Re: Muttrc example needed POP3/SMTP
On Thu, February 2, 2017 10:37 pm, sunrise wrote: > I already had getmail set up but didn't have msmtp installed. If exim4 is installed and configured, there is no need for msmtp, unless you need the profile feature of msmtp which gives you the ability to send messages through any of a number of smarthosts. Some may argue that exim4 is overkill for most users, but the package is mainstream, proven, and very capable; and, with the script provided by the Debian maintainer, configuration of exim4 is simple and quick. RH
Re: Muttrc example needed POP3/SMTP
On Thu, February 2, 2017 10:37 pm, sunrise wrote:
> Thanks a lot for both replies; I feel I am now several steps closer to
> getting a working system. I already had getmail set up but didn't have
> msmtp installed.
The Mail Transfer Agent (on Debian, typically Exim4) handles outgoing
messages on the local machine; these messages are sent to the mail server
of your Internet Service Provider (ISP), which acts as a "smarthost".
If you configure Exim4 (and you should, using the configuration dialogue
provided by the Debian maintainer), you specify the URL of the smarthost
(such as "mail.myisp.net"), the address which is to appear on outgoing
messages ("myn...@myisp.net"), and the password which the smarthost
requires for authentication. For this, see the command "dpkg-reconfigure
exim4-config" and the files "/etc/email-addresses" and
"/etc/exim4/password-client".
> One question I still have is: What are the advantages of using getmail
> and msmtp versus using mutt's built in POP3 and SMTP capabilities?
The author and maintainer of getmail has taken great pains to ensure that
getmail4 works reliably even if a POP3 server is "broken" (and that often
is the case). With a properly-configured getmail, you pretty much are
assured of never losing a message. In salvaging messages from a POP3
server, I personally have used getmail4 to download hundreds of thousands
of messages in a single marathon session running in excess of a day.
And, as I previously mentioned, you can use the combination of getmail4
and maildrop to sort incoming messages in any manner and to any degree you
wish, triggering periodic fetches with a cron job, even if no mutt session
is running. And then, when you do start mutt, you can view any of the
sort categories independently of the others. Thus, if you are pressed for
time, you can look only at messages of important categories, without the
necessity of wading message-by-message through stuff which is not urgent.
Also, if you do not have 24/7 access to the Internet, delegating
downloading (and sorting, if desired) allows you to go on-line, get your
messages while you browse or do other on-line work, then go offline and
read the messages with mutt.
But those who are accustomed to the Window$ way of doing things may prefer
a monolithic mail client which can fetch directly from a POP3 server and
send directly to a smarthost.
RH
Re: Muttrc example needed POP3/SMTP
On Thu, February 2, 2017 8:44 pm, sunrise wrote: > I would like to start using mutt but am somewhat intimidated by all the > possible options in the muttrc config file. Would someone be willing to > provide me with a basic muttrc I could use to get started? That's why they make search engines; you can find dozens of muttrc files, and any number of muttrc tutorials. You might consider using getmail4 for POP3? getmail4 is reliable and easy to configure, and by using getmail4 you simplify the configuration of muttrc. Later you can add maildrop to sort into categories messages retrieved by getmail4 -- it is a nice combination. RH
Re: unbind (all) key bindings
> Whatever you choose to do, once you get used to it, it's the best email > client out there ... Of the various mail user agents I have investigated, only mutt and gnus offer good efficiency in the handling of a large volume of messages. Not coincidentally, neither mutt nor gnus makes use of the rodent. gnus possibly is more efficient than is mutt, but the configuration and the command structure of gnus is rather obscure. More importantly, if Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen -- the creator of gnus, and perhaps the only man who fully understands the package -- falls off the edge of the earth, the popularity of gnus may decline rapidly. In contrast, mutt enjoys considerable popularity and long has been installed by default by Debian. And popularity perhaps is the best guarantee against obsolescence. Thus it is that mutt appears to be the better option in the long term. RLH
Re: Attachment signal
>>
>>"%4C %Z %?X?@& ? %{%b %d} %-15.15n (%?M?ยป%3M&%4c?) %s"
>>
> This is fantastic. This answers my question, before I had time to ask
> it. Could you please describe how this works: "%?X?@& ?"
Those are string formatting directives.
