# Fetchmail > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fetchmail > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fetchmail.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetchmail > Source revision: 1248497265 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Email retriever utility Fetchmail Screenshot of fetchmail launcher Original author Eric S. Raymond Stable release 6.6.5[1] / 17 June 2026; 10 days ago (17 June 2026) Operating system Unix-like Type Mail delivery agent License GNU General Public License Website www.fetchmail.info Repository gitlab.com/fetchmail/fetchmail.git **Fetchmail** is an [open-source software](/source/Open-source_software) utility for [POSIX](/source/POSIX)-compliant operating systems which is used to retrieve [e-mail](/source/E-mail) from a remote [POP3](/source/Post_Office_Protocol), [IMAP](/source/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol), or [ODMR](/source/On-Demand_Mail_Relay) mail server to the user's local system. It was developed from the [popclient](https://github.com/soulwing/popclient) program, written by Carl Harris.[2] Its chief significance is perhaps that its author, [Eric S. Raymond](/source/Eric_S._Raymond), used it as a model to discuss his theories of [open-source software](/source/Open-source_software) development in a widely read and influential essay on software development methodologies *[The Cathedral and the Bazaar](/source/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar)*. ## Design By design, Fetchmail's only means of delivering messages is by submitting them to the local MTA/[Message transfer agent](/source/Message_transfer_agent) or invoking a [mail delivery agent](/source/Mail_delivery_agent)[3] like [procmail](/source/Procmail), [maildrop](/source/Maildrop), or [sendmail](/source/Sendmail); delivering directly to mail folders such as [maildir](/source/Maildir) is not supported. It is a [C program](/source/C_(programming_language)) evolved by gradual mutation from an ancestor already written in C.[4] [Dan Bernstein](/source/Dan_Bernstein), [getmail](/source/Getmail) creator Charles Cazabon and [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD) developer Terry Lambert, have criticized Fetchmail's design,[5] its number of security holes,[6] and that it was prematurely put into "maintenance mode". In 2004, a new team of maintainers took over Fetchmail development,[7] and laid out development plans that broke with design decisions that Eric Raymond had made in earlier versions.[8] ## See also - [Free and open-source software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_and_open-source_software) - [Mail retrieval agent](/source/Mail_retrieval_agent) - [getmail](/source/Getmail) - [fdm](/source/Fdm_(software)) - [OfflineIMAP](/source/OfflineIMAP) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-wikidata-ae341557f014fe72b4366ee922c2854e02ca7571-v20_1-0)** Matthias Andree (17 June 2026). ["The 6.6.5 security fix release of fetchmail is available (fixes RPA buffer sizing)"](https://sourceforge.net/p/fetchmail/mailman/message/59347909/). *Fetchmail-announce*. Retrieved 23 June 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Raymond, Eric. ["Eric S. Raymond's former Design Notes On Fetchmail"](http://www.fetchmail.info/esrs-design-notes.html). Retrieved 2007-04-03. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*"...or into an MDA program..."*](http://www.fetchmail.info/fetchmail-FAQ.html), Section G1, The Fetchmail FAQ. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Richardson, Anthony (2004). ["An Online Unix System Programming Course For Computer Engineering Students"](https://doi.org/10.18260%2F1-2--13866). *2004 Annual Conference Proceedings*. ASEE Conferences: 9.197.1–9.197.10. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.18260/1-2--13866](https://doi.org/10.18260%2F1-2--13866). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Lambert, Terry. ["UUCP must stay; fetchmail sucks (was list 'o things)"](http://docs.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=585008+0+archive/2001/freebsd-arch/20010218.freebsd-arch). Retrieved 2007-04-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Cazabon, Charles. ["getmail frequently asked questions"](http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/faq.html#faq-about-why). Retrieved 2007-04-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Developer History"](http://www.fetchmail.info/). Retrieved 2007-04-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Design Notes On Fetchmail"](http://www.fetchmail.info/design-notes.html). Retrieved 2007-04-05. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.fetchmail.info/) - [Fetchmail at SourceForge](https://sourceforge.net/projects/fetchmail/) v t e Email clients Free software Current Alpine Balsa Citadel/UX Claws Mail Cleancode eMail Evolution fetchmail fdm Geary getmail GNUMail Gnus Gnuzilla IMP K-9 Mail KMail Mahogany Mailpile Mailx Mailx (Heirloom) Modest Mozilla Thunderbird Mulberry Mutt nmh / MH OfflineIMAP Roundcube SeaMonkey Scribe Mail SquirrelMail Sylpheed Trojitá YAM Zimbra Discontinued Arachne Beonex Communicator BlitzMail Classilla Columbia MM Elm FossaMail Hula Mailody Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups Nylas N1 Proprietary Freeware, freemium Canary Mail eM Client EmailTray Foxmail Mailbird Spark Spike TouchMail Vivaldi Mail Retail Airmail GroupWise HCL Domino Apple Mail Microsoft Outlook Outlook for Windows Newton PostPet Shareware Becky! Forté Agent GyazMail The Bat! Samsung Email Donationware Pegasus Mail Discontinued Bloomba/WordPerfect Mail cc:Mail Claris Emailer Courier Cyberdog Cyberjack Embrowser Eudora Hiri Mail (Windows) Mailbox Microsoft Entourage Microsoft Internet Mail and News Microsoft Mail MINUET Netscape Mail Netscape Messenger 9 NeXTMail Outlook Express Pine Pocomail POPmail Postbox Sparrow Turnpike WebSpyder Windows Live Mail Windows Messaging Related technologies SMTP IMAP JMAP LMTP POP Push-IMAP SMAP UUCP Related topics Email Unicode and email Comparison Category [https://sourceforge.net/directory/os:windows/?q=fetchmail](https://sourceforge.net/directory/os:windows/?q=fetchmail) This network-related software article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Network-software-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3ANetwork-software-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Network-software-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fetchmail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetchmail) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetchmail?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.