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dedication: Maybe I should print the quote of Dijkstra too.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:31:59 +0200
parents abbaca05ee8e
children 4c9f4d05d90e
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1 .H0 "Discussion
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2 .P
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3 This main chapter discusses the practical work done in the mmh project.
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4 It is structured along the goals to achieve. The concrete work done
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5 is described in the examples of how the general goals were achieved.
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6
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9
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10 .H1 "Stream-lining
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11
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12 .P
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13 MH had been considered an all-in-one system for mail handling.
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14 The community around nmh has a similar understanding.
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15 In fundamental difference, I believe that mmh should be a MUA but
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16 nothing more. I believe that all-in-one mail systems are not the way
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17 to go. There are excellent specialized MTAs, like Postfix;
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18 there are specialized MDAs, like Procmail; there are specialized
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19 MRAs, like Fetchmail. I believe it's best to use them instead of
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20 providing the same function ourselves. Doing something well requires to
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21 focus on this particular aspect or a small set of aspects. The more
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22 it is possible to focus, the better the result in this particular
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23 area will be. The limiting resource in Free Software community development
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24 usually is human power. If the low development power is even parted
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25 into multiple development areas, it will hardly be possible to
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26 compete with the specialists in the various fields. This is even
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27 increased, given the small community \(en developers and users \(en
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28 that MH-based mail systems have. In consequence, I believe that the
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29 available resources should be concentrated at the point where MH is
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30 most unique. This is clearly the MUA part.
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dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
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31 .P
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32 The goal for mmh was to remove peripheral parts and stream-line
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33 it for the MUA task.
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34
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35
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36 .H2 "Removal of Mail Transfer Facilities
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37 .P
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38 In contrast to nmh, which also provides mail submission and mail retrieval
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39 facilities, mmh is a MUA only.
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40 .P
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41 The MSA is called ``Message Transfer Service'' (MTS) in nmh.
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42 The facility establishes TCP/IP connections and speaks SMTP to submit
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43 messages for relay to the outside world.
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44 This part is implemented in the
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45 .Pn post
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46 command.
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47 Demanded by the changes in
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48 emailing, this part of nmh required changes in the last years.
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49 Encrypted connections needed to be supported, hence SASL was introduced
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50 into nmh. This added complexity to the nmh without improving it in
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51 its core functions. Also, keeping up with recent developments in
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52 this field needs requires development power and specialists.
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53 Mmh cuts this whole facility off and depends on an external MTA instead.
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54 The only outgoing interface available to mmh is the
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55 .Pn sendmail
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56 command.
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57 Almost any MTA provides a
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58 .Pn sendmail
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59 command.
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60 It not, any program can be substituted if it reads the
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61 message from the standard input, extracts the recipient addresses
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62 from the message header and does not conflict
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63 with sendmail-specific command line arguments.
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64 .P
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65 To retrieve mail, the
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66 .Pn inc
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67 command in nmh has the ability to establish TCP/IP connections
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68 and speaks POP3 to retrieve mail from remote servers.
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69 As with mail submission, here encrypted connections are required
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70 today, thus SASL support was added.
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71 As POP3 is superseded by IMAP more and more, support for message
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72 retrieval through IMAP will become necessary to be added soon.
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73 Mmh has no support for retrieving mail from remote locations.
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74 It depends on an external tool to cover this task.
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75 There are two ways for messages to enter mmh's mail storage:
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76 Incorporate them with
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77 .Pn inc
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78 from the system maildrop, or with
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79 .Pn rcvstore
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80 from the standard input.
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81 .P
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82 In consequence, mmh includes neither networking nor SASL code anymore.
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83 Two large separate functional units are removed.
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84 They account for about XXX lines of code and XXX libraries.
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85 .P
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86 With the removal of the MSA and MRA, mmh converted from an all-in-one
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87 mail system to the core: the MUA.
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88 Following the Unix philosophy, it focuses on one job and to do that well.
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89 Now, of course, mmh depends on third-party software.
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90 An external MTA/MSA is required to transfer mail to the outside world;
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91 an external MRA is required to retrieve mail from remote machines.
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92 There exist excellent implementations of such software,
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93 which do this specific task likely much better than the internal
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94 versions of nmh do it. Also, this provides the choice for the best
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95 suiting one of the available implementation.
