Open Source Gmail/Hotmail alternative?

[teejay17]

Hi all, I would like to know if there is such a thing as an open source alternative to Gmail or Hotmail. I'm talking about the actual email hosting site and email address, and not Thunderbird or Evolution.
Thanks in advance.

[treesurf]

I have a noob question: If Google open sourced their webmail code would that make it less secure because people would be able to examine the code for exploits?

[linuxforartists]

This article might have what you're looking for:

Open Source Alternatives to Google (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/print.php/3923746)

[LowSky]

build your own mail server

[teejay17]

build your own mail server

Quite a conundrum if one is highly mobile/does not have the infrastructure in place. I guess it's the only viable option, though...

[Lucradia]

Yeah, there's no real alternative for mail servers; but as linuxforartists pointed out, there's plenty of client alternatives.

[jerenept]

build your own mail server

and run RoundCube or SquirrelMail?

[teejay17]

So if there are no open source web accessible Gmail alternatives, what are the options for really private and secure email hosting? One that doesn't use keywords found within the email text to sell advertising would be something I'm interested in.

[NMFTM]

One that doesn't use keywords found within the email text to sell advertising would be something I'm interested in.
OpenPGP encryption.

[barney385]

I've used Lycos for years.

I also have a new one called gawab. gawab.com I believe

[lisati]

and run RoundCube or SquirrelMail?

...or Afterlogic Webmail Lite (http://www.afterlogic.com/community-editions/webmail-lite)

[lukeiamyourfather]

Quite a conundrum if one is highly mobile/does not have the infrastructure in place. I guess it's the only viable option, though...

Email services like Gmail and Hotmail are exactly that, a service. Even if their software was available and open source you'd have to either setup the infrastructure yourself or pay someone else to host it.

I'd suggest getting paid web hosting from a reputable provider, Go Daddy for example. You can register a domain and use it just for email and the email would be hosted by your rented server. They won't mine your data and present ads like Gmail and Hotmail do.

[urukrama]

...or Afterlogic Webmail Lite (http://www.afterlogic.com/community-editions/webmail-lite)

This looks interesting. Thank you for suggesting it.

[kvant]

You can't get a real free software solution by using cloud services because cloud services don't let you have your own e-mails, data, whatever under your control. It's on some remote server that somebody else is controlling.

I would suggest getting a really small hosting plan (it's extremely cheap nowadays) and you'll have your own real e-mail address.

[jerenept]

You can't get a real free software solution by using cloud services because cloud services don't let you have your own e-mails, data, whatever under your control. It's on some remote server that somebody else is controlling.

I would suggest getting a really small hosting plan (it's extremely cheap nowadays) and you'll have your own real e-mail address.

Or, if you're connected to the internet about 100% of the time, you could use DynDNS (http://dyndns.com/) or something.

[MechaMechanism]

Buy your own domain and then point the MX record to tuffmail. Short of running your own email server, it's the closest to what you want.

http://www.tuffmail.com/

[slooksterpsv]

Haha I just did this about 10 months ago, this same thing. Well I found an email provider that uses an Open Source Ajax UI, and actually it fits my needs a lot better than Gmail.

http://www.gmx.com

I've had my GMail account since 2004, and it's getting to where I get like 100 emails a day, even though I've unsubscribed to 1/2 of them they still get sent.

For some wiki info on GMX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Mail

I like it.

[Version Dependency]

Enough with Google, Yahoo, and MSN....we need an UBUNTU MAIL! I want a username@ubuntu.com. Make it happen, Mark Shuttleworth!

[Fedz]

Buy your own domain & cheap hosting then everything is solved.
Accessible from every mail protocol & your own mail http://YourDomain.tld/webmail ~ without any ads =D>

[Dry Lips]

http://lavabit.com has the best privacy policy I've seen among all providers
of free webmail. They offer traditional webmail, in addition to pop3/imap.

[Oxwivi]

Enough with Google, Yahoo, and MSN....we need an UBUNTU MAIL! I want a username@ubuntu.com. Make it happen, Mark Shuttleworth!
That already exists for Ubuntu members and Canonical employees.

