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improved IMAP user work flow

This is a proposal for how the user and the MUA interacts with bitmask's imap server.

h1. idea 1: prevent error messages when MUA starts

I find it pretty annoying to get an error message about not being able to connect to localhost:1984 every time I start my MUA.

Instead, what if we just always started the bitmask IMAP server immediately when bitmask starts (which soon may be via autostart for many users), even if Soledad storage is not yet unlocked.

If Soledad is not unlocked, the IMAP server can go into a dummy mode where it returns an empty Inbox with no folders.

This will have the effect of letting the MUA start without an error message. When the user does unlock Soledad storage, all their messages will appear.

h1. idea 2: unlock Soledad via IMAP

I think originally the IMAP server required the real password. This seemed like a bad security problem, so we changed it.

Maybe we should allow the real password sent via IMAP as an option. This would allow Soledad to get unlocked whenever the MUA connects, which could be a real boon to usability.

Possibilities:

  • Soledad locked, random password sent to IMAP server: run imap is dummy mode.
  • Soledad unlocked, random password sent to IMAP server: run imap in real mode.
  • Soledad locked, user's real password sent to IMAP server: unlock soledad, run imap in real mode.

(from redmine: created on 2014-07-20, relates #5908 (closed), relates #5909 (closed))