[NTLUG:Discuss] Mail Clent Recommendations

[Kevin Brannen]

Jeremy Blosser wrote:
> 
> MadHat [madhat at unspecific.com] wrote:
> > al_h at technologist.com wrote:
> > > I currently use NS Messenger for 99.999% of my email, I have played with
> > > Kmail, which doesnt offer any advantages over NS Msgr.
> > > Does anyone have a mail client that they feel improves upon my current
> > > choice? I am interested in end user experiences, please tell me about
> > > what you - - use.
> >
> > The problem I find is that most people want a GUI that does everything
> > Netscape does, but don't want to use Netscape.

That seems like a strange thing to say, but it is exactly how I feel.
:-)

> >  I like mutt (and is what
> > I use for my business mail), but if you are using POP mail, it doesn't
> > allow for filtering directly, you have to use fetchmail and procmail to
> > do filtering, AFAIK.  I might be wrong.
> 
> This is correct, and it's not just related to POP mail.  Mutt doesn't do
> any filtering on it's own.  One of the design goals is to keep with the
> Un*x philosophy of "do one thing and do it well", eg. stringing lots of
> small utilities together to get a complete package.  Mutt is a MUA (mail
> user agent, aka mail reader), and a darn good one.  Filtering incoming mail
> is the job of an MDA (mail delivery agent) such as procmail.

Please define filtering.  Do you mean:
a) remove mail so I never see it?  [e.g. delete spam or email from
people in a "kill" list]
b) sort and place in specific "folder" based on the To:, CC:, Subject:,
...
c) something else?

I think any decent mail reader should be able to do (b).

> ...a bunch of interesting stuff about Mutt...

It's gotta do Mime, attachments, folders, threading, let me define my
own editor (where Netscape fails), address book (with groups), and a
bonus would be to let me edit messages sent to me (so I keep the small
nugget in a large piece of garbage, and Netscape can't do this either). 
GUI not required but highly desireable.

> > I still don't know of a good client that has the ability to check
> > multiple POP accounts anlong with all the above.
> 
> Mutt+fetchmail.  Retrieving mail isn't the job of the MUA, it's the job of
> an MTA.

I don't know how Netscape gets mail, but I'm happy it's all transparent
to me.

> Again, to those of us that are used to it, this method of not having all
> our needs met with one app is a very good thing, not a bad thing.

To those of us who aren't used to it, it's a real hassle.  IMO, both
views are correct, it's just what you get used to.  And there are some
things that I don't want 1 app to do everything as well, it's just that
mail isn't one that I want that much control. :-)

After reading the Mutt web page, maybe I should try it, if I can figure
how to get my mail off my ISP's mail server.

Kevin