When to Transfer to Laptop

At what point do I install spamsieve on my laptop after using it on my desktop and transfer the file that contains my training? Where exactly is this file?

You can transfer it whenever you want. The instructions are on this page. Also, please see the note about using SpamSieve on multiple Macs.

Regarding the link you sent me, which computer do I turn auto training off on? I assume it is the one that I transferred the data to not the one I started training with.

Also, I guess I would transfer the file again after sometime because I would still be correcting mistakes.

Thank you for the excellent support!!!

You can choose one of the following:

  1. Make sure that only one copy of SpamSieve is running (for a given mail account) at a time. If a message is misclassified, train SpamSieve on the Mac that misclassified it.
  2. Turn off auto-training for all copies of SpamSieve.
  3. Install SpamSieve on only one Mac, as a drone.

Yes, I would transfer the files again once you’ve gotten the accuracy built up on your main Mac.

If I choose option 1. Are you saying I can’t have mail open on 2 computers at the same time? Or am I able to have it open and running spamsieve but not to do any training on the mac that doesn’t have the main database ( I believe you call it the coprus??)?

From your instructions above you are telling me I can correct a misclassification on either computer as long as the other doesn’t have spamsieve running. If that is the case, wouldn’t the “corpus” not be current on the computer where the change wasn’t made? Therefore, I would think the set up would be to keep my iMac which has spamsieve installed now as the main computer that I make all the corrections on. Then every so often I sync the corpus on the laptop to keep it current.

Thoughts???

Correct. It’s not that this would hurt Mail or SpamSieve, but that if SpamSieve makes a mistake you won’t be able to tell which copy of SpamSieve to train. If you train the wrong one, the other one won’t learn about its mistake.

No. I’m saying that you need to correct the misclassification using the computer that was responsible for that misclassification.

It’s normal for the corpora on the two Macs to diverge. However, it’s OK for them to be different; they’ll both still be able to catch spam.

I guess the main question is: do you need SpamSieve to run when your main computer is off? If not, then things will be much simpler because you’ll only need to install SpamSieve on that one Mac.

Yes, I leave my imac on usually for the day then shutoff at night. I do however have it set to turn the hard disk off after 3hrs. This I assume would turn off spamsieve as well.

Also, when traveling, I don’t have my imac on therefore would be using my laptop without spamsieve.

Why is it possible to use mail’s junk mail filter on 2 computers at the same time and not on spamsieve?

It does not matter how you have the hard disk set. If the Mac is on and Mail is running, SpamSieve will run.

It is possible to use SpamSieve on two computers at the same time. You just need to turn off auto-training (#2 above). Auto-training improves SpamSieve’s accuracy, so I recommend that most people leave it on, but using two Macs simultaneously is a case where it’s better to turn it off. This issue does not apply to Mail’s junk mail filter because it does not support auto-training.

How do I handle false negatives/positives if auto training is off?

So if I run spamsieve on both macs the corpora will be different but each will get trained? Also, if I install on my laptop again I would treat this as a different corpora therefore I would do the training at the beginning?

As normal, you would train the false negatives as spam and the false positives as good. For best results, do this on both Macs, but that’s not required.

Each will get trained, but only when you manually use the training commands, since you’ve turned off auto-training.

I don’t see any reason to start at the beginning when you could copy the training data from your desktop.

Where is the corpora located? Please let me know if I have summarized this correctly-

I am first training my iMac (only computer with Spamsieve on it) with the auto training on and manually correcting when mistakes.

Once I have this to a point where I think it is is mostly correct, I can install spamsieve on my laptop and copy the corpora over. This will have both computers in sync to that point from the training I have done on the iMac.

Next I will turn off auto training on both computers and manually make corrections from there. From this point forward Spamsieve is running independently on each computer and whichever one I correct will be the computer that records that data.

You should transfer everything listed here.

Correct.