popa3d for Debian
=================

Security
--------

Please check that popa3d is a suitable package for your use case.

Quoting an extract directly from the upstream design document,
/usr/share/doc/popa3d/DESIGN.gz:

  First, it is important that none of the popa3d users get a false sense
  of security just because it was the primary design goal.  The POP3
  protocol transmits passwords in plaintext and thus, if you care about
  the security of your individual user accounts, should only be used
  either in trusted networks or tunneled over encrypted channels.

Service integration
-------------------

popa3d can be launched either standalone or as a socket-activated service.
The daemon is installed in standalone mode by default and does not heed
the configuration option from /etc/default/popa3d that was used in versions
prior to 1.0.3-2 and should now be removed if it was not already removed
on upgrade.

If non-standalone mode is required then one of the following approaches
is needed:

  1. To enable socket activation using systemd:

       update-inetd --pattern "popa3d" --disable pop3
       systemctl enable --now popa3d.socket

  2. To use inetd:

       systemctl disable --now popa3d.service popa3d.socket
       update-rc.d popa3d disable
       update-inetd --pattern "popa3d" --enable pop3

If non-standalone mode was previously enabled but this no longer fits
your requirements, please run:

       update-inetd --pattern "popa3d" --disable pop3
       service popa3d restart

Static limits
-------------

A number of static limits and configuration options that differ from the
upstream default are compiled into the daemon. See the file params.h in the
source code for details.

Patches to the upstream source
------------------------------

The Debian package carries patches to offer functionality needed to meet
Debian release goals:

  1. A foreground daemon mode to enable reliable service integration.
  2. IPv6 support, enabled by default.

 -- Andrew Bower <andrew@bower.uk>  Sun, 24 Aug 2025 12:39:52 +0100
