docs/master

annotate preface.roff @ 227:157c92fc1597

Further improvements.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Sun, 15 Jul 2012 23:44:15 +0200
parents de8172bcdc5e
children 96778c1afc3e
rev   line source
meillo@0 1 .H0 "Preface" no
meillo@0 2
meillo@23 3 .P
meillo@197 4 I have discovered the mail client \fInmh\fP
meillo@197 5 in fall 2009.
meillo@197 6 At that time I used \fImutt\fP,
meillo@197 7 as many advanced Unix users do.
meillo@87 8 When I read about nmh, its concepts convinced me at once.
meillo@87 9 The transition from mutt to nmh was similar to beginning with
meillo@87 10 file management in the Unix shell when being used to the
meillo@53 11 \fImidnight commander\fP,
meillo@87 12 or like starting with vi when being used to modeless editors.
meillo@87 13 Such a change is not trivial, but, in being convinced by the
meillo@31 14 concepts and by having done similar transitions for file management
meillo@53 15 and editing already, it was not too difficult.
meillo@51 16 In contrast, setting up nmh to a convenient state became a tedious task
meillo@23 17 that took several months.
meillo@164 18 Once having nmh arranged this way, I enjoyed using it
meillo@28 19 because of its conceptional elegance and its scripting capabilities.
meillo@106 20 Nevertheless, it was still inconvenient for handling attachments,
meillo@87 21 non-ASCII character encodings, and similar features of modern emailing.
meillo@31 22 My setup demanded more and more additional configuration and helper scripts
meillo@87 23 to have nmh behave the way I wanted; yet my
meillo@31 24 expectations were rather common for modern emailing.
meillo@106 25 As a computer scientist and programmer, I wanted to improve the situation.
meillo@8 26 .P
meillo@197 27 In spring 2010, I sent a message
meillo@197 28 .[
meillo@197 29 nmh-workers gsoc
meillo@197 30 .]
meillo@197 31 to the \fInmh-workers\fP mailing list,
meillo@197 32 .[
meillo@197 33 nmh-workers mailing list website
meillo@197 34 .]
meillo@197 35 asking for the possibility to offer a Google Summer of Code
meillo@197 36 .[
meillo@197 37 google summer of code website
meillo@197 38 .]
meillo@197 39 project for me.
meillo@106 40 Participating in the development of nmh in this manner appeared attractive
meillo@106 41 to me, because I would have been able to work full time on nmh.
meillo@106 42 Although the nmh community had reacted generally positive to the suggestion,
meillo@171 43 the administrative work for such a project would had been too much.
meillo@106 44 Nonetheless, my proposal had activated the nmh community.
meillo@31 45 In the following weeks, goals for nmh's future were discussed.
meillo@31 46 In these discussions, I became involved in the
meillo@53 47 question whether nmh should include mail transfer facilities.
meillo@34 48 .[
meillo@34 49 nmh-workers thread mta mua
meillo@34 50 .]
meillo@197 51 I argued for the Mail Transfer Agent of nmh to be removed.
meillo@87 52 In this fundamental question,
meillo@87 53 my opinion differed from the opinion of most others.
meillo@87 54 Sadly, besides the discussions, hardly any real work was done.
meillo@87 55 Being unable to work on nmh in a way that would be accepted at university
meillo@87 56 as part of my studies, I needed to choose another project.
meillo@8 57 .P
meillo@23 58 Half a year later, starting in August 2010,
meillo@23 59 I took one semester off to travel through Latin America.
meillo@173 60 During my time in Argentina, I wanted to work on free software.
meillo@23 61 This brought me back to nmh.
meillo@159 62 Richard Sandelman, an active nmh user, took care of the official basis.
meillo@173 63 Juan Granda, an Argentine free software developer,
meillo@197 64 organized a computer with Internet connection.
meillo@53 65 Thanks to them, I was able to work on nmh during my three-month
meillo@87 66 stay in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.
meillo@106 67 Quickly it became obvious that I would not succeed with my main goal,
meillo@87 68 to improve the character encoding handling.
meillo@87 69 (One of its ramifications is the
meillo@87 70 missing transfer decoding of quoted text in replies.)
meillo@23 71 As this is one of the most intricate parts of the system, the goal
meillo@53 72 was simply set too high.
meillo@53 73 Instead, I improved the code base as I read through it.
meillo@87 74 I found minor bugs for which I proposed fixes.
meillo@171 75 Additionally, I improved the documentation in minor ways.
meillo@197 76 When I started to work on larger code changes,
meillo@53 77 I had to discover that the community was reluctant to change.
meillo@53 78 Its wish for compatibility was much stronger than its
meillo@31 79 wish for convenient out-of-the-box setups \(en in contrast to my opinion.
meillo@212 80 Once again, this led to long discussions.
meillo@212 81 I came to understand their point of view, but it is different from mine.
meillo@23 82 At the end of my three-month project, I had become familiar with
meillo@87 83 nmh's code base and community,
meillo@53 84 I had improved the project in minor ways,
meillo@87 85 and I still was convinced that I wanted to continue to do so.