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96 .P
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97 As it had already been possible to use an external MSA or MRA,
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98 why not keep the internal version for convenience?
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99 If this would question the sense in having a fall-back pager in all
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100 the command line tools, in case
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101 .Pn more
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102 or
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103 .Pn less
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104 wouldn't be available, the answer is intuitively seen.
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105 Now, an MSA or MRA is clearly more complex than a text pager, but
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106 still the concept holds: If programs become complex, split them;
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107 if projects become complex, split them.
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108 Complexity is demanded by the problem to solve. Decades ago,
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109 emailing had been small and simple.
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110 (Remember,
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111 .Pn /bin/mail
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112 had once covered anything there was to email.)
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113 As the complexity in emailing increased, MH remainded mostly unchanged.
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114 Nontheless, in nmh the POP server, which the original MH had included,
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115 was removed. Now is the time to take one step further and remove
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116 the MSA and MRA.
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117 Not only does it decrease the code amount of the project,
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118 but more important, it removes the whole field of message transfer
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119 with all its implications from the project.
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120 .P
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121 Users of MH are usually able to set up an external MSA and MRA.
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122 Also, the popular MSAs and MRAs have large communities and a lot
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123 of documentation available.
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124 .P
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125 Choices for MSAs range from the full-featured
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126 .I Postfix
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127 over mid-size solutions like
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128 .I masqmail
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129 and
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130 .I dma
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131 to small forwarders like
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132 .I ssmtp
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133 and
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134 .I nullmailer .
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135 Choices for MRAs include
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136 .I fetchmail ,
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137 .I getmail ,
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138 .I mpop
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139 and
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140 .I fdm .
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141
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142
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143 .H2 "Removal of non-MUA Tools
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144 .P
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145 Some of nmh's tools were removed from mmh because they didn't
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146 match the main focus of adding to the MUA's task.
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147 .BU
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148 .Pn conflict
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149 was removed because it is a mail system maintenance tool.
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150 Besides, it even checks
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151 .Fn /etc/passwd
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152 and
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153 .Fn /etc/group
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154 for consistency, which has nothing at all to do with emailing.
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155 The tool might be useful, but it should not be shipped with mmh.
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156 .BU
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157 .Pn rcvtty
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158 was removed because its usecase of writing to the user's terminal
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159 on receiving of mail is hardly wanted today. If users like to be
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160 informed of new mail, then using the shell's
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161 .Ev MAILPATH
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162 variable or graphical notifications are likely more
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163 appealing.
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164 Writing directly to a terminals is hardly ever wanted today.
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165 If though one wants to have it this way, the standard tool
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166 .Pn write
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167 can be used in a way similar to:
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168 .DS
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169 scan -file - | write `id -un`
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170 .DE
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171 .BU
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172 .Pn viamail
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173 was removed when the new attachment system was introduced, because
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174 .Pn forw
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175 could can now the task itself.
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176 The program
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177 .Pn sendfiles
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178 was rewritten as a shell script wrapper around
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179 .Pn forw .
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180 .BU
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181 .Pn msgchk
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182 was removed, because it lost its usefulness when POP support was removed.
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183 .Pn msgchk
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184 provides hardly more information than:
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185 .DS
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186 ls -l /var/mail/meillo
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187 .DE
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188 It does separate between old and new mail, but that's merely a detail
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189 and can be done with
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190 .Pn stat (1)
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191 too.
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192 A very small shell script could be written to output the information
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193 in a convenient way, if truly necessary.
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194 As mmh's inc only incorporates mail from the user's local maildrop
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195 and thus no data transfers over slow networks are involved,
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196 there's hardly need to check for new mail before incorporating it.
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197 .BU
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198 .Pn msh
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199 was removed because the tool was in conflict with the
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200 philosophy of MH. It provided an interactive shell to access the
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201 features of MH. One major feature of MH is being a tool chest.
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202 .Pn msh
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203 wouldn't be just another shell, tailored to the needs of mail
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204 handling, but one large program to have the MH tools built in.
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205 It's main use was for accessing Bulletin Boards, which have seized to
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206 be popular.
