Mailer
A mailer is in FidoNet standard computer program for automatically sending and receiving messages and other files.
Most of the time, the mailer waits for a call - be it via modem , ISDN , or via the Internet (TelNet or binkp). If he receives a call, he uses a handshake protocol to communicate with his remote station (mainly EMSI, but older formats such as YooHoo or FTS-001 are often supported). The remote station identifies itself using its FidoNet addresses and, if necessary, negotiated passwords. If there is no password error and there are no doubts about the identity of the call (if necessary comparison with node list or CallerID), a session is opened. Both mailers now check whether files are available for their remote station and send them using a suitable protocol. On dial-up lines is Zmodem , Hydra or Janus used, the latter both have the advantage that files can be transferred in both directions simultaneously, one also why they bidirectional protocol calls. Some Hydra and ZModem implementations also allow the system operators to chat with one another while the data is being transferred .
Once all data has been transferred, the session is ended, the line is hung up and the files sent are deleted from the system. Received files are passed on to other programs, v. a. Tosser , Filetosser, Tracker etc.
The way mailers work and their area of responsibility can vary. So are z. B. Mailers are not able to do anything other than the procedure outlined above. Others take care of the administration of NetMail (private, non-public messages) themselves, and even offer an editor for Netmail, a terminal program and a routing procedure.
Some mailers even have to be arranged externally to call another system, while others offer sophisticated event management.
In particular, the routing of NetMail in FidoNet is a very complicated matter and, due to the different ways of handling it, it is often misleading. Routing can be dynamic and static, bottom-up and top-down, and depending on the time and entries in the node list.
Well-known mailers
| FrontDoor | DOS, OS / 2 |
| Binkley Term | DOS, Windows, OS / 2, Unix, Atari ST |
| McMail | DOS |
| MainDoor | DOS, OS / 2 (obsolete due to Y2K problem) |
| ifcico | Unix |
| qico | Unix-like |
| binkd | Unix, OS / 2, Windows |