[Oxwivi]

Haha I just did this about 10 months ago, this same thing. Well I found an email provider that uses an Open Source Ajax UI, and actually it fits my needs a lot better than Gmail.

http://www.gmx.com

I've had my GMail account since 2004, and it's getting to where I get like 100 emails a day, even though I've unsubscribed to 1/2 of them they still get sent.

For some wiki info on GMX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Mail

I like it.
I've seen GMX before, but does it really use open-source backend? I haven't read anything about OSS in GMX anywhere. Wikipedia doesn't mention so either.

[slooksterpsv]

I've seen GMX before, but does it really use open-source backend? I haven't read anything about OSS in GMX anywhere. Wikipedia doesn't mention so either.

I dunno about the backend, I just know the UI is OSS. The other posters are right the only way to do it is to setup your own server, or host through someone.

[Fedz]

...
I've had my GMail account since 2004, and it's getting to where I get like 100 emails a day, even though I've unsubscribed to 1/2 of them they still get sent.
...
That's the trouble with unsubscribe in emails it tells them you've opened & (at least) scanned the email to know to ubsubscribe & along with it confirmed your addy is monitored :(

[speedwell68]

Personally I have used Yahoo! mail for years and never had any issues with it. Spam is minimal and the service is good.

[Oxwivi]

T'is not be about the quality of service.

[jerenept]

Haha I just did this about 10 months ago, this same thing. Well I found an email provider that uses an Open Source Ajax UI, and actually it fits my needs a lot better than Gmail.

http://www.gmx.com

I've had my GMail account since 2004, and it's getting to where I get like 100 emails a day, even though I've unsubscribed to 1/2 of them they still get sent.

For some wiki info on GMX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Mail

I like it.

lol, eicar.test.antivirus: in the image for "security":
http://www.gmx.com/resources/com.unitedinternet.gmx.portalint.wicket.features.P anelFeatureTopics/PanelFeatureTopics/topic02_privacy.jpg

[tsagas]

http://lavabit.com has the best privacy policy I've seen among all providers
of free webmail. They offer traditional webmail, in addition to pop3/imap.

I tried signing up and it won't even let me.


Your IP has been flagged for past abuses and has been blocked from registering new accounts with our service. If you are not a spammer or phisher and you haven't had an account locked by us in the past, you can try requesting an account via our contact page. Please be sure to tell us the account name and password you want.

Just wanted to try out some mail addresses, LOL...

[Onoku]

That already exists for Ubuntu members and Canonical employees.

True, but it is just an alias, so you are still using gmail, yahoo, hotmail... whatever you use.

[areteichi]

While Opera Mail is still early in the beta stage, I'm hoping to replace Gmail with it once it becomes more reliable and fully functional. (Hardly any configuration is available at the moment)

Link: http://my.opera.com/mailteam/blog/welcome-to-my-opera-mail

It has a very nice interface, and I like how a company that's been around for quite some time is offering such a service for free. I can definitely trust Opera more than others.
(Did I say Opera is a Norwegian company? :))

Here are the screenshots:
http://my.opera.com/Tamil/albums/slideshow/?album=6510742&picture=99198732

[cyberhood]

So if there are no open source web accessible Gmail alternatives, what are the options for really private and secure email hosting? One that doesn't use keywords found within the email text to sell advertising would be something I'm interested in.
One that claims to be private and secure is Hushmail.com (http://www.hushmail.com/). They have encryption options with passwords and such.
A couple of things to remember though:
1. They don't mention anything about open source (FOSS) like some of the other places that have been mentioned here.
2. Their free service only offers 2MB of storage.
3. They -obviously- must bow to Canadian authorities. "Hushmail does not put you above the law (http://www.hushmail.com/about/technology/security/): We are committed to the privacy of our users, and will absolutely not release user data without an order that is legally enforceable under the laws of British Columbia, Canada, which is the jurisdiction where our servers are located. In addition, we require that any such order refer specifically to the account for which data is required. However, if we do receive such an order, we are required to do everything in our power to comply with the law. Hushmail will not accept an order from any authority or investigative agency that is not enforceable under the laws of British Columbia, Canada. Other authorities must apply to the Canadian government through an appropriate Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and request that the Canadian government obtain an order that is legally enforceable in British Columbia, Canada."

