Pegasus mail put down

New Zealand email pioneer Pegasus mail is to cease further development of its software, which is used by millions of users worldwide.

Pegasus will also cease developing its Mercury mail transport system.

In a note on the Pegasus mail website, the founding developer of Pegasus, Dunedin-based David Harris, says development and distribution has ceased.

“We regret this decision, but ongoing difficulties with funding have forced it upon us,” he says.

“Sites who have current support subscriptions will be fully supported until their subscriptions expire. We will be looking at developing migration tools to assist those sites in moving together platforms or products.”

Harris stressed the decision was purely financial, adding that if sponsors could be found to provide “modest” ongoing funding, he would continue development.

Computerworld tried to contact Harris via email and telephone but didn't get a response. However, acquaintances of Harris that Computerworld spoke to say "he is OK" and has started responding to messages on the Pegasus beta testers' mailing list again.

InternetNZ vice president David Farrar confirms that Harris resigned from the organisation's council last year, but remains a society member still. Farrar adds that Harris made an extraordinary contribution to the work of the society during his tenure, especially in the antispam area.

Pegasus was first developed for Novell's Netware platform in 1989-1990, and after that, enjoyed great popularity on Microsoft's Windows platform. However, once Microsoft started to distribute its Outlook Express email program as part of Internet Explorer with Windows, Pegasus lost out in popularity and funding for the project suffered.