Comcast refuses to send mail to Linux desktop email clients
A couple or three days ago Thunderbird stopped receiving messages from my primary email account. Turns out I can now only access Comcast email through the Xfinity webpage and through the mail app on my old Apple iPod 3. Have yet to try my old Android tablet apps. Incoming mail server, imap.comcast.net, fails to connect with up-to-date Thunderbird on three different laptop computers: My newish HP-Notebook running Kubuntu 18.04, my wife's newish HP-Pavilion running Ubuntu MATE 18.04, and my older Acer A0722 Netbook running Lubuntu 18.04. The netbook case is particularly interesting in that the Xfinity email webpage completely crashes Falkon browser and loads exceedingly slowly with Firefox. Moreover, just as with Thunderbird, Comcast server will not connect with Sylpheed mail client. Netbook has only 2MB RAM so lightweight, speedy, and stable Falkon is usually my go-to browser thereupon. Have tried alternative second-choice ports as suggested in Comcast support pages, but these don't work either. I have two other mail accounts, Google Gmail and Microsoft Hotmail/Outlook, both of which continue to work on all machines with Thunderbird and Sylpheed just fine. Anyone else out there having similar Comcast/Xfinity trouble? Thoughts, suggestions? My own bleak opinion is that now that our Comcast/Century Link duopoly has moved from modest net-neutrality regulation under the FCC to near wholesale unfettered accommodation under the FTC--and this after having benefited from de facto conception and nourishment almost exclusively at taxpayer expense (DARPA), and then on to all-out corporate gigantism through gross legal financial exploitation of the consumer (your bill as opposed to one you might experience in, say perhaps, France)--well, they just seem to do to us whatever they think they might be able to get away with. Which under the current political regime seems to be pretty much anything they want. Another dark thought is that permitting access to email exclusively through compulsory use of a website under the complete design and absolute and control of Comcast/Xfinity is partly a ploy (typical of such behemoths) to obtain my (everyone's) cell phone number (which they presently do not have) and thereby gain commercially-exploitable near total knowledge of my whereabouts and most of my economic activity at any and every waking moment. All this being accomplished in concert with, and under cover of, the ruse of the somewhat reasonable general perception of a legitimate need to firmly establish ubiquitous two-factor authentication protocols everywhere. What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective. Enough unsolicited ranting. I have to check in with the Thought Police.
On Sat, 1 Dec 2018 22:47:55 -0700 (MST) Tom Ashcraft <trailerdog234@comcast.net> wrote:
A couple or three days ago Thunderbird stopped receiving messages from my primary email account.
Turns out I can now only access Comcast email through the Xfinity webpage and through the mail app on my old Apple iPod 3. Have yet to try my old Android tablet apps.
Incoming mail server, imap.comcast.net, fails to connect with up-to-date Thunderbird on three different laptop computers: My newish HP-Notebook running Kubuntu 18.04, my wife's newish HP-Pavilion running Ubuntu MATE 18.04, and my older Acer A0722 Netbook running Lubuntu 18.04.
The netbook case is particularly interesting in that the Xfinity email webpage completely crashes Falkon browser and loads exceedingly slowly with Firefox. Moreover, just as with Thunderbird, Comcast server will not connect with Sylpheed mail client. Netbook has only 2MB RAM so lightweight, speedy, and stable Falkon is usually my go-to browser thereupon.
Have tried alternative second-choice ports as suggested in Comcast support pages, but these don't work either.
I have two other mail accounts, Google Gmail and Microsoft Hotmail/Outlook, both of which continue to work on all machines with Thunderbird and Sylpheed just fine.
Anyone else out there having similar Comcast/Xfinity trouble? Thoughts, suggestions?
I am not having any trouble with comcast aka. xfinity with claws-mail client and imap. It works as intended here. I would recheck all your settings to make sure everything looks right. I do believe there was a certificate change with claws that I had to except recently for comcast so that may be the problem. Peter
On 12/1/18 10:47 PM, Tom Ashcraft wrote:
What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Its worth pointing out that if you are concerned about these issues you shouldn't be using comcast for email...
