6 ms·

A Unix-style mail setup (2012)

82 points by HerrMonnezza 12y ago

danieldk 12y ago
Also worth mentioning is Karel Zak's mutt fork: https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz It uses notmuch for mail indexing/tagging/searching and allows you to use notmuch searches as virtual folders.
- gooseyard 12y ago
  seconded- especially now that notmuch-inject exists. When I first started playing with mutt-kz, I had some difficulty getting the flow through procmail into notmuch, but it's pretty painless now. I've been using it daily for 2-3 years and can't imagine working without it now.
  - deong 12y ago
    notmuch-inject? I hadn't heard of this, and google is turning up nothing. Care to elaborate for a line or two?
    - e12e 12y ago
      Maybe gp means: http://notmuchmail.org/manpages/notmuch-insert-1/ http://notmuchmail.org/manpages/notmuch-insert-1/ ? Sounds like it should work nicely with server side filtering/delivery?
spindritf 12y ago
I used to have a "homely mutt"[1] kind of setup but eventually got tired of offline imap, msmtp, and all that. Now I use mutt only directly on the server running exim. Painless support for multiple domains, completely arbitrary from addresses with no configuration necessary, no imap, no magic directories showing up for no reason, no weird certificates, just pure ssh... It's the way to do it. Otherwise, I stick to generic clients (Google webmail and Android app). [1] http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-mutt/ http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-mutt/
- stevekemp 12y ago
  I have used the same setup for the past five-ten years. I have IMAP setup for when I want to travel, but I find console access to mail just simpler. Though I migrated from mutt to lumail[0] (which I wrote) as I find the ability to script operations in Lua very useful. 0 - http://lumail.org/ http://lumail.org/
  - darklajid 12y ago
    FYI: You might have DDOS'd yourself here - the site is loading for minutes so far (but no timeout yet). I'm interested and will check back later :)
    - stevekemp 12y ago
      Oops bad timing there - the server is in the process of being physically relocated (moving data centers via a van).
- Schiphol 12y ago
  But that kind of solution works only if you are self-hosting, or anyway have access to the server, doesn't it?
- bigbugbag 12y ago
  how exactly does your setup works when offline ? what if you do understand the internet and stay away from centralized third party solutions and rather self-host your email because it is too sensitive to give away to giant corporations ?
  - spindritf 12y ago
    I don't really understand this comment. You can host exim+mutt anywhere. With a megacorp, in the cloud, even under your bed... The only problem you face is getting the giants to accept your mail so you will probably want another server acting as a smarthost if you host at home. I also don't remember being involuntarily offline in the last four years so I don't optimize for it any more. Plus, it's email. It will be there when I get to it. You can incur hours of downtime and other servers will just dutifully keep trying to deliver messages. It's a pretty laid back service.
mike-cardwell 12y ago
Re address books and mutt. I recently integrated my Owncloud contacts into Mutt by following these instructions: http://got-tty.org/archives/mutt-kontakte-aus-owncloud-nutzen.html http://got-tty.org/archives/mutt-kontakte-aus-owncloud-nutze... They're in German, but they're easy enough to follow even if you don't speak it (I don't). It works really well.
- unhammer 12y ago
  See also http://karra-asynk.appspot.com/ http://karra-asynk.appspot.com/ which syncs CardDAV (e.g. OwnCloud) with MS Outlook with Emacs BBDB with Google Contacts with MS Exchange
warcode 12y ago
Are there any projects trying to reduce the email-server complexity on linux? Mailpile seem to be going in the right direction on the client side, but I have yet to find any self-contained MTA/IMAP solution. With self-contained I mean its configured in one location, doesn't use linux users and has easily extendable storage options.
- nemoniac 12y ago
  Soverign provides a good basis for an email server setup. It describes itself as a "set of Ansible playbooks to build and maintain your own private cloud: email, calendar, contacts, file sync, IRC bouncer, VPN, and more." https://github.com/al3x/sovereign https://github.com/al3x/sovereign