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207 .P
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208 Removing
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209 .Pn msh ,
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210 together with the truly obsolete code relicts
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211 .Pn vmh
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212 and
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213 .Pn wmh ,
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214 saved more than 7\|000 lines of C code \(en
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215 about 15\|% of the project's source code amount.
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216 Having the same functionality in less code (with equal readability,
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217 of course) is an advantage.
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218 Less code means less bugs and less maintenance work.
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219 If
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220 .Pn rcvtty
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221 and
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222 .Pn msgchk
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223 are rarely used and can be implemented in different ways,
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224 then why should one keep them?
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225 .Pn viamail 's
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226 use case is now partly obsolete and partly covered by
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227 .Pn forw ,
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228 hence there's no reason to still have
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229 .Pn viamail
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230 around.
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231 .Pn conflict
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232 is not related with the mail client, and
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233 .Pn msh
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234 conflicts with the basic concept of MH.
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235 Both tools could still be useful, but not as part of mmh.
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236 .P
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237 It is a design goal of mmh to remove those parts that are rarely used.
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238 The project shall become more stream-lined.
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239 Rarely used and loosely related tools distract from the lean appearance.
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240 They require maintenance cost without adding to the core task.
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241 Therefore they were removed.
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242
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
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243
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244 .H2 "Merge of \f(CWshow\fP and \f(CWmhshow\fP
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245 .P
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246 Since the very beginning, already in the first concept paper,
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247 .Pn show
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248 had been MH's message display program.
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249 .Pn show
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250 found out which pathnames the relevant messages had and invoked
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251 .Pn mhl
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252 then to have the content formated.
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253 With the advent of MIME, this approach wasn't sufficient anymore.
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254 MIME messages can consist of multiple parts, some of which aren't
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255 directly displayable, and text content might be encoded in
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256 foreign charsets.
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257 .Pn show 's
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258 simple approach and
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259 .Pn mhl 's
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260 limited display facilities couldn't cope with the task any longer.
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261 .P
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262 Instead of extending these tools, new ones were written from scratch
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263 and then added to the MH tool chest. Doing so is encouraged by the
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264 tool chest approach. The new tools could be added without interfering
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265 with the existing ones. This is great. The ease of adding new tools
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266 even made MH the first MUA to implement MIME.
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267 .P
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268 First, the new MIME features were added in form of the single program
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269 .Pn mhn .
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270 The command
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271 .Cl "mhn \-show 42
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272 would show the MIME message numbered 42.
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273 With the 1.0 release of nmh in February 1999, Richard Coleman finished
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274 the split of
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275 .Pn mhn
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276 into a set of specialized programs, which together covered the
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277 multiple aspects of MIME. One of these resulting tools was
58
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278 .Pn mhshow .
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279 .Pn mhshow
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280 resembled the
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281 .Cl "mhn \-show
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282 call.
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283 .P
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284
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285
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286 .H2 "Removal of Configure Options
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287 .P
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288
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289
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290 .H2 "Removal of switches
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291 .P
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292
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293
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294
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295
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296 .H1 "Moderizing
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297
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298
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299 .H2 "Removal of Code Relicts
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300 .P
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301 The code base of mmh originates from the late Seventies,
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302 had been extensively
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303 worked on in the mid Eighties, and had been partly reorganized and extended
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304 in the Nineties. Relicts of all those times had gathered in the code base.
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305 My goal was to remove any ancient code parts. One part of the task was
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306 converting obsolete code constructs to standard constructs, the other part
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307 was dropping obsolete functions.
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308 .P
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309 As I'm not even thirty years old and have no more than seven years of
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310 Unix experience, I needed to learn about the history in retrospective.
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311 Older people likely have used those ancient constructs themselves
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312 and have suffered from their incompatibilities and have longed for
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313 standardization. Unfortunately, I have only read that others had done so.
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314 This put me in a much more difficult positions when working on the old
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315 code. I needed to recherche what other would have known by heart from
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316 experience. All my programming experience comes from a time past ANSI C
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317 and past POSIX. Although I knew about the times before, I took the
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318 current state implicitly for granted most of the time.
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319 .P
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320 Being aware of
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321 these facts, I rather let people with more historic experience solve the
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322 task of converting the ancient code constructs to standardized ones.