First of all, you need to be searching the Mutt manual as a matter of
routine. Open a browser such as Firefox or Iceweasel, and use the browser
to open the file /usr/share/doc/mutt/html/index.html . Then from the EDIT
menu of the browser click FIND to open the string search window.
Now you can search for strings such as "format" and "string". If you
search, you shall find sections on topics such as "status format" and
"index format" which sections explain formatting and the symbols.
You also shall find the comment: "Format strings are similar to the
strings used in the C function printf to format output (see the man page
for more detail)."
So now you open a terminal window and type "man printf".
RLH
==
Give a man a fish, and tomorrow he shall return expecting another.
Teach a man to fish, and tomorrow he shall return to give you thanks.
=
Re: mutt: new user
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 01:59:04PM -0600, rlhar...@oplink.net wrote: > I tried switching to mutt about 4 years back. I spent about a couple of > days to figure out the details, but failed (I was relatively new to *nix > at the time). I tried it again last year. I got everything working in > 3-4 hrs; including indexing with notmuch[1]! I still wish I could have > switched sooner; would have saved me so much time over 3 years. In addition to step-by-step HOWTOs and configuration guides, there are numerous ".muttrc" files posted on the web. The comments in these .muttrc files can be very helpful, even if the system differs from the system which you are configuring. By inspecting .muttrc files, you can see examples of how the various Mutt commands and configuration variables actually are used. This sometimes is of more benefit than than reading the manual. RLH
Re: mutt: new user
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 04:41:30PM +0100, Rejo Zenger wrote:
>> ++ 17/11/13 08:16 -0600 - rlhar...@oplink.net:
>> >$ mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/(cur,new,tmp)
>>
>> That should have curly brackets and read:
>>
>> mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/r{ur,new,tmp}
>
> Correcting the typo:
>
> mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/{cur,new,tmp}
>
> --
> Suvayu
Thanks to beth Rejo and Suvayu!
"maildirmake" helps avoid such errors.
==
P.S. Martin -
One of the best features of Mutt is that the user can specify the editor
to be used in the composition of messages. So you can use the editor with
which you already are proficient, be it Emacs, Xemacs, vi, nano, or
whatever. This ability contributes greatly to the efficiency of Mutt.
==
RLH
Re: mutt: new user
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 04:41:30PM +0100, Rejo Zenger wrote:
>> ++ 17/11/13 08:16 -0600 - rlhar...@oplink.net:
>> >$ mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/(cur,new,tmp)
>>
>> That should have curly brackets and read:
>>
>> mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/r{ur,new,tmp}
>
> Correcting the typo:
>
> mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/{cur,new,tmp}
>
> --
> Suvayu
Thanks to beth Rejo and Suvayu!
"maildirmake" helps avoid such errors.
==
P.S. Martin -
One of the best features of Mutt is that the user can specify the editor
to be used in the composition of messages. So you can use the editor with
which you already are proficient, be it Emacs, Xemacs, vi, nano, or
whatever. This ability contributes greatly to the efficiency of Mutt.
