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When you use a mail program set up to make use of the IMAP mail protocol
(Pine is such a program; Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Outlook Express can
also be set
up to use either IMAP or POP protocols), getting mail invokes the IMAP
"daemon" (the server, pronounced "demon"). This daemon uses a kind of
place-holder message at the front of your inbox to keep track of mail. If
it doesn't see a message, it will create one. The subject line on this
"message"
is "DO NOT DELETE THIS MESSAGE".
The POP-mail server presumably knows about this file and won't download it
as a message when you get your mail, Pine and other IMAP programs know
about it and thus don't display it.
The old Unix mail programs, however, aren't aware of its special
function, therefore, if
you've used Pine or another IMAP program, the next time you use one of the
old Unix mail programs, the message will appear as message number 1. In
spite of the explicit order in its subject line not
to delete it, you can.
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