meillo@23 86 .P
meillo@53 87 Another half year later, the end of my studies came within reach.
meillo@197 88 I needed to choose a topic for my master's thesis.
meillo@106 89 Without question, I wanted to work on nmh.
meillo@106 90 But not exactly on nmh, because I had accepted that its
meillo@106 91 community has different goals than I have.
meillo@87 92 Working on nmh would result in much discussion and, in consequence,
meillo@87 93 little progress.
meillo@23 94 After careful thought, I decided to start an experimental version of nmh.
meillo@197 95 I wanted to implement my own ideas of how an MH-like system should
meillo@197 96 look like.
meillo@31 97 I wanted to create a usable alternative version to be compared with
meillo@31 98 the present state of nmh.
meillo@53 99 Eventually, my work would be proven successful or not.
meillo@53 100 In any case, the nmh project would profit from my experiences.
meillo@28 101
meillo@30 102 .U2 "Focus of this Document
meillo@8 103 .P
meillo@53 104 This document explains the design goals and implementation decisions
meillo@197 105 for mmh,
meillo@197 106 an experimental version of nmh.
meillo@31 107 It discusses technical, historical, social and philosophical considerations.
meillo@31 108 On the technical side, this document
meillo@125 109 explains how an existing project was streamlined by removing rough edges
meillo@106 110 and better exploitation of the central concepts.
meillo@106 111 On the historical side, changes through time are discussed,
meillo@106 112 regarding the use cases and the email features,
meillo@106 113 as well as the reactions to them.
meillo@31 114 Socially, this document describes the effects
meillo@28 115 and experiences of a newcomer with revolutionary aims entering an old
meillo@53 116 and matured software project.
meillo@106 117 Philosophical thoughts on style, mainly based on the Unix
meillo@53 118 philosophy, are present throughout the discussions.
meillo@53 119 The document describes the changes to nmh,
meillo@53 120 but as well, it clarifies my personal perception of the
meillo@53 121 concepts of MH and Unix, and explain my therefrom resulting point of view.
meillo@23 122 .P
meillo@31 123 This document is written for the community around MH-like mail systems,
meillo@31 124 including developers and users.
meillo@106 125 Despite the focus on MH-like systems, this document may be valuable
meillo@106 126 to anyone interested in the Unix philosophy and anyone in contact with
meillo@106 127 old software projects, be it code- or community-related.
meillo@28 128 .P
meillo@106 129 The reader is expected to be familiar with Unix, C and emailing.
meillo@53 130 Good Unix shell knowledge is required, because MH relies fundamentally
meillo@197 131 on the shell.
meillo@197 132 Without the power of the shell, MH becomes a motorcycle
meillo@30 133 without winding roads: boring.
meillo@181 134 Introductions to Unix and its shell can be found in \fIThe UNIX Programming
meillo@181 135 Environment\fP by Kernighan and Pike
meillo@37 136 .[
meillo@37 137 kernighan pike unix prog env
meillo@37 138 .]
meillo@181 139 or \fIThe UNIX System\fP by Bourne.
meillo@37 140 .[
meillo@37 141 bourne unix system
meillo@37 142 .]
meillo@53 143 The reader is assumed to be a C programmer,
meillo@53 144 but the document should be understandable otherwise, too.
meillo@53 145 The definitive guide to C is Kernighan and Ritchie's
meillo@181 146 \fIThe C Programming Language\fP.
meillo@37 147 .[
meillo@37 148 kernighan ritchie c prog lang
meillo@37 149 .]
meillo@164 150 A book about system-level C programming, such as those written by
meillo@164 151 Rochkind and Curry,
meillo@37 152 .[
meillo@37 153 rochkind advanced unix prog
meillo@37 154 .]
meillo@37 155 .[
meillo@37 156 curry system prog
meillo@37 157 .]
meillo@164 158 can be helpful as additional literature.
meillo@106 159 Old books are likely more helpful for understanding,
meillo@106 160 because large parts of the source code are old.
meillo@53 161 The reader is expected to know the format of email messages and
meillo@53 162 the structure of email transfer systems, at least on a basic level.
meillo@197 163 It's advisable to have cross-read RFC\|821 and RFC\|822.
meillo@212 164 Furthermore, basic understanding of MIME [RFC\|2045\(en2049]
meillo@197 165 is good to have.
meillo@106 166 The Wikipedia provides good introduction-level information about email.
meillo@197 167 .[
meillo@197 168 wikipedia email
meillo@197 169 .]
meillo@53 170 .P
meillo@28 171 Frequent references to the Unix philosophy will be made.
meillo@53 172 Gancarz has tried to sum it up in his book
meillo@181 173 \fIThe UNIX Philosophy\fP.
meillo@34 174 .[
meillo@34 175 gancarz unix phil
meillo@34 176 .]
meillo@181 177 Even better, though less concrete, are \fIThe UNIX Programming
meillo@181 178 Environment\fP
meillo@34 179 .[
meillo@34 180 kernighan pike unix prog env
meillo@34 181 .]
