Re: Linux Mail Client

[Phillip Deackes <gsmh@gmx.co.uk>]

Steve Lamb <grey@dmiyu.org> wrote:
> 
>     Hate to tell you but fetchmail is not more elegant.  In fact, I
> find it
> quite archaic.  I don't know about you, but there is something about
> pulling 2
> accounts worth of mail, dumping them into a single local account and
> then have
> to filter it all out /and/ have to tell the mail client to use x
> account in y
> situation but not z that is quite inelegant.

No, no, no!!!  <hitting head against nearest wall>

On my machine fetchmail fetches all mail from my ISP and hands it on to
Exim which, in turn, distributes it to users and mailfolders. The mail
so distributed is readable by any email app (MUA) because it is in a
standard form. That is neat. The 'Windows' solution is to have the email
app do the downloading. It is then filed away in a format unique to that
particular application. That is not neat. I don't understand what you
are saying about dumping the mail into a single local account. My system
collects mail for three different addresses and as soon as the mail is
received Exim delivers it to the appropriate user. Maybe you are not
using a MTA/MDA like Exim.

All I do to instigate this is click one icon (I can have it happen
automatically if I wish). Friends who use Windows are amazed at how
elegant it is and how another user can log on and access their mail
only. They can set up their own .forward file to sort mail into their
choice of folders. 

I build computers as a side line, and I usually install Windows 98. Have
you tried setting Windows up in an easy-to-use form which allows a
family to have an email address each from the same ISP and only
see/download their own emails, making sure the correct address is shown
in the 'from' header? Outlook allows the use of 'accounts' but it is
still a nightmare to set up. If any user downloads mail it ends up in
the Inbox (or other folder) visible to the user who instigated the
download. Maybe I have not understood correctly the complexities of
setting up Outlook . . . .


-- 
Phillip Deackes
Using Storm Linux