This guy shows it's possible to write a linux email virus, in a few simple steps

The rumor of the bullet-proof Linux architecture

There is this rumor going around that Linux is virus free. It is said that the old-fashioned multi-user heritage of Linux (and other *nix OSs) prevents malware, since users are not normally running their programs in admin mode (as root user). We are reminded that execute bits are needed to run anything – contrary to Windows – and that execute bits aren't set on any attachments or files saved from emails or from a web-browser.

a bit of topic, but hey if we can help anybody leave hotmail...
"A lot of people have Hotmail accounts and for some reason they might want to get away from it. This could be because they start operarting their own email server or because Hotmail has feature-wise not everything desired nowadays. The problem is that you can't just forward new incoming mail to another non-Hotmail account wihtout paying for it. There are, however two ways, to circumvent that.

Disclaimer: I know, this is not Linux specific but I still think this to be interesting for a few people."