meillo@181 182 and \fIThe Practice of Programming\fP
meillo@34 183 .[
meillo@34 184 kernighan pike practice of prog
meillo@34 185 .]
meillo@34 186 by Kernighan and Pike.
meillo@181 187 The term paper \fIWhy the Unix Philosophy still matters\fP
meillo@34 188 .[
meillo@34 189 why unix phil still matters schnalke
meillo@34 190 .]
meillo@197 191 by myself provides an overview on the philosophy,
meillo@197 192 including a case study of MH.
meillo@53 193 .P
meillo@197 194 Although a brief introduction to MH is provided in Section
meillo@197 195 .Cf mh ,
meillo@197 196 the reader is encouraged to have a look at
meillo@181 197 \fIMH & nmh: Email for Users & Programmers\fP by Jerry Peek.
meillo@34 198 .[
meillo@34 199 peek mh
meillo@34 200 .]
meillo@53 201 The current version is available freely on the Internet.
meillo@30 202 It is the definitive guide to MH and nmh.
meillo@30 203 .P
meillo@30 204 This document is neither a user's tutorial to mmh nor an introduction
meillo@53 205 to any of the topics covered.
meillo@53 206 The technical discussions are on an advanced level.
meillo@52 207 Nevertheless, as knowledge of the fundamental concepts is the most valuable
meillo@51 208 information a user can acquire about some program or software system,
meillo@52 209 this document may be worth a read for non-developers as well.
meillo@8 210
meillo@8 211
meillo@28 212 .U2 "Organization
meillo@0 213 .P
meillo@143 214 This thesis consists of three chapters.
meillo@143 215 Chapter 1 introduces into the topic, describing MH and explaining
meillo@143 216 the background and goals of the mmh project.
meillo@143 217 Chapter 2 discusses the work done in the project.
meillo@143 218 It is organized along the three major goals of the project, namely
meillo@143 219 streamlining, modernizing, and styling.
meillo@164 220 Not every change is described because that would bore the reader.
meillo@143 221 Instead, important changes and those standing for a set of similar
meillo@143 222 changes are described and discussed.
meillo@200 223 Chapter 3 finishes up by summarizing the achievements and taking
meillo@164 224 a look into the future of the mmh project.
meillo@28 225 .P
meillo@143 226 .I "Italic font
meillo@197 227 is used to emphasize new terms, and for names of software projects,
meillo@197 228 literature, and man pages.
meillo@143 229 .CW "Constant width font
meillo@143 230 is used to denote names of programs, files,
meillo@200 231 functions, command lines, code excerpts, program input and output.
meillo@143 232 .P
meillo@143 233 References to man pages are printed as ``\c
meillo@143 234 .Mp cat (1)''.
meillo@143 235 In this case it is a reference to the man page of
meillo@143 236 .Pn cat ,
meillo@143 237 which is in section one of the Unix manual.
meillo@212 238 \fIRequests for Comments\fP (RFCs), which describe the working
meillo@212 239 of the Internet, are referenced as ``RFC\|821''.
meillo@143 240 A list of relevant RFCs is located at the end of the document.
meillo@200 241 Literature is cited in brackets, such as
meillo@143 242 .[ ``[
meillo@143 243 kernighan pike unix programming env
meillo@197 244 .]]''.
meillo@212 245 Citations of email messages and websites are distinguished by
meillo@212 246 ``mail:'' and ``web:'' prefixes.
meillo@197 247 All references are collected at the end of the document.
meillo@223 248 The websites of the software projects mentioned are collected
meillo@223 249 in a list in the appendix.
meillo@143 250 .P
meillo@143 251 This document describes practical programming work.
meillo@197 252 The code of mmh is managed with the
meillo@143 253 .Pn git
meillo@143 254 version control system.
meillo@143 255 All code changes were checked in.
meillo@143 256 In the discussions, references to corresponding code changes are printed
meillo@143 257 as ``\c
meillo@143 258 .Ci 1a2b3c4 ''.
meillo@143 259 The identifier is the seven-letter-prefix of the changeset hash value,
meillo@143 260 which is considered unique.
meillo@143 261 A change can be looked up in the repository, on the command line with
meillo@143 262 .Cl "git show XXX" ,
meillo@143 263 replacing `\f(CWXXX\fP' with the concrete hash value or any unique prefix.
meillo@68 264 In this example:
meillo@143 265 .Cl "git show 1a2b3c4" .
meillo@197 266 At the time of writing, changesets can be looked up online at:
meillo@143 267 .CW "http://git.marmaro.de/?p=mmh;a=commitdiff;h=XXX" .
meillo@146 268 But as we all know, URIs are always at risk to change.
meillo@197 269 .P
meillo@197 270 Whenever lines of code were determined, David A. Wheeler's \fIsloccount\fP
meillo@197 271 was used to measure the amount in a comparable way.
meillo@24 272
meillo@23 273
meillo@28 274 .U2 "Acknowledgments
meillo@23 275 .P
meillo@223 276 .\"so thanks