[cyberhood]

I have a noob question: If Google open sourced their webmail code would that make it less secure because people would be able to examine the code for exploits?
According to Linus Torvalds' Linus Law, the situation would lead to just the opposite effect, hence GNU-Linux's superior security:
"Linus's Law is a claim about software development, named in honor of Linus Torvalds and formulated by Eric S. Raymond in his essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar". The law states that "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow"; or more formally: "Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix will be obvious to someone." Presenting the code to multiple developers with the purpose of reaching consensus about its acceptance is a simple form of software reviewing. Researchers and practitioners have repeatedly shown the effectiveness of the reviewing process in finding bugs and security issues, and also that reviews may be more efficient than testing." -Wikipedia.org

[Dry Lips]

I tried signing up and it won't even let me.


Your IP has been flagged for past abuses and has been blocked from registering new accounts with our service. If you are not a spammer or phisher and you haven't had an account locked by us in the past, you can try requesting an account via our contact page. Please be sure to tell us the account name and password you want.



Bad luck!

Do you have a static or dynamic IP address? This sounds like someone who
uses the same ISP as you abused the service, which resulted in a ban. You
might want to contact your ISP about this one...
(Or you could just do as they said, contact Lavabit and explain the situation,
and I'm sure they'll provide you with an account.)

And I don't think this have anything in particular to do with Lavabit,
stuff like this could happen to you no matter which e-mail provider
you sign up with...

[Dry Lips]

One that claims to be private and secure is Hushmail.com (http://www.hushmail.com/). They have encryption options with passwords and such.


Hushmail is great as they offer encrypted mail, but 2mb is way too little these
days... My preferred solution is Lavabit + Thunderbird/Enigmail, which
gives me great privacy plus encryption.

More propaganda for Lavabit:
- Even their admins cannot read your emails.
- All logfiles are deleted within 7 days
-Their servers use CentOS 4.8, they use ClamAV for virus scanning

Finally, check this out:
"Lavabit is in debt to the open source code projects we rely upon.
We hope to someday repay this debt by releasing our e-mail server
back to the community."
http://lavabit.com/hardware_software.html

[cyberhood]

Hushmail is great as they offer encrypted mail, but 2mb is way too little these
days... My preferred solution is Lavabit + Thunderbird/Enigmail, which
gives me great privacy plus encryption.

More propaganda for Lavabit:
- Even their admins cannot read your emails.
- All logfiles are deleted within 7 days
-Their servers use CentOS 4.8, they use ClamAV for virus scanning

Finally, check this out:
"Lavabit is in debt to the open source code projects we rely upon.
We hope to someday repay this debt by releasing our e-mail server
back to the community."
http://lavabit.com/hardware_software.html
Enticing!

Does anyone here have any experience with RiseUp.net (https://riseup.net/) email service?

"There is no such thing as free email. Services like gmail, hotmail, and yahoo make their money from surveillance: they build a profile on your behavior and your desires and then bombard you with advertising specifically targeted to you. Riseup.net is different...
The riseup.net email service takes a lot of time and money to keep running, and is funded entirely by small donations from its users. Please do your part and contribute today." -RiseUp Email Help
(https://help.riseup.net/en/email)
"Riseup also provides server colocation for activist and not-for profit groups, virtual private servers (VPS), fully managed hosting, secure anonymizing google proxies, and we also run TOR exit nodes, if you would like to contribute to the Tor Project but not deal with the technical or legal details. Our sister organization, RiseupLabs, provides privacy and security patches, free/libre software development, and actively contributes to the Debian GNU/Linux operating system." RiseUp.net on security (https://help.riseup.net/en/security)

[Dry Lips]

Does anyone here have any experience with RiseUp.net (https://riseup.net/) email service?


