6 ms·

Tangentially related: I really like the approach of mu [1]. Let other software (like mbsync) handle IMAP synchronization of a local maildir, let other software

by gspr 6y ago

Tangentially related: I really like the approach of mu [1]. Let other software (like mbsync) handle IMAP synchronization of a local maildir, let other software (like msmtp) handle sending, and focus on doing really good, flexible and efficient queries of the local maildir. Then you can build whatever thin, simple GUI on top of that. [1] https://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/ https://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/

kgwxd 6y ago
I like the idea of that approach too but I tried to set it up a few years ago and it was pretty painful. So I never got to fully functional. Are you actually using that set up and if so, do you think it's worth the effort?
- shakow 6y ago
  A surprisingly pleasant, albeit convoluted, way to install it is, if you're already using Nix and/or NixOS, to use home-manager (https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/ https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/) for that. You just have to set the settings of your account, and it will automagically link together msmtp, mu, offlineimap and emacs/astroid.
- ashton314 6y ago
  I use mbsync, mu, and the Emacs client mu4e, and I’ve never been happier with my mail. Pretty straight-forward setup.
- gspr 6y ago
  Been using it for 3 years. Loving it. Let me know if you wanna see the configuration files.
BeetleB 6y ago
There's also notmuch.[1] It has an Emacs frontend, but people use it with mutt as well, and there exist a bunch of standalone frontends. Not sure why everyone seems to know mu and not notmuch. I wonder if anyone has done a thorough comparison. (Looks like someone has done a minor comparison[2]) [1] https://notmuchmail.org/ https://notmuchmail.org/ [2] https://old.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/ebite6/mu4e_vs_gnus_vs_notmuch_for_emacs_email/fb57suy/ https://old.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/ebite6/mu4e_vs_gnus_...)
nextos 6y ago
Mu is nice, but I prefer the alternative Notmuch: https://notmuchmail.org https://notmuchmail.org The design is extraordinarily elegant. It's almost like a purely functional email client. It never touches your messages. All it does is to alter a separate tag database. Then it's up to you how to turn tags into mailbox actions, like deleting or archiving emails. It sounds complicated, but it's trivial to setup and allows infinite flexibility in how to handle emails. The Emacs interface is beautiful, quite similar to Magit. If Emacs is not your cup of tea, it's quite easy to use as a backend for Mutt. In fact, Neomutt already comes with Notmuch bundled and deeply integrated.
- funkaster 6y ago
  +1 on notmuch. I use it at work and it works great, super easy to configure actions for all the automated emails I get daily and filter the ones that really matter.
- prennert 6y ago
  I always wonder how those "CLI-esque" tools handle attachments and images, both receiving and sending. I use them rarely, but when I use them (usually for debugging with clients and internal business folk) then images are essential. Is notmuch able to attach inline images from the clipboard, and render images in emails?
  - jdub 6y ago
    It's not an email client.
  - nextos 6y ago
    It can render images just fine. I have never attached inline images as I always compose plain text emails, so I don't know about that one.
- krageon 6y ago
  notmuch is objectively worse if you expect your email tags to be synced via your mailbox, which I don't see a reason not to expect. Mu uses a header in the mail, notmuch uses a separate database. Other than that point, as far as I can tell they are identical.
3np 6y ago
Seems to be a lot of collective experience here with customizing e-mail pipelines. I'm just getting my ducks in a row for migrating to fully self-hosted e-mail and I have an idea of what I want but I'm not sure how best to achieve it. I have not yet fully settled on any part of the stack. What I want: Catch-all e-mail addresses with dynamic filtering/folders based on address. For example, say I have the domain myemail.com. I'd like to be able to register at sketchysite.com with sketchysite@myemail.com. It should get filtered to its own inbox/folder. All these should be accessible from the same application/view/search space inside my e-mail client. I should not have to add new inboxes as they come and go (many will be ephemeral), either on client or server side. By default, replying to an e-mail will always use the recipient address as the sender. Has anybody set up something similar? Any particular client or server you would say is suitable/unsuitable? Only hard requirements are FOSS, Linux, IMAP.
- joshka 6y ago
  Fastmail works like this out of the box if you can stand a web interface.
  - 3np 6y ago
    Needs to be fully self-hosted. Web interface is all good otherwise, though.
mhd 6y ago
That was pretty much the general idea of mh, with guys like exmh (Tk) or mh-e (Emacs). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MH-E https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MH-E http://exmh.sourceforge.net/ http://exmh.sourceforge.net/
- agumonkey 6y ago
  odd, for a week i had issues with mh-e extension when building emacs from source, never heard of it before, now i do

by gspr 6y ago

kgwxd 6y ago

I like the idea of that approach too but I tried to set it up a few years ago and it was pretty painful. So I never got to fully functional. Are you actually using that set up and if so, do you think it's worth the effort?