==
RLH
Re: mutt: new user
> On Sun November 17, 2013 1200pm Martin Vegter wrote: ... > I am using Debian OS and Postfix as my mail server. I was using Alpine > in the past as my email client, but now I have switched to Mutt because > of maildir support. ... On Debian (thanks to the Debian maintainer), Mutt works "right out of the box", the only essential configuration being the things you already have done. You can made adjustments to the configuration whenever you see a need for them. Inasmuch as you have decided to use Postfix, you would do well to search for guides specific to the combination of Mutt and Postfix (search string "mutt postfix" or "mutt postfix guide"). It is vital to understand that, in Linux, mail is handled by a system. That system can be as simple as a single package, and it can be complex, consisting of many packages which interact one with another; it all depends upon your needs and preferences. The Mutt package now can be compiled to provide SMTP capability, so that no mail transfer agent (MTA) is required. But traditionally, Linux users make use of a separate MTA package such as Exim4 (currently the default for Debian), or Postfix, or even Sendmail. And though Mutt can fetch mail from the POP3 server at your Internet service provider (ISP), I prefer to use the package getmail4 to fetch mail; the package fetchmail also is popular. I utilize the package maildrop to sort mail by category and deliver to a set of maildirs; this necessitates that each maildir be defined not only in the maildrop configuration file ".mailfilter" but also by a "mailboxes" entry in the Mutt configuration file ".muttrc". But you can sort mail as you read it in Mutt, using the SAVE and COPY commands, and (as previously mentioned) Mutt automatically creates for you a new mailbox (maildir or mbox or whatever you are using) if the mailbox you specify does not exist. I currently am configuring the mail system here to utilize the package bmf, which is an adaptive filter designed to sort mail into two categories (such as "ham" and "spam", or "good" and "evil", or "personal" and "business"), using the Bayesian algorithm. The important thing is to get something running and become familiar with the Mutt commands routinely used to read, delete, save, and write messages. Changes to the system always can be made without damage to your cache of old messages. > It is not easy for a complete beginner to get all the information from > the manual. Sometimes I have the feeling, the manuals are written for > the people who already understand it (and by the people who understand > it, obviously). Yes. That is because the primary function of a manual is to serve as an authoritative reference. But with a little searching, you can turn up any number of short HOWTO articles and a number of comprehensive guides (such as "My First Mutt") which lead you through the maze by the hand, for whatever combination of packages you employ. In this, the search engine is invaluable. At first, the time required to configure the mail system may seem excessive and a wasteful expenditure. But once you are running, it should be evident to you that with Mutt you can process messages much faster than you can process them with any other mail user agent (MUA), so the payback is almost immediate. In terms of user efficiency, the only MUA which is competitive to Mutt is Gnus. (I view Gnus as almost a religion; it is a marvelous and rewarding system, but it has a steep learning curve.) RLH
Re: mutt: new user
> On Sun November 17, 2013 5:30 am Martin Vegter wrote:
...
> I have the sent folder set up already.
>
> set mbox_type=Maildir
>
> setfolder="~/.mail/"
> set mbox="~/.mail/"
> set spoolfile="~/.mail/inbox/"
> setrecord="~/.mail/sent"
> set postponed="~/.mail/drafts"
>
> The problem is how to access it from mutt (how to see my sent emails).
...
> I don't know how to switch to sent folders.
>
> Another question I would like to ask is: I have now three folders:
> inbox, sent, drafts (as defined above). I would like to have another
> folder "archive", where I could save my emails. (instead of keeping
> everything in inbox). But AFAIK, "archive" is not defined in mutt.
...
Assuming that you are running Linux, the information you need may be
found in the man ("manual") pages. And even if you are not running
Linux, you can find the man pages on-line with a Google search such as
" man page".
Mutt has both "commands" and "configuration variables"; the "muttrc"
man page has a list of commands and configuration variables, and
explains the use of each.
And, as previously noted, there is the Mutt manual.
===
Every mailbox (whether of the type "mbox", "maildir", or whatever)
which you wish to browse (that is, which you wish to be displayed in
the Mutt index) should be declared by the Mutt "mailboxes" command.
So you might edit into your Mutt configuration file ".muttrc" the
following lines:
mailboxes ~/.mail/inbox/
mailboxes ~/.mail/sent
mailboxes ~/.mail/drafts
mailboxes ~/.mail/archive
You have set the Mutt configuration variable "mbox_type" to "Maildir";
this is good. Mutt knows how to create a proper "maildir" structure
(with "cur", "new", and "tmp" subdirectories) whenever it needs a new
mailbox.
However, it is not a bad idea to create in advance any mailboxes such as
"archive" which you know that you are going to need. You can do this
manually with the Bash "mkdir" command:
$ mkdir -p ~/.mail/archive/(cur,new,tmp)
However, there is a Bash command "maildirmake" written specifically
for this task:
$ maildirmake ~/.mail/archive
See also "Mutt & Maildir Mini-HOWTO" for pager and index commands.
===
RLH
Re: mutt: new user
"Martin Vegter" wrote: > I have just installed mutt, and I am little bit confused. > ... On the web you can find a number of good Mutt guides which you can print out and use for reference. For example: => The Beginner's Guide to the Mutt E-Mail Client => My First Mutt => The Woodnotes Guide to the Mutt Email Client And then there is the Mutt manual. You can customize almost any behaviour of Mutt by simply editing the configuration file .muttrc . Most Mutt guides have sample .muttrc files. RLH