Sounds interesting, but it seems as if you have to be invited
or wait for weeks in order to get an email account...


There are two ways to have your account approved: you can either get invite codes from existing users you know or wait for us to approve your request. It is sometimes difficult for us to keep up with the volume of requests, so it may take us up to a few weeks to get back to you.
https://user.riseup.net/forms/new_user/first

[cyberhood]

Sounds interesting, but it seems as if you have to be invited
or wait for weeks in order to get an email account...

https://user.riseup.net/forms/new_user/first
A con for those who need a new email address immediately.
A pro for those needing an extra layer of security that no other webmail providers seem to be offering (to my knowledge at least).

[teejay17]

Haha I just did this about 10 months ago, this same thing. Well I found an email provider that uses an Open Source Ajax UI, and actually it fits my needs a lot better than Gmail.

http://www.gmx.com

I've had my GMail account since 2004, and it's getting to where I get like 100 emails a day, even though I've unsubscribed to 1/2 of them they still get sent.

For some wiki info on GMX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Mail

I like it.
I did a search for GMX reviews online. There are a lot of people who experience issues, particularly security issues. See the comments section here for a small sample of what people are saying: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hotmail-Yahoo-and-Gmail-Out-Webmailed-by-GMX-109936.shtml
I've found this kind of feedback pretty much everywhere a review on GMX is posted.

[Oxwivi]

I did a search for GMX reviews online. There are a lot of people who experience issues, particularly security issues. See the comments section here for a small sample of what people are saying: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hotmail-Yahoo-and-Gmail-Out-Webmailed-by-GMX-109936.shtml
I've found this kind of feedback pretty much everywhere a review on GMX is posted.
The article you linked doesn't say much about the security issues you say GMX is plagued by.

[teejay17]

The article you linked doesn't say much about the security issues you say GMX is plagued by.
No, it's the comments from users down at the bottom.

[cyberhood]

I did a search for GMX reviews online. There are a lot of people who experience issues, particularly security issues. See the comments section here for a small sample of what people are saying: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hotmail-Yahoo-and-Gmail-Out-Webmailed-by-GMX-109936.shtml
I've found this kind of feedback pretty much everywhere a review on GMX is posted.
Yeah, I've been reading some of the same stories. This has been a really enlightening and liberating thread. I deleted my Hotmail® account a while back as part of a complete Microsoft® (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Criticisms_of_microsoft) purge, but unfortunately I'm still reliant on one of the other big brother (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Big_Brother_%28Nineteen_Eighty-Four%29)s for webmail simply because I was not aware of any alternatives.

In summary, as of thus far in the thread we've concluded that the only services mentioned that are concerned about privacy and support our GNU-Linux community are riseup.net (https://riseup.net/), Lavabit.com (http://lavabit.com/history.html) and SquirrelMail.com (http://www.squirrelmail.org/about/).

This (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/print.php/3923746) article was also a very interesting read; discovered the YaCy (http://yacy.net/) community search engine!

[<¡>]

http://lavabit.com has the best privacy policy I've seen among all providers
of free webmail. They offer traditional webmail, in addition to pop3/imap.

Tottally agree with you, I'm very happy with lavabit. They respect the user privacy.

[johndharvey]

Cool. :) I'm signing up for Lavabit and using my old Hotmail account as a spam sink. :P

[|{urse]

I don't know how opensource it is but..

register a free .co.cc domain name (yourlastname.co.cc or whatever youd like)

get a free webhosting account (000webhost.com is truly free and trustworthy)

point your co.cc domains dns @ 000webhosts nameservers

login to cpanel and setup a new email user ( i.e. yourfirstname@yourlastname.co.cc this looks great on resumes ^_-)

Use roundcube webmail. (preinstalled in cpanel for your enjoyment)

I've never seen a single bit of spam I didnt ask for on my accounts.

Enjoy =)

[Dry Lips]

|{urse

register a free .co.cc domain name (yourlastname.co.cc or whatever youd like)You can register one year for free with them. Do you have to pay to keep
your domain afterwards?