Give me Cybermesa any day On 12/7/18 10:49 AM, jason schaefer wrote:
On 12/1/18 10:47 PM, Tom Ashcraft wrote:
What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective. Its worth pointing out that if you are concerned about these issues you shouldn't be using comcast for email...
_______________________________________________ nmglug mailing list nmglug@lists.nmglug.org http://lists.nmglug.org/listinfo.cgi/nmglug-nmglug.org
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On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 10:49:39 -0700 jason schaefer <js@jasonschaefer.com> wrote:
On 12/1/18 10:47 PM, Tom Ashcraft wrote:
What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Its worth pointing out that if you are concerned about these issues you shouldn't be using comcast for email...
With a simple apt install postfix dovecot-imapd you can run your own mail server. Mars -- ============================================================= J. Marsden DeLapp, PE President DeLapp & Associates, Inc. dba DeLapp Engineering. Providing lighting and power planning, design and analysis services for commercial, industrial and large residential facilities. 1190 Harrison Road Ste 3a Santa Fe NM 87507 (505) 983-5557 http://DeLapp.com =============================================================
That escalated quickly :) Also you don't need imap if you just use mutt locally On Fri, Dec 7, 2018, at 2:43 PM, J Marsden DeLapp wrote:
On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 10:49:39 -0700 jason schaefer <js@jasonschaefer.com> wrote:
On 12/1/18 10:47 PM, Tom Ashcraft wrote:
What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Its worth pointing out that if you are concerned about these issues you shouldn't be using comcast for email...
With a simple apt install postfix dovecot-imapd you can run your own mail server.
Mars
-- ============================================================= J. Marsden DeLapp, PE President DeLapp & Associates, Inc. dba DeLapp Engineering. Providing lighting and power planning, design and analysis services for commercial, industrial and large residential facilities. 1190 Harrison Road Ste 3a Santa Fe NM 87507 (505) 983-5557 http://DeLapp.com ============================================================= _______________________________________________ nmglug mailing list nmglug@lists.nmglug.org http://lists.nmglug.org/listinfo.cgi/nmglug-nmglug.org
On Fri, Dec 07, 2018 at 02:46:53PM -0700, Casey Dentinger wrote:
That escalated quickly :)
Also you don't need imap if you just use mutt locally
I suggest just opening a listening socket with netcat when you want to receive messages. If your correspondants find that confusing they probably weren't worth hearing from. 🤦 #BOFH -- sam
OK, let me see if I've got the general idea straight --but first I'll mention that I probably have just enough facility with the command line to be a danger to myself and others; moreover, I vaguely seem to recall hearing Linux promoter Noah Chelliah spout off about why doing this is for most folks probably a very bad idea--which is not to rule out that I might be game or fool enough to give it a try anyway: I can install my own server backend to feed my mail client of choice and thereby avoid the gateway issues ordinarily implied by the facts that Comcast is my ISP and owns the pipe that comes into my house? Is that right? Are there scary housekeeping issues involved like maybe filling up my hard drive with spam before I know what happened? On 12/7/18 2:43 PM, J Marsden DeLapp wrote:
On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 10:49:39 -0700 jason schaefer <js@jasonschaefer.com> wrote:
On 12/1/18 10:47 PM, Tom Ashcraft wrote:
What they can't steal from us most of seem to be willing to give to them for free. So much for any hope of anonymity or privacy from our corporate overlords. Might as well let them tatoo a barcode on your forehead--though that wouldn't be nearly as effective. Its worth pointing out that if you are concerned about these issues you shouldn't be using comcast for email... With a simple apt install postfix dovecot-imapd you can run your own mail server.
Mars
participants (7)
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Brian O'Keefe -
Casey Dentinger -
J Marsden DeLapp -
jason schaefer -
Peter Reed -
Sam Noble -
Tom Ashcraft