Re: Failure building Emacs master

[Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>]

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On 03/17/2017 04:07 PM, Angelo Graziosi wrote:
>
> You should have a configure with '--without-pop' enabled by default. 
> If one wants POP then it will configure --with-pop.. 

Although I originally implemented it that way, Eli worried that it was 
too bug of a change. Perhaps he will reconsider, given that --with-pop 
is evidently confusing as well as being insecure. If so, the attached 
patch should implement your suggestion.

PS. I fixed the glitch with ../nt that you noted.

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From 9baa037d5afb111676a012a64fb8476853f43ddf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2017 21:57:09 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Make --without-pop the default.

Suggested by Angelo Graziosi in:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2017-03/msg00431.html
* configure.ac: Change the default from --with-pop to
--without-pop.
---
 INSTALL      |  7 ++-----
 configure.ac | 11 ++++-------
 etc/NEWS     | 13 ++++++++++---
 3 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index a99f107..9b6c04f 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -265,17 +265,14 @@ uses the GNU Mailutils 'movemail' program to retrieve mail.  Otherwise
 the Emacs build procedure builds and installs an auxiliary 'movemail'
 program, a limited and insecure substitute that Emacs can use when
 Mailutils is not installed; when this happens, there are several
-configure options such as --without-pop that provide fine-grained
+configure options such as --with-mail-unlink that provide fine-grained
 control over Emacs 'movemail' construction.
 
 The Emacs mail reader RMAIL is configured to be able to read mail from
 a POP3 server by default.  Versions of the POP protocol older than
 POP3 are not supported.  While POP3 support is typically enabled,
 whether Emacs actually uses POP3 is controlled by individual users;
-see the Rmail chapter of the Emacs manual.  Unless you configure
---with-mailutils, it is a good idea to configure --without-pop so that
-users are less likely to inadvertently read email via insecure
-channels.
+see the Rmail chapter of the Emacs manual.
 
 For image support you may have to download, build, and install the
 appropriate image support libraries for image types other than XBM and
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b922dc4..2712333 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -229,19 +229,16 @@ AC_DEFUN
    m4_bpatsubst([with_$1], [[^0-9a-z]], [_])=$with_features])dnl
 ])dnl
 
-# FIXME: The default options '--without-mailutils --with-pop' result
-# in a movemail implementation that supports only unencrypted POP3
-# connections.  Encrypted connections should be the default.
-
 OPTION_DEFAULT_OFF([mailutils],
   [rely on GNU Mailutils being installed; this makes the options
-   --without-pop through --with-mailhost irrelevant])
+   --with-pop through --with-mailhost irrelevant])
 if test "$with_mailutils" = no; then
   with_mailutils=
 fi
 AC_SUBST([with_mailutils])
 
-OPTION_DEFAULT_ON([pop],[don't support POP mail retrieval with movemail])
+OPTION_DEFAULT_OFF([pop],
+  [support unencrypted-only POP mail retrieval with movemail])
 if test "$with_pop" = yes; then
    AC_DEFINE(MAIL_USE_POP)
 fi
@@ -5477,7 +5474,7 @@ m4_define
     cygwin | mingw32)
       # Don't suggest GNU Mailutils, as it hasn't been ported.
       if test "$with_pop" = yes; then
-	emacs_fix_movemail="use '$0 --without-pop'"
+	emacs_fix_movemail="use '$0' (without '--with-pop')"
       else
 	emacs_fix_movemail=
       fi;;
diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index f047aa8..1548824 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -39,9 +39,16 @@ version 2.6.6 or later.
 
 ** The new option 'configure --with-mailutils' causes Emacs to rely on
 GNU Mailutils 'movemail' to retrieve email.  By default, the Emacs
-build procedure continues to build and install a limited and insecure
-'movemail' substitute.  Although --with-mailutils is recommended, it
-is not yet the default due to backward-compatibility concerns.
+build procedure continues to build and install a limited and
+possibly-insecure 'movemail' substitute.  Although --with-mailutils is
+recommended, it is not yet the default due to backward-compatibility
+concerns.
+
+** The option 'configure --without-pop' is now the default.
+(This option's setting matters only if --with-mailutils is not used.)
+Using --with-pop (the previous default) preserves the historical
+behavior where Emacs 'movemail' retrieves network email only via
+insecure channels.
 
 ** The new option 'configure --enable-gcc-warnings=warn-only' causes
 GCC to issue warnings without stopping the build.  This behavior is
-- 
2.9.3