---
Edit:
I've done some research. If you use your co.cc domain for other stuff than free email, (for instance
setting up a web page) chances are that you'll have to pay a few dollars a year after the first free year.

[themarker0]

Buy a VPS for 50 a year, run roundcube or squirrelmail.

[themarker0]

I don't know how opensource it is but..

register a free .co.cc domain name (yourlastname.co.cc or whatever youd like)

get a free webhosting account (000webhost.com is truly free and trustworthy)

point your co.cc domains dns @ 000webhosts nameservers

login to cpanel and setup a new email user ( i.e. yourfirstname@yourlastname.co.cc this looks great on resumes ^_-)

Use roundcube webmail. (preinstalled in cpanel for your enjoyment)

I've never seen a single bit of spam I didnt ask for on my accounts.

Enjoy =)

000 is crap. They deleted my account for "Questionable files" I had uploaded PHP BB. I didn't even install it :p.

[slooksterpsv]

I did a search for GMX reviews online. There are a lot of people who experience issues, particularly security issues. See the comments section here for a small sample of what people are saying: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hotmail-Yahoo-and-Gmail-Out-Webmailed-by-GMX-109936.shtml
I've found this kind of feedback pretty much everywhere a review on GMX is posted.

Funny I haven't had any issues like these other people have had. It works great for me, also the security is great too, IMO. But everyone has different experiences. I just need them to implement CalDAV =D

[euripyd]

If you want to escape from USA's conspiracy practice (it is obvious that their government can read your mails) I suggest NOT to have web server in USA.
I recommend buying a domain and hotel in Swiss where you can open your mailaddress. Or set up yourself.

The problem with Gmail, Yahoo etc etc... is NOT that YOU don't have anything to hide. You blindly believe that if you don't store a secure info in your mail, don't download chld porn or if you don't resend spam - nothing will happen to you. Wrong.

It is very proven that in the human history we have had totalitary regimes lead by mentally sick people, so if we believe that it will NEVER happen again, we suck in intelligence. If another Hitler or Stalin takes control over your mails, bank accounts, insurance, connections etc etc you can't escape, you can't protest, it will be another Hiroshima or Auschwitz!

[areteichi]

The problem with Gmail, Yahoo etc etc... is NOT that YOU don't have anything to hide. You blindly believe that if you don't store a secure info in your mail, don't download chld porn or if you don't resend spam - nothing will happen to you. Wrong.

It is very proven that in the human history we have had totalitary regimes lead by mentally sick people, so if we believe that it will NEVER happen again, we suck in intelligence. If another Hitler or Stalin takes control over your mails, bank accounts, insurance, connections etc etc you can't escape, you can't protest, it will be another Hiroshima or Auschwitz!

Well, what we learn just as much from history is that most people don't care to think for themselves. While it takes an autonomous mind to think independently and make one's own judgments, most of us were created to be lazy and heteronomous.

Wonder why we're still here and alive after the Judgment day.

[|{urse]

|{urse
You can register one year for free with them. Do you have to pay to keep
your domain afterwards?


---
Edit:
I've done some research. If you use your co.cc domain for other stuff than free email, (for instance
setting up a web page) chances are that you'll have to pay a few dollars a year after the first free year.

Sorry, been out sick, yes if you dont use it for an actual webpage it is free.

[Warpnow]

Is Zimbra open source?

I think it is, and it is freaking awesome.

[Aquix]

The http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/show/linuxactionshow/ guys, like them or not, are doing a serie on replacing google completely and I think they have done one episode and have one to go. Had some good tips and are worth checking out.

[ubuntu27]

I'll keep an eye on this thread. Thanks for the suggestion guys.

[slooksterpsv]

Is Zimbra open source?

I think it is, and it is freaking awesome.

They do have an Open Source Edition (ZCS (Zimbra Community Server?)) along with an Enterprise edition. I do rather enjoy Zimbra Desktop, so I'm sure I'd love Zimbra Server.... maybe I'll set one up in a VM =D