Re: delete downloaded marked emails after specific days & pop3 advice

[Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net>]

"jindam, vani" <jindam.vani@disroot.org> writes:

> after much trials, i found its impossible to run
> dovecot on debian 11 on userland (1). i have a
> copy of gnus manual (by lars magne, 1995-2015,
> no version). recently disvovered check paren
> for looking errors on .gnus
>
> i have few questions:
>
> (a) is it possible to download all emails on my
> local machine, i dont want to retain email copies
> on server

mbsync doesn't offer this: the only available setting is the Sync
directive in the config file, and that doesn't allow deleting messages
remotely but not locally. This sounds more like using pop3 as a
mail-source, with the :leave setting at `nil'.

> (b) do i have to specify all email directories
> on .gnus for downloading, ex: spam, draft

With "Patterns *" in your mbsync config, mbsync will sync all folders.
Gnus will make all those folders available through the nnmaildir
backend, though you can also subscribe/unsubscribe to them within Gnus, so you
can choose what you see.

> (c) how do i auto expunge all marked emails on
> .gnus or mbsync.rc after specific period

See the "Expiring Mail" section of the Gnus manual. With the settings
you've shown below, when Gnus eventually deletes a message that deletion
will get synced to the server, as well.

> (d) seriously, reconsidering to use getmail
> to fetch all emails through pop3, is it good
> idea. pop3 supports or recognises only one
> directory —inbox & does it mean it will include
> spam emails in inbox?

If you don't care about the state of the server, and would prefer to not
leave messages there, then yes I think using a pop3 mail-source might be
a better option than mbsync. You can still use nnmaildir locally, with
split rules that send incoming mail there.

I don't use this and I don't know if pop will pull messages from
multiple folders; the docs don't mention any relevant config.

Note that you've got this in your nnmaildir config:

(get-new-mail t)

That *only* comes into play if you're using mail sources. That means
that given the config below you don't need it: mbsync will add messages
to nnmaildir, which nnmaildir will detect automatically.

> * mbsync.rc:
> IMAPAccount disroot
> Host disroot.org
> User jindam.vani@disroot.org
> SSLType IMAPS
> SSLVersions TLSv1.2
>
> # you may have to tweak the awk here + filename to your netrc/authinfo:
> # PassCmd "gpg2 -q --for-your-eyes-only --no-tty -d $HOME/.netrc.gpg |
>   awk '$2==\"mail.messagingengine.com\" && $4==\"me@fastmail.com\"
>   {print $6;exit(0)}'"
> # Port 992
> # Port 992 has a "flat" hierarchy; use with
> # mail_location = maildir:~/.Maildir/:LAYOUT=fs:INBOX=~/.Maildir/INBOX
> # in dovecot (see also MaildirStore.Inbox below)
>
> IMAPStore disroot-remote
> Account disroot
>
> MaildirStore disroot-local
> # The trailing "/" is meaningful
> Path ~/.Maildir/
> Inbox ~/.Maildir/INBOX
> SubFolders Legacy
>
> Channel disroot
> Master :disroot-remote:
> Slave :disroot-local:
> Patterns *
> Create Slave
> Sync All
> Expunge Both
> SyncState *
>
> * .gnus:
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil ""))
>
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
>              '(nnmaildir ""
>               (directory "/home/jin/.Maildir/")
>               (get-new-mail t)
>               (directory-files nnheader-directory-files-safe)))
>
> (setq mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)
> (setq read-mail-command 'gnus)
>
>
> (1) https://github.com/CypherpunkArmory/UserLAnd
>
> regards,
> jindam, vani