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323 Luckily, Lyndon Nerenberg focused on this task at the nmh project.
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324 He converted large parts of the code to POSIX constructs, removing
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325 the conditionals compilation for now standardized features.
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326 I'm thankful for this task being solved. I only pulled the changes into
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327 mmh.
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328 .P
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329 The other task \(en dropping ancient functionality to remove old code \(en
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330 I did myself, though. My position to strip mmh to the bare minimum of
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331 frequently used features is much more revolutional than the nmh community
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332 likes it. Without the need to justify my decisions, I was able to quickly
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333 remove functionality I considered ancient.
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334 The need to discuss my decisions with
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335 peers likely would have slowed this process down. Of course, I researched
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336 if a particular feature really should be dropped. Having not had any
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337 contact to this feature within my computer life was a first indicator to
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338 drop it, but I also asked others and searched the literature for modern
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339 usage of the feature. If it appeared to be truly ancient, I dropped it.
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340 The reason for dropping is always part of the commit message in the
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341 version control system. Thus, it is easy for others to check their
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342 view on the topic with mine and possibly to argue for reinclusion.
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343
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344 .U2 "MMDF maildrop support
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345 .P
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346 I did drop any support for the MMDF maildrop format. This type of format
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347 is conceptionally similar to the mbox format, but uses four bytes with
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348 value 1 (\fL^A^A^A^A\fP) as message delimiter,
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349 instead of the string ``\fLFrom\ \fP''.
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350 Due to the similarity and mbox being the de-facto standard maildrop
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351 format on Unix, but also due to the larger influence of Sendmail than MMDF,
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352 the MMDF maildrop format had vanished.
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353 .P
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354 The simplifications within the code were only moderate. Switches could
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355 be removed from tools like
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356 .L packf ,
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357 which generate packed mailboxes. Only one packed mailbox format remained:
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358 mbox.
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359 The most important changes affect the equally named mail parsing routine in
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360 .L sbr/m_getfld.c .
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361 The direct MMDF code had been removed, but as now only one packed mailbox
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362 format is left, code structure simplifications are likely possible.
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363 The reason why they are still outstanding is the heavily optimized code
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364 of
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365 .Fu m_getfld() .
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366 Changes beyond a small local scope \(en
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367 which restructuring in its core is \(en cause a high risk of damaging
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368 the intricate workings of the optimized code. This problem is know
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369 to the developers of nmh, too. They also avoid touching this minefield
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370 if possible.
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371
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372 .U2 "UUCP Bang Paths
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373 .P
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374 More questionably than the former topic is the removal of support for the
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375 UUCP bang path address style. However, the user may translate the bang
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376 paths on retrieval to Internet addresses and the other way on posting
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377 messages. The former can be done my an MDA like procmail; the latter
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378 by a sendmail wrapper. This would ensure that any address handling would
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379 work as expected. However, it might just work well without any
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380 such modifications, as mmh does not touch addresses much, in general.
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381 But I can't ensure as I have never used an environment with bang paths.
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382 Also, the behavior might break at any point in further development.
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383
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384 .U2 "Hardcopy terminal support
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385 .P
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386 More of a funny anecdote is the remaining of a check for printing to a
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387 hardcopy terminal until Spring 2012, when I finally removed it.
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388 I surely would be very happy to see such a terminal in action, maybe
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389 actually being able to work on it, but I fear my chances are null.
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390 .P
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391 The check only prevented a pager to be placed between the outputting
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392 program (\c
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393 .Pn mhl )
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394 and the terminal. This could have been ensured with
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395 the
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396 .Sw \-nomoreproc
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397 at the command line statically, too.
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398
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399 .U2 "Removed support for header fields
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400 .P
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401 The `Encrypted' header had been introduced by RFC\^822, but already
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402 marked legacy in RFC 2822. It was superseded by FIXME.
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403 Mmh does no more support this header.
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404 .P
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405 Native support for `Face' headers
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406 had been removed, as well.
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407 The feature is similar to the `X-Face' header in its intent,
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408 but takes a different approach to store the image.
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409 Instead of encoding the image data directly into the header,
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410 the the header contains the hostname and UDP port where the image
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411 date could be retrieved.