- flurdy 12y ago
  Hope so! Then I don't have to keep maintaining http://flurdy.com/docs/postfix/ http://flurdy.com/docs/postfix/ But for now email servers are still hard. Not too difficult to set up, hard to maintain.
- calgoo 12y ago
  What about creating a docker image? I was just considering to do so for my postfix / dovcot setup. That way i can migrate the image when i want to....
- jonty 12y ago
  I recently started using a VM built using Mailinabox, which was both painless and surprisingly excellent. https://mailinabox.email https://mailinabox.email
- ForHackernews 12y ago
  iRedMail is a integrated set of scripts to install and configure a full-featured email server setup using free software components: http://www.iredmail.org/ http://www.iredmail.org/ I've used it, and it's pretty great.
nextos 12y ago
I really like mutt + isync (for painless imap syncing) + mu (for indexing and address completion)
k2enemy 12y ago
I use a setup very similar to this on OS X. - After using offlineimap for years, I recently switched to mbsync/isync. It is way faster and has been much more stable. - After a stint with sup (http://supmua.org http://supmua.org), I'm now back to mutt. I really love sup's interface, but it was a little too flaky. - I use a script called "mail" that starts a tmux session then launches mutt in it: #!/bin/sh tmux -2 new-session -d -s mail -n 'mutt' "export TERM=screen-256color; mutt" tmux select-window -t 1 tmux attach-session -d -t mail Then, in mutt I have the double-quote mapped to a macro that executes a shell command to split the tmux window and launch a read-only instance of mutt: macro index,pager \" "<enter-command> \ unset wait_key<enter><shell-escape> \ tmux split-window -h \"mutt -R\"<enter>" "open new mutt" This is my way of having an "async compose" pane for writing emails. I had tried replacing the mutt EDITOR variable with a command that splits the window and launches vim, but there are a lot of annoyances with that approach. Launching another mutt is way easier, and it also allows for easily viewing two emails at once. That said, there are a lot of nice tips in here that I'll incorporate into my setup. Thanks for posting!
peatmoss 12y ago
Is anyone here using GNUS as their daily email client? I used to use mutt back in the day, and I was kind of surprised that the author was using emacs with mutt rather than just using emacs. That said, I got as far as getting emacs / gnus to sync a gmail account before realizing that I'd need to spend some serious time reading manuals and tweaking configuration before I'd be able to use it day to day.
- unhammer 12y ago
  I use gnus. On my desktop I run offlineimap+fastmail, on my laptop I just use fastmail directly. Gnus is great for reading/posting to Gmane newsgroups, I would use it for that even if I switched to something else for reading email. For plain mail reading it actually could be a lot better. For example, support for seeing your own replies in a thread is a bit flaky (notmuch.el is better for that), and since Emacs is single-threaded, sending large attachments blocks it (perhaps I should use that relay trick from the article, but then it's not often I use email for sharing big files).
- namarkiv 12y ago
  I used to run GNUS, I switched to mu4e over a year ago, and haven't looked back.
  - peatmoss 12y ago
    I'm looking at the webpage now. Sounds like it tries to resolve some of the thread locking issues. Not sure I'd use the orgmode -> rich text email feature, but that is pretty awesome. Anything in particular you find superior to GNUS or otherwise useful?
    - namarkiv 12y ago
      Well, the idea behind mu is to use searches to filter your email instead of using imap folders. Indexing does feel a little slow sometimes, but it is far better than writing procmail rules to filter email.
- deong 12y ago
peterwwillis 12y ago
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/ http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/
dllthomas 12y ago
Very nice. My biggest objection is to Mutt (which I agree sucks less than many options). It is not clear to me that "mail client" is one job - I find myself happiest with nmh.
bravura 12y ago
I've been considering switching to an IMAP/mutt email setting on the desktop. But what is the best mobile / iOS client to use? Which mobile client meets the desiderata he lists (fast, works offline, etc.)?

