Re: MUAs that compare with Outlook (your chance to show how much better Linux is than MS!!)

[D-Man <dsh8290@rit.edu>]

On Thu, Jul 12, 2001 at 01:35:42PM -0400, Brian Nelson wrote:

| Why on earth would you want a single application to do all of that?  Do 

This was my reaction also.  Just for the record I used to be a
full-time windows user, before I was introduced to Unix and Linux.  I
have tried a lot of different MUAs, both on Windows and Unix.  I have
found that I like mutt the best.  It doesn't have some of the features
that were listed as requirements, but it does a lot and does it well
and does it efficiently (both CPU wise and UI wise).

It sounds like the most important features are :

    o notification when important messages arrive
    o easy way to update schedule from messages relating to schedule
        type things

The other "requirements" were more like GUI specifications to match
Outlook.  (if you disagree, read those requirements again and count
how many _don't_ fall into the first item above)

For the first, there are several different mail notification
apps/applets that can be checked out.  I have one in gnome (I think it
is called MailCheck Applet) and I like it.  It will run fetchmail
periodically and it plays an animation and a sound when mail arrives.
Of course, fetchmail directs the message through procmail so the
notification only happens for one mailbox, my inbox, and list mail
just goes to its respective folder.  When I click on it it fires up
whatever MUA I want it to (it used to be Balsa, then Mahogany, now
mutt in a gnome-terminal).

For the second feature, I think hand-updating gnome-cal (or whatever
the calender in the gnome-pim package is called) when you read an
interesting message that discusses your schedule.  

I sorta tried out evolution once, quite a while ago, and I didn't
really like it even taking its at-that-time instability due to heavy
development into account.  What I didn't like about it was it tried to
do everything, though it wouldn't make dinner or clean my room.

I think quoting mutt's creator is well suited for this discussion: 
"All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less."
(but s/this one/your favorite/)

-D