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412 Neither `X-Face' nor the here described `Face' system
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413 \**
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414 .FS
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415 There is also a newer but different system, invented 2005,
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416 using `Face' headers.
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417 It is the successor of `X-Face' providing colored PNG images.
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418 .FE
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419 became well used in the large scale.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
420 It's still possible to use a Face systems,
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
421 although mmh does not provide support for any of the different systems
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
422 anymore. It's fairly easy to write a small shell script to
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
423 extract the embedded or fetch the external Face data and display the image.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
424 Own Face headers can be added into the draft template files.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
425 .P
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
426 `Content-MD5' headers were introduced by RFC\^1864. They provide only
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
427 a verification of data corruption during the transfer. By no means can
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
428 they ensure verbatim end-to-end delivery of the contents. This is clearly
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
429 stated in the RFC. The proper approach to provide verificationability
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
430 of content in an end-to-end relationship is the use of digital cryptography
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
431 (RFCs FIXME). On the other hand, transfer protocols should ensure the
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
432 integrity of the transmission. In combinations these two approaches
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
433 make the `Content-MD5' header field useless. In consequence, I removed
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
434 the support for it. By this removal, MD5 computation is not needed
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
435 anywhere in mmh. Hence, over 500 lines of code were removed by this one
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
436 change. Even if the `Content-MD5' header field is useful sometimes,
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
437 I value its usefulnes less than the improvement in maintainability, caused
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
438 by the removal.
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
439
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
440 .U2 "Prompter's Control Keys
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
441 .P
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
442 The program
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
443 .Pn prompter
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
444 queries the user to fill in a message form. When used by
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
445 .Pn comp
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
446 as:
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
447 .DS
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
448 comp \-editor prompter
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
449 .DE
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
450 the resulting behavior is similar to
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
451 .Pn mailx .
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
452 Apparently,
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
453 .Pn prompter
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
454 hadn't been touched lately. Otherwise it's hardly explainable why it
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
455 still offered the switches
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
456 .Sn \-erase \fUchr\fP
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
457 and
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
458 .Sn \-kill \fUchr\fP
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
459 to name the characters for command line editing.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
460 The times when this had been necessary are long time gone.
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
461 Today these things work out-of-the-box, and if not, are configured
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
462 with the standard tool
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
463 .Pn stty .
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
464
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
465 .U2 "Vfork and Retry Loops
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
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diff changeset
466 .P
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
467 MH creates many processes, which is a consequence of the tool chest approach.
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
468 In earlier times
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
469 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
470 had been an expensive system call, as the process's whole image needed
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
471 to be duplicated. One common case is replacing the image with
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
472 .Fu exec()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
473 right after having forked the child process.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
474 To speed up this case, the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
475 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
476 system call was invented at Berkeley. It completely omits copying the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
477 image. If the image gets replaced right afterwards then unnecessary
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
478 work is omited. On old systems this results in large speed ups.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
479 MH uses
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
480 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
481 whenever possible.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
482 .P
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
483 Memory management units that support copy-on-write semantics make
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
484 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
485 almost as fast as
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
486 .Fu vfork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
487 in the cases when they can be exchanged.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
488 With
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
489 .Fu vfork()
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
490 being more error-prone and hardly faster, it's preferable to simply
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
491 use
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
492 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
493 instead.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
494 .P
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
495 Related to the costs of
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
496 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
497 is the probability of its success.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
498 Today on modern systems, the system call will succeed almost always.
51
49cf68506b5d Spell checking.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 49
diff changeset
499 In the Eighties on heavy loaded systems, as they were common at
21
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
500 universities, this had been different. Thus, many of the
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
501 .Fu fork()
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
502 calls were wrapped into loops to retry to fork several times in
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
503 short intervals, in case of previous failure.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
504 In mmh, the program aborts at once if the fork failed.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
505 The user can reexecute the command then. This is expected to be a
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
506 very rare case on modern systems, especially personal ones, which are
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
507 common today.
bb8a8be49024 Wrote about Face support and vfork().