82 points by HerrMonnezza 12y ago

Also worth mentioning is Karel Zak's mutt fork: https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz It uses notmuch for mail indexing/tagging/searching and allows you to use notmuch searches as virtual folders.

gooseyard 12y ago
seconded- especially now that notmuch-inject exists. When I first started playing with mutt-kz, I had some difficulty getting the flow through procmail into notmuch, but it's pretty painless now. I've been using it daily for 2-3 years and can't imagine working without it now.
- deong 12y ago
  notmuch-inject? I hadn't heard of this, and google is turning up nothing. Care to elaborate for a line or two?
  - e12e 12y ago
    Maybe gp means: http://notmuchmail.org/manpages/notmuch-insert-1/ http://notmuchmail.org/manpages/notmuch-insert-1/ ? Sounds like it should work nicely with server side filtering/delivery?

spindritf 12y ago

I used to have a "homely mutt"[1] kind of setup but eventually got tired of offline imap, msmtp, and all that. Now I use mutt only directly on the server running exim. Painless support for multiple domains, completely arbitrary from addresses with no configuration necessary, no imap, no magic directories showing up for no reason, no weird certificates, just pure ssh... It's the way to do it. Otherwise, I stick to generic clients (Google webmail and Android app). [1] http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-mutt/ http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-mutt/

stevekemp 12y ago
I have used the same setup for the past five-ten years. I have IMAP setup for when I want to travel, but I find console access to mail just simpler. Though I migrated from mutt to lumail[0] (which I wrote) as I find the ability to script operations in Lua very useful. 0 - http://lumail.org/ http://lumail.org/
- darklajid 12y ago
  FYI: You might have DDOS'd yourself here - the site is loading for minutes so far (but no timeout yet). I'm interested and will check back later :)
  - stevekemp 12y ago
    Oops bad timing there - the server is in the process of being physically relocated (moving data centers via a van).
Schiphol 12y ago
But that kind of solution works only if you are self-hosting, or anyway have access to the server, doesn't it?
bigbugbag 12y ago
how exactly does your setup works when offline ? what if you do understand the internet and stay away from centralized third party solutions and rather self-host your email because it is too sensitive to give away to giant corporations ?
- spindritf 12y ago
  I don't really understand this comment. You can host exim+mutt anywhere. With a megacorp, in the cloud, even under your bed... The only problem you face is getting the giants to accept your mail so you will probably want another server acting as a smarthost if you host at home. I also don't remember being involuntarily offline in the last four years so I don't optimize for it any more. Plus, it's email. It will be there when I get to it. You can incur hours of downtime and other servers will just dutifully keep trying to deliver messages. It's a pretty laid back service.

mike-cardwell 12y ago

Re address books and mutt. I recently integrated my Owncloud contacts into Mutt by following these instructions: http://got-tty.org/archives/mutt-kontakte-aus-owncloud-nutzen.html http://got-tty.org/archives/mutt-kontakte-aus-owncloud-nutze... They're in German, but they're easy enough to follow even if you don't speak it (I don't). It works really well.

unhammer 12y ago
See also http://karra-asynk.appspot.com/ http://karra-asynk.appspot.com/ which syncs CardDAV (e.g. OwnCloud) with MS Outlook with Emacs BBDB with Google Contacts with MS Exchange

warcode 12y ago

Are there any projects trying to reduce the email-server complexity on linux? Mailpile seem to be going in the right direction on the client side, but I have yet to find any self-contained MTA/IMAP solution. With self-contained I mean its configured in one location, doesn't use linux users and has easily extendable storage options.

