[gentoo-user] OT "DirectPush" email and Windows Mobile 5...

[Steve [Gentoo]]

I apologise in advance for this question being tenuously related to 
Gentoo... My justification is only that I really like my Gentoo-based 
Postfix /dovecot mail-server... but I also want to push emails to a 
connected Windows Mobile 5 PDA/phone.

Historically mobile devices have polled for email - which kind-of 
worked... but was far from ideal as it introduced unnecessary delays if 
the poll-interval was too long - and killed battery life if the poll 
interval is too short (as well as running up bandwidth bills).  Windows 
Mobile 5 touts a new "Direct Push" technology - which, as far as I can 
tell, is an Internet-based protocol which alerts the mobile device to 
establish a tcp connection and then listen on it waiting for a new 
message.  I understand that push-email in the past was synchronised 
using SMS messages to force a poll - but that (expensive) option is now 
considered deprecated.  The problem I have with "Direct Push" is that 
documentation is extremely scarce; frequently contradictory - and, it 
seems, always Microsoft centric and assuming closed-shop IT.  The sales 
pitch from phone/network providers seems usually to be "We envision all 
of our potential customers already have Microsoft Exchange, and can 
apply the 'Direct Push' option pack." - which is bizarre and infuriating...

Is there a way to do "Direct Push" with Gentoo?  While I'm aware of the 
standard techniques to interact from traditional email client hosts, 
email access from PDAs introduces the additional complexity of managing 
battery life on the mobile device.  I'd like to use the supplied Windows 
Mobile 5 software on the mobile device.... is there an open source 
alternative to avoid me having to switch to Exchange for my mailserver?  
Do other Gentooists use push-email to a mobile device?  Is the best 
option to plumb for more proprietary client-side software such as 
"ChatterMail" [ http://www.chatteremail.com/ ] ?


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