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 20
diff changeset
508
12
7ca384d68edc Wrote some text for removal of old code.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 0
diff changeset
509
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
510 .H2 "Attachments
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
511 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
512 MIME
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
513
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
514
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
515 .H2 "Digital Cryptography
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
516 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
517 Signing and encryption.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
518
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
519
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
520 .H2 "Good Defaults
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
521 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
522 foo
22
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
523
99409e4546d2 Wrote about the removal of tools.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 21
diff changeset
524
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
525
14
55ec590cfa07 Wrote about the draft folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 12
diff changeset
526
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
527 .H1 "Code style
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
528 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
529 foo
16
81f703140554 Wrote about the trash folder.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 14
diff changeset
530
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
531
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
532 .H2 "Standard Code
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
533 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
534 POSIX
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
535
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
536
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
537 .H2 "Separation
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
538
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
539 .U2 "MH Directory Split
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
540 .P
19
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
541 In MH and nmh, a personal setup had consisted of two parts:
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
542 The MH profile, named
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
543 .Fn \&.mh_profile
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
544 and being located directly in the user's home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
545 And the MH directory, where all his mail messages and also his personal
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
546 forms, scan formats, other configuration files are stored. The location
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
547 of this directory could be user-chosen. The default was to name it
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
548 .Fn Mail
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
549 and have it directly in the home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
550 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
551 I've never liked the data storage and the configuration to be intermixed.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
552 They are different kinds of data. One part, are the messages,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
553 which are the data to operate on. The other part, are the personal
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
554 configuration files, which are able to change the behavior of the operations.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
555 The actual operations are defined in the profile, however.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
556 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
557 When storing data, one should try to group data by its type.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
558 There's sense in the Unix file system hierarchy, where configuration
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
559 file are stored separate (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
560 .Fn /etc )
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
561 to the programs (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
562 .Fn /bin
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
563 and
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
564 .Fn /usr/bin )
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
565 to their sources (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
566 .Fn /usr/src ).
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
567 Such separation eases the backup management, for instance.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
568 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
569 In mmh, I've reorganized the file locations.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
570 Still there are two places:
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
571 There's the mail storage directory, which, like in MH, contains all the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
572 messages, but, unlike in MH, nothing else.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
573 Its location still is user-chosen, with the default name
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
574 .Fn Mail ,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
575 in the user's home directory. This is much similar to the case in nmh.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
576 The configuration files, however, are grouped together in the new directory
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
577 .Fn \&.mmh
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
578 in the user's home directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
579 The user's profile now is a file, named
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
580 .Fn profile ,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
581 in this mmh directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
582 Consistently, the context file and all the personal forms, scan formats,
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
583 and the like, are also there.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
584 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
585 The naming changed with the relocation.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
586 The directory where everything, except the profile, had been stored (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
587 .Fn $HOME/Mail ),
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
588 used to be called \fIMH directory\fP. Now, this directory is called the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
589 user's \fImail storage\fP. The name \fImmh directory\fP is now given to
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
590 the new directory
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
591 (\c
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
592 .Fn $HOME/.mmh ),
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
593 containing all the personal configuration files.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
594 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
595 The separation of the files by type of content is logical and convenient.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
596 There are no functional differences as any possible setup known to me
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
597 can be implemented with both approaches, although likely a bit easier
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
598 with the new approach. The main goal of the change had been to provide
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
599 sensible storage locations for any type of personal mmh file.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
600 .P
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
601 In order for one user to have multiple MH setups, he can use the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
602 environment variable
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
603 .Ev MH
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
604 the point to a different profile file.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
605 The MH directory (mail storage plus personal configuration files) is
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
606 defined by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
607 .Pe Path
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
608 profile entry.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
609 The context file could be defined by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
610 .Pe context
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
611 profile entry or by the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
612 .Ev MHCONTEXT
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
613 environment variable.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
614 The latter is useful to have a distinct context (e.g. current folders)
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
615 in each terminal window, for instance.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
616 In mmh, there are three environment variables now.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
617 .Ev MMH
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
618 may be used to change the location of the mmh directory.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
619 .Ev MMHP
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
620 and
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
621 .Ev MMHC
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
622 change the profile and context files, respectively.
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
623 Besides providing a more consistent feel (which simply is the result
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
624 of being designed anew), the set of personal configuration files can
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
625 be chosen independently from the profile (including mail storage location)
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
626 and context, now. Being it relevant for practical use or not, it
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
627 de-facto is an improvement. However, the main achievement is the
ab5253e48c74 Wrote about the directory split.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 18
diff changeset
628 split between mail storage and personal configuration files.