nemoniac 12y ago
Soverign provides a good basis for an email server setup. It describes itself as a "set of Ansible playbooks to build and maintain your own private cloud: email, calendar, contacts, file sync, IRC bouncer, VPN, and more." https://github.com/al3x/sovereign https://github.com/al3x/sovereign
flurdy 12y ago
Hope so! Then I don't have to keep maintaining http://flurdy.com/docs/postfix/ http://flurdy.com/docs/postfix/ But for now email servers are still hard. Not too difficult to set up, hard to maintain.
calgoo 12y ago
What about creating a docker image? I was just considering to do so for my postfix / dovcot setup. That way i can migrate the image when i want to....
jonty 12y ago
I recently started using a VM built using Mailinabox, which was both painless and surprisingly excellent. https://mailinabox.email https://mailinabox.email
ForHackernews 12y ago
iRedMail is a integrated set of scripts to install and configure a full-featured email server setup using free software components: http://www.iredmail.org/ http://www.iredmail.org/ I've used it, and it's pretty great.

nextos 12y ago

I really like mutt + isync (for painless imap syncing) + mu (for indexing and address completion)

k2enemy 12y ago

I use a setup very similar to this on OS X. - After using offlineimap for years, I recently switched to mbsync/isync. It is way faster and has been much more stable. - After a stint with sup (http://supmua.org http://supmua.org), I'm now back to mutt. I really love sup's interface, but it was a little too flaky. - I use a script called "mail" that starts a tmux session then launches mutt in it: #!/bin/sh tmux -2 new-session -d -s mail -n 'mutt' "export TERM=screen-256color; mutt" tmux select-window -t 1 tmux attach-session -d -t mail Then, in mutt I have the double-quote mapped to a macro that executes a shell command to split the tmux window and launch a read-only instance of mutt: macro index,pager \" "<enter-command> \ unset wait_key<enter><shell-escape> \ tmux split-window -h \"mutt -R\"<enter>" "open new mutt" This is my way of having an "async compose" pane for writing emails. I had tried replacing the mutt EDITOR variable with a command that splits the window and launches vim, but there are a lot of annoyances with that approach. Launching another mutt is way easier, and it also allows for easily viewing two emails at once. That said, there are a lot of nice tips in here that I'll incorporate into my setup. Thanks for posting!

peatmoss 12y ago

Is anyone here using GNUS as their daily email client? I used to use mutt back in the day, and I was kind of surprised that the author was using emacs with mutt rather than just using emacs. That said, I got as far as getting emacs / gnus to sync a gmail account before realizing that I'd need to spend some serious time reading manuals and tweaking configuration before I'd be able to use it day to day.

unhammer 12y ago
I use gnus. On my desktop I run offlineimap+fastmail, on my laptop I just use fastmail directly. Gnus is great for reading/posting to Gmane newsgroups, I would use it for that even if I switched to something else for reading email. For plain mail reading it actually could be a lot better. For example, support for seeing your own replies in a thread is a bit flaky (notmuch.el is better for that), and since Emacs is single-threaded, sending large attachments blocks it (perhaps I should use that relay trick from the article, but then it's not often I use email for sharing big files).
namarkiv 12y ago
I used to run GNUS, I switched to mu4e over a year ago, and haven't looked back.
- peatmoss 12y ago
  I'm looking at the webpage now. Sounds like it tries to resolve some of the thread locking issues. Not sure I'd use the orgmode -> rich text email feature, but that is pretty awesome. Anything in particular you find superior to GNUS or otherwise useful?
  - namarkiv 12y ago
    Well, the idea behind mu is to use searches to filter your email instead of using imap folders. Indexing does feel a little slow sometimes, but it is far better than writing procmail rules to filter email.
deong 12y ago

peterwwillis 12y ago

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/ http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/

dllthomas 12y ago

Very nice. My biggest objection is to Mutt (which I agree sucks less than many options). It is not clear to me that "mail client" is one job - I find myself happiest with nmh.

bravura 12y ago

I've been considering switching to an IMAP/mutt email setting on the desktop. But what is the best mobile / iOS client to use? Which mobile client meets the desiderata he lists (fast, works offline, etc.)?