Re: [Nmh-workers] Please proof-read chapter about MH/nmh

[markus schnalke]

[2010-04-12 21:05] Jerrad Pierce <address@hidden>
> >Because the man page includes this usage of
> >pick too, but with nmh-1.3, it does not work without -list.
> I have 1.3 and no -list is required here.
> You may have -nolist included in a profile.

No, but I found the reason. The man page to pick(1) says:

        `-list' is the default if no `-sequence', `-nolist' otherwise

and my profile includes:

        pick: -seq P


> >IMAP and MH do not fit well together, but you can use IMAP in a way,
> >so that MH sees no difference.
> What does grep know of nmh? Or find? Yet you can use them on your mail store.
> Tools in your chest don't have to be specially made to work with another if
> you follow the basic UNIX pilosophy of tool design. Therefore, since nmh
> could get IMAP in this way

I think I see the difference in our views now. I agree with what you
say. Instead of downloading mail with POP, you could use some imapfs
to map the remote mail directory, and leave the mails on the server.
You would want to use this, just because the mail server offers IMAP,
but not NFS/FTP/SSH, which might be better protocols to map a remote
directory (at least from my limited POV).

My view, in contrast, was on the special mail features of IMAP, which
you would loose. (However, there might be few such features.)

> ("just" tweak a package that exposes a Maildir
> interface to offer up MHdir instead), it's another (hypothetical) example.

This is a perfect example here. It's correct that MH would be able to
operate on maildir mailboxes then, but you would loose maildir's main
advantage: guaranteed reliability.

As far as I understand your view now, you think about: How can MH use
a maildir storage without the need to convert it. I think about: How
can MH use maildir's reliability without the need to change MH much.
And similar, tranferred to IMAP.

You see, I agree completely with your opinion on your view of the
problem. But I don't feel that MH does support IMAP. I'd say: MH
needs an MH mail directory in the local file system, and it is
possible to use IMAP (or NFS, or ftpfs, or sshfs) to map a remote mail
directory. But IMO, that's something different.

However, that's nitpicking, or? ;-)


meillo