shakow 6y ago
A surprisingly pleasant, albeit convoluted, way to install it is, if you're already using Nix and/or NixOS, to use home-manager (https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/ https://rycee.gitlab.io/home-manager/) for that. You just have to set the settings of your account, and it will automagically link together msmtp, mu, offlineimap and emacs/astroid.
ashton314 6y ago
I use mbsync, mu, and the Emacs client mu4e, and I’ve never been happier with my mail. Pretty straight-forward setup.
gspr 6y ago
Been using it for 3 years. Loving it. Let me know if you wanna see the configuration files.

BeetleB 6y ago

There's also notmuch.[1] It has an Emacs frontend, but people use it with mutt as well, and there exist a bunch of standalone frontends. Not sure why everyone seems to know mu and not notmuch. I wonder if anyone has done a thorough comparison. (Looks like someone has done a minor comparison[2]) [1] https://notmuchmail.org/ https://notmuchmail.org/ [2] https://old.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/ebite6/mu4e_vs_gnus_vs_notmuch_for_emacs_email/fb57suy/ https://old.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/ebite6/mu4e_vs_gnus_...)

nextos 6y ago

Mu is nice, but I prefer the alternative Notmuch: https://notmuchmail.org https://notmuchmail.org The design is extraordinarily elegant. It's almost like a purely functional email client. It never touches your messages. All it does is to alter a separate tag database. Then it's up to you how to turn tags into mailbox actions, like deleting or archiving emails. It sounds complicated, but it's trivial to setup and allows infinite flexibility in how to handle emails. The Emacs interface is beautiful, quite similar to Magit. If Emacs is not your cup of tea, it's quite easy to use as a backend for Mutt. In fact, Neomutt already comes with Notmuch bundled and deeply integrated.

funkaster 6y ago
+1 on notmuch. I use it at work and it works great, super easy to configure actions for all the automated emails I get daily and filter the ones that really matter.
prennert 6y ago
I always wonder how those "CLI-esque" tools handle attachments and images, both receiving and sending. I use them rarely, but when I use them (usually for debugging with clients and internal business folk) then images are essential. Is notmuch able to attach inline images from the clipboard, and render images in emails?
- jdub 6y ago
  It's not an email client.
- nextos 6y ago
  It can render images just fine. I have never attached inline images as I always compose plain text emails, so I don't know about that one.
krageon 6y ago
notmuch is objectively worse if you expect your email tags to be synced via your mailbox, which I don't see a reason not to expect. Mu uses a header in the mail, notmuch uses a separate database. Other than that point, as far as I can tell they are identical.

3np 6y ago

Seems to be a lot of collective experience here with customizing e-mail pipelines. I'm just getting my ducks in a row for migrating to fully self-hosted e-mail and I have an idea of what I want but I'm not sure how best to achieve it. I have not yet fully settled on any part of the stack. What I want: Catch-all e-mail addresses with dynamic filtering/folders based on address. For example, say I have the domain myemail.com. I'd like to be able to register at sketchysite.com with sketchysite@myemail.com. It should get filtered to its own inbox/folder. All these should be accessible from the same application/view/search space inside my e-mail client. I should not have to add new inboxes as they come and go (many will be ephemeral), either on client or server side. By default, replying to an e-mail will always use the recipient address as the sender. Has anybody set up something similar? Any particular client or server you would say is suitable/unsuitable? Only hard requirements are FOSS, Linux, IMAP.

joshka 6y ago
Fastmail works like this out of the box if you can stand a web interface.
- 3np 6y ago
  Needs to be fully self-hosted. Web interface is all good otherwise, though.

mhd 6y ago

That was pretty much the general idea of mh, with guys like exmh (Tk) or mh-e (Emacs). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MH-E https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MH-E http://exmh.sourceforge.net/ http://exmh.sourceforge.net/

agumonkey 6y ago
odd, for a week i had issues with mh-e extension when building emacs from source, never heard of it before, now i do