From: dbucklin@sdf.org
Date: 2019-11-01
Subject: Switching to Fastmail

Fastmail[1]  is a paid email service.  Why pay for email when there
are so many free services?

This started because I don't feel great about  having  my  personal
communications  used  to fuel an advertising machine.  Since making
the switch, I feel increased ownership of my online identity.   I'm
also  not  comfortable with the degree of influence Google has over
internet standards.  If Google wanted to "embrace and extend"  IMAP
tomorrow, it's within their power to do so.

I like the idea that alternatives like Fastmail exist and I want to
support that while I can.  There  are  other  alternatives,  but  I
chose  Fastmail  because  they  provide  IMAP access.  I use my own
clients via IMAP today and I'd like to keep doing  that.   Fastmail
also has a great web interface (just in case) and lots of tutorials
and documentation.  I may eventually stop using my  Gmail  account,
but for now that's just not feasible.

Baby steps.

Setting Up

I  signed up for the 30-day trial at Fastmail and used their import
tool to import my email from Google.  It was super easy.  I  regis-
tered  a  new  domain at Namecheap to use for my email address.  To
use this domain for my Fastmail account, I simply referenced  Fast-
mail's  name  servers  in  the configuration at my registrar.  Also
pretty easy.

Client Configuration

I use mutt on my desktop machine and  K-9  Mail  on  my  phone.   I
elected  to  let  Fastmail  keep fetching my mail from Gmail.  That
way, I can let each client track only my Fastmail account.

I created an app-specific password for K-9 Mail and set  up  a  new
account  in  the  client.  Once that was set up, I removed my Gmail
account from K-9 Mail.

Setting up isync[2], I only had to change the obvious stuff from my
Gmail  configuration  (username,  password, paths) and now it works
like a charm.  I also had to update my  .muttrc  to  point  at  the
folders managed by isync.

Next Steps

I'll  have to write up a little note for my frequent contacts.  I'm
going to keep fetching mail from my Gmail account,  so  they  don't
have to do anything if they don't want to.

I wonder how many services let you change the email address on your
account.  I've read that using a password manager should make  this
easier.  Again, as long as I have my Gmail account, I don't have to
change anything.

Have you ever punched someone's email domain  into  a  web  browser
just  to see what's there?  Fastmail have anticipated this and will
let you set up a static website or a  simple  redirect.   I've  set
mine to redirect to this site.

References

[1]: https://www.fastmail.com
[2]: http://isync.sourceforge.net/