I want to create a mail service like gmail using ruby on rails....where should i start and how can i proceed?
you have to make Google.com first for that 
This answer wins!
Personally I really have a hard time understanding how people can have the nerve to ask these questions… Do you seriously not realize how difficult it is to build something like gmail??
There is nothing impossible, start with 4 steps
- buy a domain
- install rails
- write your gmail
- deploy it to server
Hi… all
Never mind…u all…
This is so innocent question… we all here to help each other Not to pull other’s legs…
Please relies the felling… If some body has exp… to build… or faced same problem like above …
Please help him…
Thanks and regards, Shyam Mohan Ruby on rails developer at CRYPSIS (Gurgaon) Email : shyam@crypsis.net Mobile : +91-971-618-9650 Web : shyam.heroku.com
What is it you actually want to create? The mail server infrastructure that sends, receives and stores email for millions of users or perhaps the dinky little web interface?
How much do you actually know about email? Do you understand POP, IMAP, SMTP? Have you read the many RFCs covering all aspects of email?
Perhaps you should look at something like Squirrel mail ( SquirrelMail - Webmail for Nuts! )
"SquirrelMail is a standards-based webmail package written in PHP. It includes built-in pure PHP support for the IMAP and SMTP protocols, and all pages render in pure HTML 4.0 (with no JavaScript required) for maximum compatibility across browsers. It has very few requirements and is very easy to configure and install. SquirrelMail has all the functionality you would want from an email client, including strong MIME support, address books, and folder manipulation."
It is written in PHP but you should be able to read the source quite easily
You're being ripped on because your question is a bad one. Let's break down your original post:
I want to create a mail service
A bit of a vague start. Presumably you're not going to be asking a web-dev centered mailing list for advice on how to run a brick and mortar postal service, so by "mail" we are left to assume you mean "email". That's fine--it's a common substitution--but it's an inauspicious start to a conversation whose very foundation will be accuracy.
like
Oh dear. Here, I assert, is your major failing. The word "like" is so hopelessly ambiguous as to make the remainder of your question useless. I keep a few dogs; I am "like" them as Homo sapiens and Canis lupus familiaris are both mammals but I can hardly pass as a dog in a social setting. How do we quantify your "like"? How do we come to understand your intention, to divine the outline of your desire?
We cannot.
gmail
Things have only gotten worse. The name of a _large_ application gives little hint as to your hopes. We have, now, definately resolve the previous ambiguity, though: you did indeed mean "email". The problem with simply saying you hope to build something "like gmail" is that we've no way of knowing in what manner something is "like" Gmail. Do you simply want to build a web-based GUI for an email service? If so, how will this GUI behave? Are you cloning Gmail? Do you need advanced searching? What about filters, labels, integrated video/voice/text chat and so on ad infinitum?
The phraseology of your question is so very, very bad as to make it ridiculous.
using ruby on rails....where should i start and how can i proceed?
Hopefully you can start to see why this is atrocious. I won't belabor the point, much:
* You should start by giving some background into your prior research. Display some knowledge of the problem domain.
* How you proceed is entirely dependent on your end goal, which we cannot know.
This is so innocent question... we all here to help each other
We are, but you must first have the courtesy to phrase your question well.
Sorry Brain, Actually i am a bit new to the development side. and new to ror as well.but i want to learn Ruby on Rails and start my web development. i want to build a real time application while learning..can u guide me pls...
I do agrre that Venkata you are new to web development and you want to learn RoR, and make a “Gmail” like web service. But before posting such a question you should do some research on your own. As usual Google is your best friend.
Actually i am a bit new to the development side. and new to ror as well.but i want to learn Ruby on Rails and start my web development. i want to build a real time application while learning..can u guide me pls...
Hi there,
First of all I would get familiar with Ruby, which is VERY important
and you don't need to know any Rails to have some fun with it. Pay
special attention to blocks. Then I would try to understand the MVC
design pattern, Rails is based on it and will help you tremendously in
understanding how things work and why the application looks so 'spread
out' in different folders and files. Then I would try to build
something really simple like a "Hello World" type of application,
there are many tutorials out there. If you're happy and want to keep
going then I would try to learn how to use activerecord, which will be
immensely helpful working with any DB. Then you should have enough
information to start building your real time application. IMHO, if you
miss any of the above you're in for a rough start (personal
experience 
).
Check this out if you're new to web development:
It's long and quite good for a newcomer. Invest some time in it.
Here's a ton of Rails guides when you get more familiar with web development:
14 years later, I think it is possible now to create a full service that manage users and their mailboxes and send and receive emails aka proto-gmail.
It is true there is lot of machinery to set up but with a good combination of dockerized services (postfix, dovecot, spam and virus filtering, etc) and current Rails components like ActionMailbox and ActionMailer and other Rails components, you can have a lot of learning and FUN here.