tlug: Re: Email

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "Alan" == Alan B Stone <stoneab@example.com> writes:

    Alan> I guess I should ask if everyone is now getting my email
    Alan> okay?  I checked the settings, and I stopped the text/html.

It's cool.  BTW, a MIME alternative to text/html is text/richtext; all 
of the major Emacs-based MUAs handle it, and I think Pine does.  It's
sort of like a colorized ls or man page (but MIME-standard).

    Alan> package, but I really don't know how to set this up for a POP

I don't do POP much, when I do, I use fetchmail.  Fetchmail does
nothing except talk POP and similar protocols, and dump the mail into
your local Linux mail spool to be managed by sendmail/smail/qmail.
The advantage is that fetchmail knows many variations of POP, IMAP,
and so on, and is maintained by Eric Raymond, so it will grow with the
Internet.

Not as transparent as say just telling Eudora setup that your POP host 
is 1.2.3.4, but much more flexible, and something to grow on.

I do it by hand, but it's easy to set up for an automatic fetch when
your PPP connection comes up.  Plain text config file.

    Alan> connection.  I don't have a constant connection to the
    Alan> internet.  I would appreciate it someone could help me with
    Alan> it, and/or recommend a better email package.  I use Netscape
    Alan> only because of the Browser/Email combo, but if there is a
    Alan> better email package I'd like to try it.

I dislike Netscape a lot, but it's hard to say there's a "better"
package.  Go with what fits your needs.  If you feel like your current 
package is starting to hold you back though, look at upgrades ASAP.

GNU Emacs or XEmacs will support both functions:
    o W3 - high-quality HTML3 implementation; inline GIFs, JPEGs,
           PNGs, some other stuff on XEmacs; style sheets; very
           useful for editing/viewing.  Always available on Mouse-2 or 
           Shift-Mouse-2, so you can click on well-formed URLs
           anywhere in Emacs (in HTML or not, bracketed with <A HREF=""> 
           or not) and immediately visit them from any buffer.
    o VM - mail interface.  Excellent MIME support (but very picky).
           Virtual folders (helps organize your inbox) as well as
           archival folders.  Will thread your folders on subject and
           In-Reply-To. 
    o Gnus - mail and Usenet.  Decent MIME support using TM or SEMI,
           but both are still somewhat flaky.  Threads mail as well as 
           news.
    o MH-E - requires MH external mail handling package.  Clumsy at
           first but very powerful, especially in combination with
           procmail.  Poor MIME support (although TM does support it,
           so maybe that's OK now).
    o Mew - not ready for prime time IMHO.  Looks like it has some nice
           functionality though.

    o General -
           Pros:  Mule - nobody does it better.
           Cons:  It's Emacs.  Either you love it, or you don't.

MH:  mail only.  Most useful for people who want to cobble up a
    customized system for automatic handling using procmail and shell
    scripts, as each function is actually a separate program.  MIME
    needs to be handled externally (eg, metamail).

Pine:  The Eudora of Unix.  I can't stand it, but it supports stuff
    like IMAP well.  MIME support spotty; it does enclosures and
    stuff pretty well, but if it's not smart enough to handle what you 
    give it, it's also not smart enough to ask you what to do.  New
    users love it, many experienced users find it good enough.  Menu
    shortcuts are quite efficient, message editor is configurable.

Netscrap:  (It's spelled N-E-T-S-C-R-A-P, but it's pronounced
    `mazui'. :-P )  Aside from my personal peeves, has lots of
    advantages.  Obvious how to configure it once you learn the menu
    system.  Can get away with disobeying protocols because of huge
    market share.  Can do lots of non-standard stuff like send/receive
    HTML mail, plug-ins, etc.  (Flip side of ignoring protocols, and
    often enough Netscape had the feature before there was a
    standard.)  In the near future you should be able to cut from
    email and paste into internet phone.  ;-) Can't do lots of
    standard stuff (can it do threading for news, let alone mail,
    yet?)  Editor interface bites badly.  Does not like Japanese,
    Chinese, etc.

xmh:  X interface to MH.  Good at what it does, doesn't do anything
    but provide a front end to MH.

XFmail:  Jim Schweizer likes it :-)  I've never tried it.

echo << EOM | sendmail <user@example.com>:  Not recommended for the
    casual user.  MIME support non-existent.
Next TLUG meeting is Saturday Dec. 13, 1997  (possibly Nov. 13?)
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