ADDRESS>
<I>Lars Wirzenius <BR>
Sat Nov 15 02:32:11 EET 1997</I>
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