17
b3c37947764e Several minor text improvements.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 16
diff changeset
629
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
630
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
631 .H2 "Modularization
20
7a100c80fa91 Some new text (show/mhshow; prompter).
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 19
diff changeset
632 .P
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
633 whatnowproc
0
dc2bfef4cda7 Initial commit: Basic structure, macros and fonts.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents:
diff changeset
634 .P
49
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
635 The \fIMH library\fP
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
636 .Fn libmh.a
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
637 collects a bunch of standard functions that many of the MH tools need,
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
638 like reading the profile or context files.
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
639 This doesn't hurt the separation.
d3a02f5e63b3 Various rework.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 23
diff changeset
640
58
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
641
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
642 .H2 "Style
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
643 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
644 Code layout, goto, ...
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
645
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
646
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
647
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
648
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
649 .H1 "Concept Exploitation/Homogeniety
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
650
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
651
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
652 .H2 "Draft Folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
653 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
654 Historically, MH provided exactly one draft message, named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
655 .Fn draft
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
656 and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
657 being located in the MH directory. When starting to compose another message
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
658 before the former one was sent, the user had been questioned whether to use,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
659 refile or replace the old draft. Working on multiple drafts at the same time
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
660 was impossible. One could only work on them in alteration by refiling the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
661 previous one to some directory and fetching some other one for reediting.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
662 This manual draft management needed to be done each time the user wanted
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
663 to switch between editing one draft to editing another.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
664 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
665 To allow true parallel editing of drafts, in a straight forward way, the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
666 draft folder facility exists. It had been introduced already in July 1984
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
667 by Marshall T. Rose. The facility was deactivated by default.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
668 Even in nmh, the draft folder facility remained deactivated by default.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
669 At least, Richard Coleman added the man page
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
670 .Mp mh-draft(5)
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
671 to document
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
672 the feature well.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
673 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
674 The only advantage of not using the draft folder facility is the static
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
675 name of the draft file. This could be an issue for MH frontends like mh-e.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
676 But as they likely want to provide working on multiple drafts in parallel,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
677 the issue is only concerning compatibility. The aim of nmh to stay compatible
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
678 prevented the default activation of the draft folder facility.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
679 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
680 On the other hand, a draft folder is the much more natural concept than
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
681 a draft message. MH's mail storage consists of folders and messages,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
682 the messages named with ascending numbers. A draft message breaks with this
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
683 concept by introducing a message in a file named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
684 .Fn draft .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
685 This draft
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
686 message is special. It can not be simply listed with the available tools,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
687 but instead requires special switches. I.e. corner-cases were
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
688 introduced. A draft folder, in contrast, does not introduce such
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
689 corner-cases. The available tools can operate on the messages within that
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
690 folder like on any messages within any mail folders. The only difference
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
691 is the fact that the default folder for
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
692 .Pn send
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
693 is the draft folder,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
694 instead of the current folder, like for all other tools.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
695 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
696 The trivial part of the change was activating the draft folder facility
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
697 by default and setting a default name for this folder. Obviously, I chose
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
698 the name
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
699 .Fn +drafts .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
700 This made the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
701 .Sw \-draftfolder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
702 and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
703 .Sw \-draftmessage
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
704 switches useless, and I could remove them.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
705 The more difficult but also the part that showed the real improvement,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
706 was updating the tools to the new concept.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
707 .Sw \-draft
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
708 switches could
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
709 be dropped, as operating on a draft message became indistinguishable to
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
710 operating on any other message for the tools.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
711 .Pn comp
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
712 still has its
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
713 .Sw \-use
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
714 switch for switching between its two modes: (1) Compose a new
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
715 draft, possibly by taking some existing message as a form. (2) Modify
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
716 an existing draft. In either case, the behavior of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
717 .Pn comp is
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
718 deterministic. There is no more need to query the user. I consider this
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
719 a major improvement. By making
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
720 .Pn send
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
721 simply operate on the current
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
722 message in the draft folder by default, with message and folder both
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
723 overridable by specifying them on the command line, it is now possible
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
724 to send a draft anywhere within the storage by simply specifying its folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
725 and name.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
726 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
