You cannot logon to the e-smith server and type fetchmail.
Because you would be logged on as root, the system will look at the /root directory (your current home directory - because you logged in as root) and try to run the fetchmailrc configuration file. None exists under e-smith under a standard e-smith install.
log in as normal. Type as follows
cd /etc
./fetchmail.
This will run your fetchmail configuration and collect your mail (If all goes well).
Regards Duncan