What is the "You have new mail" message in Linux/UNIX?
Problem
Sometimes, when I log into a box and 'su' to root, I get a cute little message saying I have mail (thank GOD it's not AOL). Where is this mail? What does it contain? Who/What sent it? How important is it? Is this even actual "mail" in the same sense as email? Or is it just my system telling me something? EDIT: In relation to this question, would I be able to send myself mail using the sendmail program like so: ?
Error Output
email@localhost
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1 Fix
Fix for: What is the "You have new mail" message in Linux/UNIX?
Where is this mail? It's likely to be in the spool file: or are the most common locations on Linux and BSD. (Other locations are possible – check if is set – but by default, the system only informs you about .) Usually the spool file is in a very simple mbox format, so you can open it in a text editor or pager. For a slightly more convenient way, most distributions come with a program called (or , ). You can try or ; you can even configure it to be sent to an outside mailbox. (See "is this real…
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