Date: 01/18/08 (Opera Browser)    Keywords: browser, database, web, yahoo

Ever since I first installed Opera I've used it as my default e-mail client as well as my default browser, but recently I had to switch ISPs to (ick) AT&T Yahoo, and their e-mail service requires e-mail clients to be SSL compliant, while Opera uses TLS instead (oh, the curse of being ahead of the curve!) Ideally, there'd be a way I could continue to use Opera as my e-mail client, but while I've heard that TLS can transform itself into SSL3 if necessary, I'm utterly non-geek and would have no idea how to make it do this.

I could use SSL-compliant Mozilla Thunderbird, but, while it's not the abomination Outlook Express is, I've tried it before and found it a bit clunky, and annoying to configure, so I would only use it as a last resort.

Another alternative I've found would be to try an e-mail client called Courier which, while not SSL compliant itself, can be configured to work with an open source program called Stunnel which, as I understand it (meaning very, very dimly), would punk Yahoo's POP and SMTP servers and make them think I was using an SSL compliant e-mail client. I do like the description Courier gives of itself, but I've not yet tried it so I don't know if I'd really find it usable.

Why, you may be asking, would I not simply use Stunnel with Opera directly instead of going through Courier? Well, I would, but I can't find anything on Opera's website (or on Stunnel's website) saying that Opera is compatible with Stunnel... but there's a nice little section of the Opera database that tells how to configure Opera to work with Courier, and a nice (though not so little) section on Courier's website that tells how to configure Courier for use with Stunnel. In other words, if I run as fast as I can I might be able to stay somewhere in the vicinity of the same place.

Anyway, what I'd like to know is:

1) Has anybody ever used Stunnel (or maybe something like it) with Opera and, if so, did disaster ensue?
2) Has anybody ever used Courier, with or without Opera and, if so, is Courier as good as it looks from its self-description?
3) Has anybody got a suggestion for any other alternatives, so I don't end up having to use Thudderbird?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/opera_browser/68431.html