Re: road warrior trying to simplify a mail setup

[kai.grossjohann@uni-duisburg.de (Kai Großjohann)]

merlyn@stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz) writes:

> Do I need to restate the goals?  Here they are, just in case:
>
> 0) I get 1100 messages a day, which I sort by a Perl filter.
> 1) sometimes my laptop is connected, sometimes it isn't.
> 2) when it's connected, sometimes it's broadband, sometimes it's 28.8
>    where I'm paying by the minute.
> 3) most of the time, I'll be emailing while my laptop is connected.
> 4) sometimes I wanna answer email on my laptop when it's disconnected.
> 5) sometimes I wanna answer email at an internet cafe (no laptop) by
>    ssh'ing into my server
> 6) a bonus would be answering email in a web interface, in case I can't
>    get Putty or MindTerm to work (rarer these days)
>
> I'm doing everything but 4 and 6 by my current setup (no live mail on
> laptop, just ssh to server).  I wanna know what my options are to add
> #4, and maybe #6.  The "IMAP" stuff sounded like it was heading in the
> right direction, mixed with offline reader mode.  But I need to know
> what the downsides are, compared to what I've been using.

I still think that setting up an IMAP server and using Gnus in offline
mode is a good answer.  (Combined with an IMAP web interface.)

Regarding 0, you'd have to find a way to stick your Perl script
between the MTA and the IMAP server.  But you could just make your
Perl script the delivery agent, I think.  Postfix, for instance, knows
how to call procmail, so you could just use that facility.

Personally, I'm not that excited about Sieve, but I use it anyway
because I don't really *need* that much complexity in filtering.

Regarding 1, you can just download your mail whenever you are online.
I have (add-hook 'gnus-select-article-hook
'gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article) in my ~/.gnus, and it fetches
every message that you look at while online.  (Gnus has downloaded it
anyway for viewing, so why not store it in the agent...)  This makes
it faster to do the actual downloading.

Regarding 2, you can do batch transfers for the 28.8 case.  (I do
admit, however, that the agent fetches a bit much for my taste.  I'm
sure that will be found sooner or later.  I get the feeling that it
fetches too many headers, but I can't substantiate this.)

Regarding 3, that works out of the box if Gnus is plugged -- mail
just goes out, period.

Regarding 4, that also works out of the box if Gnus is unplugged --
mail stays in nndraft:queue...

Regarding 5, you have the webmail interface.  Or you can use any IMAP
client you like -- in online/connected/plugged mode.

One problem I see is that there are problems with
nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent: it accesses a local file on the host
where Gnus is running, so it won't work when you ssh to your server,
or use the webmail interface.

Another problem is that you can't move a message while disconnected.
I don't like this at all, but I don't know what to do.  (Messages to
be moved could be put in nndraft:queue, but then they won't show up
in the target group until you go online again.  Something that shows
messages in the target group right away would be difficult to
implement, given the Gnus architecture.)

-- 
A turnip curses Elvis