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1 .H0 "Summary
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2 .P
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3 This document describes and explains my work on mmh.
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4 I have streamlined the project by removing programs, facilities
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5 and options that diverted from the main task of mmh, being a MUA.
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6 I have modernized the code base removing obsolete functions and
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7 activating modern features per default.
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8 Further more, I improved the style by refactoring clumpsy code
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9 and by defining or exploiting clear concepts.
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10 All my work was motivated by Antoine de Saint Exupery's well-known
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11 statement:
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12 .[
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13 antoine de saint exupery: Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)
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14 .]
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15 .QS
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16 It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing
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17 more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.
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18 .QE
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19 .P
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20 In contrast to the common expectations, I have hardly added new features.
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21 I regard my improvements in selecting the relevant set of existing
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22 features and exploiting the concepts more thoroughly.
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23 I believe, the result is a system simpler and clearer for both
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24 developing and using, without lacking important functionality.
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25
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26
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27 .U2 "Outlook
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28 .P
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29 The work done during the project is not finished.
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30 Several tasks are left to do.
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31 .P
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32 MIME handling is the most complex part of mmh and it requires
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33 general rework.
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34 The changes already done to it build upon the existing structure.
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35 Yet, MIME support is not truly integrated.
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36 For instance, accessing messages and accessing MIME parts of messages
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37 have inherently different concepts, although a single concept should
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38 cover both.
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39 The sequence notation should provide a way to address MIME parts directly.
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40 Furthermore, the sequence notation should be made more powerful in general.
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41 For instance, it is currently not possible to access the second last
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42 message in a given sequence.
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43 Displaying messages with
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44 .Pn show
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45 requires further rework.
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46 Encrypted messages, for example, should be decoded automatically
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47 and digital signatures should be verified on-the-fly.
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48 The whole task should be aligned with the common behavior of other
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49 mail clients.
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50 MH's unique features should not be lost, but the default should become
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51 less surprising.
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52 Transfer-decoding of the quoted text in replys and encoding of non-ASCII
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53 characters in message header fields like
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54 .Hd Subject
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55 remain unsolved.
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56 .P
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57 Some of mmh's tools were hardly touched during my work.
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58 Among them are
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59 .Pn dist ,
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60 .Pn rcvdist ,
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61 .Pn mark ,
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62 .Pn pick ,
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63 and
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64 .Pn sortm .
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65 Related to
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66 .Pn sortm ,
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67 a threaded message view is completely missing to mmh, yet.
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68 .Pn pick
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69 could be enhanced by message indexing.
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70 These fields are worthwhile for research.
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71 .P
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72 The features most often asked for are Maildir and IMAP support.
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73 Yet, both of them collide with MH in the same fundamental way as
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74 different filesystem approaches would collide with Unix.
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75 Nevertheless, an abstraction layer could provide a mapping from such
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76 storage back-ends to the MH storage format.
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77 Or the mmh tool chest could be reworked to operate on a generic back-end,
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78 making the MH storage format only one of many possible back-ends.
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79 Research in this area is highly appreciated.
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80 .\" XXX targeting the right problems?!
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81 .P
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82 Nmh has a testing framework that supported the developers by detecting
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83 several subtle bugs.
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84 All refactoring in mmh had been done without the safety net of a test
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85 framework.
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86 Hence, experience warns that the probability for subtle bugs lurking
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87 in the code base is high.
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88 Nmh's test framework should be adjusted to mmh and extended.
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89 .\" XXX path notation; signing and encrypting
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90
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91
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92 .U2 "Relationship to nmh
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93 .P
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94 The mmh project started as an experimental version of nmh because the
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95 nmh community did not welcome my changes in the mainline version.
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96 To not slow my work down by the need to convince the community in
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97 discussions for each step I liked to take,
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98 I started to create an experimental version to convicce by demonstration
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99 of the result.
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100 .\" behind closed doors; talks I've given
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101 My worked on mmh was independent of the nmh community.
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102 This enabled me to follow my vision straightly and thus produce
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103 a result of greater pureness.
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104 .P
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105 Mmh shall be considered an inspiration for the future development of nmh.
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106 It shall show identify weak part of nmh and suggest possible
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107 improvements by change.
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108 It shall present a lean appearance that is simpler to understand
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109 and work with for developers and users.
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110 By all means shall my work on mmh improve nmh in some way.
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111 Improving nmh directly in the way I wanted was impossible for me
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112 due to personal and community-related circumstances.
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113 The mmh project is my way to offer my gifts though.
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114 .P
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115 During my work on mmh, the community of nmh suddenly became very active.
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116 They have worked on nmh in parallel to my work on mmh.
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117 There was no collaberation in our work, except that I have pulled some
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118 changes from nmh to mmh.
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119 Our work was motivated partly by similar and partly by different aims.
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120 Although some changes are common among both projects,
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121 fundamental differences exist.
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122 My experimental version thus more and more felt like being a fork.
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123 I am undecided how I like to have it.
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124 Yet, I am strongly convinced that most of the decisions taken in mmh
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125 were good to achieve my goals and I like to push the project even
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126 farther in this direction.
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127
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128
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129 .U2 "Weaknesses of My Work
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130 .P
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131 not targeting on the right problems (maildir, imap)
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132
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133 .P
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134 refactoring requires testing, automated testing
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135
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136 .P
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137 communication with nmh.
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138 worked behind closed doors, but no:
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139 talks I've given
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140
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141 .P
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142 focus on myself.
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143 But: If good for me then also good for others.
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