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Get off Gmail and get on... what? You're only offering non constructive criticism. Gmail is light years ahead of any other email client I have tried so far.

Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
Gmail is not just an email client though, it's also the email provider. If you want to get off of Gmail the client, you can use an IMAP client like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc. There are quirks with how the IMAP protocol's concepts get mapped to Gmail's concepts though. If you want to get off of Gmail the provider, that's a different story. There are many free and paid providers, but there's still a large effort to switch since you have to ask people to update your email address and probably keep the old one around (and forwarding to the new one) for a long time. If you have your own domain that's backended by Gmail, this is a lot easier.
- 333c 9y ago
  Regarding getting off of Gmail: I switched away from Gmail at the start of 2018. So far everything has gone smoothly. My new email provider (Fastmail) has a tool to import all emails from another provider, which ran overnight. I forward all mail from my Gmail address to my new address. One feature of Gmail which makes it particularly easy to switch away from is that it's free, so I can keep my Gmail account open indefinitely to forward mail. Asking people to update my address hasn't been a huge problem. Even when they email me at the old one, I still get their messages.
pmlnr 9y ago
It's really not, nor the web client, nor the provider, and the options are plenty, mentioned even in this very thread. Fastmail, self hosted iredmail, protonmail, etc., are fine providers. Geary, rainloop, macos mail, k9, are very nice clients. Have you actually tried any alternative clients, before you made this comment?
- criddell 9y ago
  I too would leave GMail (Inbox) if I could find a web client I like as well. For work, I use Thunderbird because I need Enigmail for PGP and I absolutely hate it. Inbox does an almost perfect job of catching spam and sorting my mail. It has saved me many hours over the years.
- always_good 9y ago
  Protonmail doesn't even have fulltext search (truly a joke). Fastmail just feels like a worse Gmail client, only redeeming if you particularly care about paying for a service. I have to agree with them. Also, pretty weak rhetoric to suggest someone hasn't tried the alternatives. Can I assume you haven't tried Protonmail because I can't understand how someone can say email without search is better than Gmail.
  - pmlnr 9y ago
    I run my mail server, I tried out rainloop, roundcube, pine, mutt, evolution, geary, thunderbird, claws recently, used to do outlook, outlook express, horde, even squirelmail. By comparison, gmail is not superior, and isn't, by far, capable of everything thunderbird can be with a few addons.
- twblalock 9y ago
  Do you honestly believe that self-hosting email is a valid solution for normal people?
  - pmlnr 9y ago
    Not for them to be run personally, but say, a friend can set up an raspberry pi like box, with yunohost or iredmail even at their home, turn unattended upgrades on centos, that's done for ~7 years.

Mister_Snuggles 9y ago

Gmail is not just an email client though, it's also the email provider. If you want to get off of Gmail the client, you can use an IMAP client like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc. There are quirks with how the IMAP protocol's concepts get mapped to Gmail's concepts though. If you want to get off of Gmail the provider, that's a different story. There are many free and paid providers, but there's still a large effort to switch since you have to ask people to update your email address and probably keep the old one around (and forwarding to the new one) for a long time. If you have your own domain that's backended by Gmail, this is a lot easier.

333c 9y ago
Regarding getting off of Gmail: I switched away from Gmail at the start of 2018. So far everything has gone smoothly. My new email provider (Fastmail) has a tool to import all emails from another provider, which ran overnight. I forward all mail from my Gmail address to my new address. One feature of Gmail which makes it particularly easy to switch away from is that it's free, so I can keep my Gmail account open indefinitely to forward mail. Asking people to update my address hasn't been a huge problem. Even when they email me at the old one, I still get their messages.

pmlnr 9y ago

It's really not, nor the web client, nor the provider, and the options are plenty, mentioned even in this very thread. Fastmail, self hosted iredmail, protonmail, etc., are fine providers. Geary, rainloop, macos mail, k9, are very nice clients. Have you actually tried any alternative clients, before you made this comment?

criddell 9y ago
I too would leave GMail (Inbox) if I could find a web client I like as well. For work, I use Thunderbird because I need Enigmail for PGP and I absolutely hate it. Inbox does an almost perfect job of catching spam and sorting my mail. It has saved me many hours over the years.
always_good 9y ago
Protonmail doesn't even have fulltext search (truly a joke). Fastmail just feels like a worse Gmail client, only redeeming if you particularly care about paying for a service. I have to agree with them. Also, pretty weak rhetoric to suggest someone hasn't tried the alternatives. Can I assume you haven't tried Protonmail because I can't understand how someone can say email without search is better than Gmail.
- pmlnr 9y ago
  I run my mail server, I tried out rainloop, roundcube, pine, mutt, evolution, geary, thunderbird, claws recently, used to do outlook, outlook express, horde, even squirelmail. By comparison, gmail is not superior, and isn't, by far, capable of everything thunderbird can be with a few addons.
twblalock 9y ago
Do you honestly believe that self-hosting email is a valid solution for normal people?
- pmlnr 9y ago
  Not for them to be run personally, but say, a friend can set up an raspberry pi like box, with yunohost or iredmail even at their home, turn unattended upgrades on centos, that's done for ~7 years.