Unix Mail Clients: Pine, Mutt

Since Unix systems are multi-user systems and GUI based applications usually take more system resource than text-based ones, text based mail clients were preferred. However, with increasing CPU power and memory on servers, X-based mail clients like dtmail, netscape messenger, evolution and kmail are more and more popular. Unix users are not under the monopoly power of Microsoft and enjoy many more options than windows users, provided you know apriori how to use them due to less intuitive user interface.

Pine is the most popular text based mail client under Unix. It is menu driven so you do not have to memorize keystrokes. Its default composer pico has been used outside of the regime of pine. To start pine, just type pine in the command line.

Much of pine's power is hidden under the SETUP menu. If you are going to use pine a lot, it won't be a waste of time to read through pine's options. Here is a simple list of what you can configure pine to do:

• Set up a signature file which will be append to every email you send.
• Set up a fcc folder to save a copy of sent emails.
• Use external editor other than its default editor pico.
• Use another program to print email. Refer to chapter 3.2.3 for details.
• Check multiple incoming mailboxes. This might surprise you since you always check your system mailbox for new emails. However, if you have lots of email, a program called `procmail' can deliver incoming emails to different mailboxes, according to specified rules. Pine can then tell you what mailboxes have new emails.
• Set initial keystrokes to be executed after you start pine. You can then go to your inbox without having to type i every time.
• Use your mouse in pico.
• Give rules to tell pine how to save, sort, thread your emails.
• Set spell checker, URL-viewer, display and sending filter.

Please refer to the pine help system for details.

Mutt is another text based mail client. Its motto is pretty amusing: ``All mail clients suck, this one just sucks less.'' Mutt is not bragging itself. It is much more flexible and much more powerful than all other mail clients, including those complicated GUI based ones. However, mutt is for Unix gurus only. It is not menu driven, so you will have to memorize how to do everything. It does not have a set up window so you have to edit its configuration file manually. Its outstanding features include

• color support. You can specify colors for almost everything. Emails can be colored differently according to its status and even according to its subject. Email header and special contents (such as quotations, url's) can be colored. If you use vim as its composer, vim is colored too.
• no default composer, you can use any of your favorite text editor.
• various features to support mailing lists, including message threading, list-reply. With a single key stroke, you can reply to mailing list (not the sender), to all senders (includes email addresses in CC field).
• highly customizable. By using keybindings or macros, you can move your email(s) to another mailbox with a single key stroke.
• POP3 and IMAP, MIME and PGP/MIME (encription), multiple incoming folders, multiple mailbox formats (mbox, MMDF, MH, maildir) support.
• change configuration automatically based on recipients, current folder, etc. Ability to specify alternate addresses for recognition of mail forwarded from other accounts, with ability to set the From: headers on replies/etc. accordingly

If you have some free time, read an interesting article "A man with his mutt" www.devshed.com/Server_Side/Administration/Mutt/page1.html and gain some confidence that you will not waste your time. Then go to the helpdesk dot file repository http://www.stat.rice.edu/ helpdesk/dotfiles and grab a copy of mutt configuration file .muttrc, read it and modify it accordingly. You should be able to see mutt's colorful interface with the help of rxvt (see chapter 8.4 ). If you are really into mutt, mutt's online manual will tell you how to do everything.

Mutt is not supported by Rice IT department It is installed under helpdesk trial software collection. To use mutt, you can either add /home/helpdesk/bin to your $PATH in your .cshrc or .rc/.cshrc.solaris file or use its full path name /home/helpdesk/bin/mutt.