Re: imap issues
* David Yitzchak Cohen <lists+mutt_users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> [2004-02-24 06:49]
wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 23, 2004 at 06:32:20PM EST, Colin J. Raven wrote:
>
> > Current setup:
> > FreeBSD4.9 STABLE
> > Postfix w/Courier IMAP
> >
> > My mutt is pointed at /home/colin/Maildir/new to look at mail, I have no
> > clue if this is correct or not. Should it just be /home/colin/Maildir or
> > is it indeed necessary to point Mutt at the "new" folder. (It seems to
> > read mail either way, but putting "new" in the path causes one more
> > keystroke. That's an observation, not my reason for posting hahaha)
>
> Obviously, you're not using IMAP for that account :-)
>
> If you want to use IMAP for that account, you may be able to do
> imap://localhost/INBOX or something like that to access it through IMAP
> instead of directly as a maildir (assuming you want to, of course!).
Thanks for an enormously detailed and helpful response! I couldn't have
asked for better!!! (I guess I should have written "potentially helpful"
to be boringly pedantic, because I'm going to have to read, re-read and
inwardly digest the contents of your post)
Anecdotally, a colleague of mine had what amounts to a digital psychotic
episode yesterday. Kinda like Murphy with a brain chemistry problem.
He's accessing mail on several accounts using Outlook 2003...and (it
gets better) IMAP. I don't want to gratuitously bang M$ for the sake of
it, that gets mighty old after a while, but Outlook is notoriously awful
with IMAP. This he also found out yesterday, to his consternation.
Having played with PocoMail (which does IMAP very very nicely indeed
BTW) some time back, he fired that up, only to find that his evaluation
version had expired. I should add at this point that, as always happens,
the need to be able to reliably access an imap account was crucial at
that very moment, since we were guiding a major client through a go-live
episode, supporting our own people in the field, plus client in their
various offices. Seamless access was thus of paramount importance. What
seems to be a trademark of GUI software is that it's situationally
aware. Right when you have a truly critical need of it, it promptly
crashes or exhibits other attention-getting petulant (or
often even delinquent) behavior.
As a band-aid to get him "over the hump", I set up squirrelmail and
pointed it at IMAP for him and it worked well, but drove him to
distraction because of refreshes, page pulling et al. Last night (before
I posted my questions) he took a look at my Mutt setup. I expected him
to grumble about dinosaurs, geeks working in a text interface in this
day 'n age..and so on. Instead of the anticipated reaction, to my
delight he commented that this appeared to be the solid stable
workmnlike approach, not subject to the vagaries and whims of various
GUI clients out there. So, for myself *and* my esteemed but chagrined
colleague David, I thank you for the extensive comments, examples and
explanations. (Though only I will read them, others I hope will derive
the benefit)
Mutt was a trial to me (as a former Pine user) in the beginning, but
reading, tweaking, patience & persistence (the latter two I'm not
renowned for btw) has paid off hansomely. In a strange turn of events
Mutt may even have acquired a surprise convert in the person of my
colleague. That in itself is nothing less than astonishing since he is a
seriously GUI-powered individual who regards UNIX/Linux as some dark
almost satanic art alternately deemed either useless, or usable only by
people who wear pocket protectors. Depending on the day you speak to him
you might get one or other reaction....or just an angry outburst about
useability. I've gently pointed out many times how useable it really
is...fate seems to have supported that contention.
Well, sorry for the excessive bandwidth, but thanks to the list for
guidance and support. It's good to know it's there, and hopefully I can
contribute as my own knowledge grows, ths maintaining the essential
"balance".
Regards to all,
-Colin