On Fri, Aug 05, 2005 at 01:03:04PM -0400, Rajiv Vyas wrote:
> I read some of the mans but the key question is how do I get
> started?
Joining this list is a good start.
The complete documentation, in convenient html form, is probably
installed in /usr/share/doc/mutt/html/. If not, you can obtain it from
http://www.mutt.org/. I don't pretend to have understood all of it
myself, but the simple, necessary things are explained quite clearly.
You need only a very few lines in your .muttrc file to get started.
Start by reading the sections on the variables "from", "hostname",
"realname", "folder" and "sendmail". I don't think anything else is
absolutely essential, though there are many other useful settings.
> I have mutt installed by defauly in my ubuntu but how do I configure
> to receive emails from my comcast or Gmail?
Although Mutt has some support for POP3, it's probably better to use
fetchmail (as I do) or getmail (as many users of this list seem to
prefer). Both of them come with clear manuals, and fetchmail also has
a GUI configuration program called fetchmailconf.
> Also, what additional packages do I need?
A mail transport agent for sending mail is essential, but you don't
need to use anything as complicated as exim or postfix for just a
couple of ISP or Gmail accounts. I use msmtp, which, like fetchmail
and getmail, is very easy to configure, but there are many others.
You also need a text editor for writing outgoing mail, such as vim or
nano. Vim is well worth learning if you want zillions of features, but
nano is much easier to get used to. (It's possible that Ubuntu has
pico instead of nano.) As always, there are many others.
Some optional extras are:
procmail, for sorting and processing incoming mail: useful for
handling mailing lists and calling spam filters etc.
a spam filter, such as spamassassin or bogofilter, and a virus
filter, such as clamav
metamail, for viewing html emails and attachments
urlview, for extracting and viewing URLs
But you don't need any of them to get Mutt working in a basic way.
> I have read that I also need fetchmail and exim.
- Or alternatives to them, such as the ones I've mentioned. They
should all be in the Ubuntu Universe if they're not installed by
default.
If you have problems that the manual doesn't solve, try Google first
and then ask here. Have fun with Mutt.
--
PJR :-)
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