727 All theses changes converted special cases to regular cases, thus
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
728 simplifying the tools and increasing the flexibility.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
729
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
730
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
731 .H2 "Trash Folder
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
732 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
733 Similar to the situation for drafts is the situation for removed messages.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
734 Historically, a message was deleted by renaming. A specific
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
735 \fIbackup prefix\fP, often comma (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
736 .Fn , )
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
737 or hash (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
738 .Fn # ),
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
739 being prepended to the file name. Thus, MH wouldn't recognize the file
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
740 as a message anymore, as only files whose name consists of digits only
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
741 are treated as messages. The removed messages remained as files in the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
742 same directory and needed some maintenance job to truly delete them after
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
743 some grace time. Usually, by running a command similar to
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
744 .DS
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
745 find /home/user/Mail \-ctime +7 \-name ',*' | xargs rm
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
746 .DE
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
747 in a cron job. Within the grace time interval
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
748 the original message could be restored by stripping the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
749 the backup prefix from the file name. If however, the last message of
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
750 a folder is been removed \(en say message
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
751 .Fn 6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
752 becomes file
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
753 .Fn ,6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
754 \(en and a new message enters the same folder, thus the same
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
755 numbered being given again \(en in our case
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
756 .Fn 6
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
757 \(en, if that one
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
758 is removed too, then the backup of the former message gets overwritten.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
759 Thus, the ability to restore removed messages does not only depend on
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
760 the ``sweeping cron job'' but also on the removing of further messages.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
761 This is undesirable, because the real mechanism is hidden from the user
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
762 and the consequences of further removals are not always obvious.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
763 Further more, the backup files are scattered within the whole mail
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
764 storage, instead of being collected at one place.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
765 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
766 To improve the situation, the profile entry
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
767 .Pe rmmproc
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
768 (previously named
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
769 .Pe Delete-Prog )
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
770 was introduced, very early.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
771 It could be set to any command, which would care for the mail removal
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
772 instead of taking the default action, described above.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
773 Refiling the to-be-removed files to some garbage folder was a common
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
774 example. Nmh's man page
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
775 .Mp rmm(1)
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
776 proposes
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
777 .Cl "refile +d
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
778 to move messages to the garbage folder and
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
779 .Cl "rm `mhpath +d all`
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
780 the empty the garbage folder.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
781 Managing the message removal this way is a sane approach. It keeps
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
782 the removed messages in one place, makes it easy to remove the backup
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
783 files, and, most important, enables the user to use the tools of MH
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
784 itself to operate on the removed messages. One can
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
785 .Pn scan
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
786 them,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
787 .Pn show
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
788 them, and restore them with
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
789 .Pn refile .
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
790 There's no more
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
791 need to use
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
792 .Pn mhpath
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
793 to switch over from MH tools to Unix tools \(en MH can do it all itself.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
794 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
795 This approach matches perfect with the concepts of MH, thus making
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
796 it powerful. Hence, I made it the default. And even more, I also
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
797 removed the old backup prefix approach, as it is clearly less powerful.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
798 Keeping unused alternative in the code is a bad choice as they likely
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
799 gather bugs, by not being constantly tested. Also, the increased code
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
800 size and more conditions crease the maintenance costs. By strictly
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
801 converting to the trash folder approach, I simplified the code base.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
802 .Pn rmm
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
803 calls
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
804 .Pn refile
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
805 internally to move the to-be-removed
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
806 message to the trash folder (\c
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
807 .Fn +trash
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
808 by default). Messages
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
809 there can be operated on like on any other message in the storage.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
810 The sweep clean, one can use
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
811 .Cl "rmm \-unlink +trash a" ,
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
812 where the
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
813 .Sw \-unlink
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
814 switch causes the files to be truly unliked instead
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
815 of moved to the trash folder.
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
816
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
817
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
818 .H2 "Path Notations
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
819 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
820 foo
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
821
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
822
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
823 .H2 "MIME Integration
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
824 .P
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
825 user-visible access to whole messages and MIME parts are inherently
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
826 different
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
827
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
828
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
829 .H2 "Of One Cast
814c33b96d89 Restructured the content in ch03.
markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
parents: 51
diff changeset
830 .P