I've recently acquired a couple of old P-233 boxes, so I've decided to use one of them to help deal with the ever-increasing spam problem in my inbox. The idea is to set up a Linux mail server in my home and have it download my mail from my ISP and tag the spam with SpamAssassin. I've never really dealt with mail servers much, so I'm wondering if anybody has actually implemented anything like this.

Here's what I'm thinking about:

- I will be using Gentoo Linux for my OS. Those of you who are familiar with my postings know this is a non-negotiable item.

- Use fetchmail or something similar to download mail from several different POP accounts to a single user account so I have all my mail in one local account.

- Tag the spam with SpamAssassin or something similar and filter it to a spam folder.

- Check the mail from the LAN via an IMAP server, preferably over an encrypted connection. I would also consider POP, but I prefer IMAP so I can access my mail from whatever OS/MUA I happen to be working in at the moment.

Has anybody actually tried this, or does anyone have any advice on how to implement something like this? Is there any reason I couldn't do it that way?

TIA