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{{multipleissues|{{Refimprove|date=January 2012}}
{{Outdated as of | year = 2012 | month = 01 | day = 2 | }}
{{notability|date=November 2020}}}}
'''BlitzMail''' was an [[e-mail]] system used at [[Dartmouth College]] in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], United States. It was one of the earliest e-mail server/client packages. Use of BlitzMail ended in 2011, in favor of a Microsoft suite of email/online collaboration programs, but students still use the term "blitz" rather than "email."

== History ==
BlitzMail was developed by Dartmouth in 1987 and went live in the summer of 1988.<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=McHugh |first=Josh |date=1 October 2002 |title=Unplugged U. |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2002/10/dartmouth/ |access-date=2022-06-30 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> The name ''BlitzMail'' started as a joke among its programmers, as it had to be developed quickly.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Hafner |first=Katie |date=2003-08-14 |title=All Quiet on Campus Save the Click of Keys |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/14/technology/all-quiet-on-campus-save-the-click-of-keys.html |access-date=2022-06-30 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 

In 1991, when Dartmouth required every student to own a computer, the server code was updated to allow multiple servers to accommodate the heavy demand for the system. In 1993, the server was rewritten to support mail folders. In 1994, the client and server software was released for use outside of Dartmouth. Some non-Dartmouth BlitzMail deployments include Valley.Net, an [[internet service provider]] in New England's Upper Valley region and, from 1991 to 2005, [[Reed College]] in [[Portland, Oregon]]. 

The first versions of the client ran only on the [[Apple Macintosh]] operating system. The client was ported to [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] around the time of Windows 3.1. 

Dartmouth's Computing Services rolled out an updated BlitzMail client for [[Mac OS X]] that featured encrypted client-server communications. Developed in May 2006 by computer science doctoral candidate Chris Masone, the software became available in late 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thedartmouth.com/2007/09/28/news/blitz/ |title=TheDartmouth.com {{!}} College to release new Blitz for Macs |access-date=28 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010004437/http://thedartmouth.com/2007/09/28/news/blitz/ |archive-date=10 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Version 2.9 for Mac OS X 10.3 was available beginning in October 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/comp/email-cal/email/blitzmail/index.html |title=BlitzMail for OS X |access-date=2010-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204031512/http://www.dartmouth.edu/comp/email-cal/email/blitzmail/index.html |archive-date=2010-02-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Recent releases of the client have experimental support for rendering (but not composing) [[HTML]]-based messages.

A project at [[Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center]] continued to use the Windows BlitzMail service, which was no longer being developed or supported. [[Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center]] BlitzMail servers were scheduled to be deactivated on October 1, 2012. A Microsoft suite developed by email/online program collaborators was released to fill in its role.

== Dartmouth College ==
BlitzMail became the primary means of communication of all types on the Dartmouth College campus, between students, professors, and administrators. Hundreds of public terminals were located around campus, in libraries, dining halls, and academic buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 1994 |title=Have Your People Blitz My People |url=https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1994/11/1/have-your-people-blitz-my-people |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=Dartmouth Alumni Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, Mac Classic public terminals were commonly referred to as "Blitzcheckers." Additionally, "blitz" became used as a noun and verb, used the same way "email" might be.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> While BlitzMail is no longer used, students as of 2020 still use "blitz" instead of "email."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beak |first=Arielle |date=11 September 2020 |title=The Words that Bind Us: Dartmouth Lingo |url=https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2020/09/the-words-that-bind-us-dartmouth-lingo |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=The Dartmouth}}</ref>

Until the mid-2000s, largely due to poor cellular reception on campus, many students opted to use BlitzMail rather than cellular phones,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/24/news/blitzmail/|title=TheDartmouth.com &#124; BlitzMail survives tough technological competition|date=September 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930204601/http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/24/news/blitzmail/|archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref> but this trend decreased as service improved on campus. In 2006, students began checking blitz on their cell phones.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/06/news/flurrymail/|title=TheDartmouth.com &#124; 'Flurrymail' allows quick BlitzMail access on phones|date=September 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210016/http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/06/news/flurrymail/|archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref>

== Client ==
The BlitzMail client was graphical, and ran on Windows and Macintosh computers. Several [[Java (programming language)|Java]] implementations exist, as well as web-based clients, such as NetBlitz and WebBlitz. The client has not had major updates since the late 1990s, with the exception of a port to [[Mac OS X]]. The client does not officially support [[HTML]]-based e-mail, dealing only in plaintext.<ref name=":0" /> (HTML files are viewed as attachments.) There is unofficial support to allow HTML-based email to be opened within the client normally.

The program is portable for users. A user's mailbox, address book, and preferences are all stored on the server. Any user can log into any installation of the client and have full access to their data. After a user logs out, no data or personalization is stored on the local machine. This feature allows the use of the many public terminals.

BlitzMail also acted as a pseudo-[[instant messaging]] client.<ref name=":0" /> Messages were processed by the server and delivered to the recipient almost immediately. 

The program was integrated with the Dartmouth Name Directory (DND), allowing users to message any recipient with a Dartmouth email address by searching for their name.<ref name=":0" />

== Technical specifications ==
BlitzMail speaks its own protocol between client and server, meaning that only the BlitzMail client can utilize the full feature-set of the server.

Messages entering and leaving the BlitzMail domain are handled via [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol]] (SMTP). {{As of|2004}}, patches were available that allowed clients to connect to a BlitzMail server via [[Post Office Protocol|POP3]] and [[Internet Message Access Protocol|IMAP]] (with [[Transport Layer Security|SSL]].) The client communicates to the server on [[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]] ports 2151 and 1119 and the notification service runs on [[User Datagram Protocol|UDP]] port 2154.

In 2002, [[SpamAssassin]] functionality was added to BlitzMail. The DND server was also modified to allow [[Lightweight Directory Access Protocol|LDAP]] lookups.

The BlitzMail and DND servers run on DEC [[Unix]] and many [[Linux]] flavors. The OS must support [[POSIX]] threading or [[Mach kernel]]-style cthreads. The server will run on systems with very low hardware requirements.

The BlitzMail servers have run on a variety of hardware at Dartmouth. In the early 1990s, the mail and DND servers ran on 25&nbsp;MHz [[NeXT]] cubes named after Santa Claus' reindeer. At the time, hundreds of sessions could be handled on each machine. Later, the servers were migrated to [[DEC 3000 AXP|DEC 3000 AXP Model 300]]s.

A [[Python (programming language)|Python]] [[Library (computing)|library]] implementation called PyBlitz was released in 2006 by Michael Fromberger.

The BlitzMail client and server software were available under an [[BSD license|BSD-style]] (with ad clause) license.

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0202/cs/ecs0209.pdf Wireless Networking at Dartmouth College]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051108170919/https://basement.dartmouth.edu/blitz WebBlitz - A Web-Based BlitzMail client]
*{{cite journal | author=Campbell, Stephen | title=Email for Everyone: Making It Work in Real Life | year=1994 | url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/comp/docs/email-for-everyone.pdf | access-date=2010-12-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017232432/http://www.dartmouth.edu/comp/docs/email-for-everyone.pdf | archive-date=2012-10-17 | url-status=dead }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110610013151/http://basement.dartmouth.edu/protocols/BlitzMail-protocol.pdf The BlitzMail Protocol]

{{Dartmouth College}}

{{E-mail clients}}

[[Category:Dartmouth College student life]]
[[Category:Email clients]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1988]]
[[Category:Software using the BSD license]]