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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: pikapika on Tue, 19 January 2010, 06:57:37

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: pikapika on Tue, 19 January 2010, 06:57:37

i'm using thunderbird on linux, but i find it huge, slow and not very satisfaying

as i like text mode tools, i'm looking for a mail client that could replace thunderbird.

of course there's mutt, but i don't want to bother configuring 10 tools to get a few mails :-)

so if you have any ideas (and conf examples), they're welcome !

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: kode on Tue, 19 January 2010, 10:21:37

Well, I did a few tries with sup, which I guess is a pretty nice email client. Personally I use wanderlust from within emacs now, though, which I guess also makes it sorta CLI mode if one wishes.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: meltie on Tue, 19 January 2010, 10:33:11

A long time ago I used pine (which has been replaced by alpine, as I understand), and gnus for emacs.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: D-EJ915 on Tue, 19 January 2010, 11:53:22

Alpine is the evolution of pine

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: itlnstln on Tue, 19 January 2010, 11:56:21

I'm pining for the fjords.

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Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: pikapika on Tue, 19 January 2010, 15:26:12

thanks for all replies !

alpine replaced pine for licencing reason i think, but i missed things in its configuration i think

as i'm beginning to use emacs, gnus and wanderlust could be nice. do you have confs examples ?

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:05:58

Do you mean emacs as in the wretched computer-like things that Crapple made?

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: itlnstln on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:07:11

Quote from: microsoft windows;152152

Do you mean emacs as in the wretched computer-like things that Crapple made?

No (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/).

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: ch_123 on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:07:19

You might want to read this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs)

This too. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vim_(text_editor))

The HHKB was designed for emacs.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:13:16

I've just been scarred from years of servicing Emac's. Trust me; those things are awful!

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: meltie on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:51:33

Quote from: microsoft windows;152158

I've just been scarred from years of servicing Emac's. Trust me; those things are awful!

So what do you use now, Vi? :nerd:

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: didjamatic on Tue, 19 January 2010, 16:56:51

Just launch any command interpreter, establish a session with an SMTP server and compose your email there.  Pretty archaic but so is a text based email client. :p
I do it for testing every so often.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: pikapika on Tue, 19 January 2010, 17:47:36

i do some telnet too, but it's not exactly user friendly :-)

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: iMav on Wed, 20 January 2010, 08:57:45

PINE definitely works well.  I've used it forever (since at least 1994).  Works well with IMAP (currently have it connecting to my gmail account).  It used to be my news reader of choice as well.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: Mr.6502 on Wed, 20 January 2010, 18:03:24

I used to use mutt (http://www.mutt.org/) for email.  I enjoyed it back when I was using it a few years ago.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: pikapika on Thu, 21 January 2010, 06:14:22

i'll give alpine a new try.
mutt works, but it's long to configure, and needs to much side apps to work

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: kode on Thu, 21 January 2010, 06:25:11

Quote from: microsoft windows;152152

Do you mean emacs as in the wretched computer-like things that Crapple made?

Meh, the two I have are okay, just a bit too heavy to carry around. I use them for Emacs (they run debian, yay) when I bother to start them.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: Mnemonix on Thu, 21 January 2010, 06:42:53

Quote from: pikapika;152621

i'll give alpine a new try.
mutt works, but it's long to configure, and needs to much side apps to work

I'm using Mutt and connect to an IMAP server. The only side app needed is Vim. Which is a plus, because I can't stand Pico that's built into Pine.
(I constantly hit Escape and enter vi commands when using other editors, but it leaves them unimpressed--just like this browser editor.)

It probably takes more effort to get Mutt working with POP3, though.

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: pikapika on Thu, 21 January 2010, 07:05:25

maybe i should have a look on newer tutorials, last time i read i had to have MTA+ procmail+ fetchmail + *

Title: a good text mode mail client ?
Post by: Mnemonix on Thu, 21 January 2010, 07:28:30

Quote from: pikapika;152639

maybe i should have a look on newer tutorials, last time i read i had to have MTA+ procmail+ fetchmail + *

Yes, I had something like that at the back of my mind. The Mutt manual states that POP3 is supported, but this is "advanced usage (http://www.mutt.org/doc/manual/manual-4.html#ss4.10)", so the title says. ;) So at least you don't need fetchmail anymore. Procmail is not required, I think, but it is quite cool, actually. I am missing its simplicity in IMAP and Sieve.

Sending mail via SMTP still seems to require an MTA, though (because Mutt is a MUA, not an MTA).