Re: some mail annoyances

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>]

This was a useful discussion, and I've now summarized the points for a 
new node in the manual -- "Mail in a Newsreader".

I'll just include it here; please do suggest changes that will make
things clearer, since this is a quite important subject.


Mail in a Newsreader
--------------------

   If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to
switch to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing
something of a culture shock.

   Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers.  If you want to
make it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.

   Gnus, by default, handles all its group using the same approach.
This approach is very newsreaderly--you enter a group, see the
new/unread messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as
read, and you don't see them any more.  (Unless you explicitly ask for
them.)

   In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.

   Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read
are deleted?  How awful!

   But, no, it means that old messages are "expired" according to some
scheme or other.  For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
you.  The expire process for mail is covered in depth in *note Expiring
Mail::..

   What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
mail, is that the transport becomes more and more irrelevant.  What
becomes important is the size of the receiving audience.

   Many people subscribe to several mailing lists.  These are
transported via SMTP, and are therefore mail.  Some people have local
news groups which have only a handful of readers.  These are
transported via NNTP, and are therefore news.

   The important distinction turns out to be not the transport
mechanism, but whether the messages are "personal" or "public".  Many
users then subtly alter the behavior of Gnus according to these two
categories.

   Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and
wish that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader.  It is
possible to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said
before, it's not easy.  People who prefer proper mail readers should
try VM instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.

   I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that
you may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages.
After you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it.
I can guarantee it.  (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it.  You
Will Be Assimilated.  You Love Gnus.  You Love The Gnus Mail Way.  You
Do.)


-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen