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meillo@39
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1 .RN 1
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2 .H0 "Introduction
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3 .Id introduction
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4
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5 .P
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6 MH is a set of mail handling tools with a common concept, similar to
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7 the Unix tool chest, which is a set of file handling tools with a common
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8 concept. \fInmh\fP is the currently most popular implementation of an
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9 MH-like mail handling system.
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10 This thesis describes an experimental version of nmh, named \fImmh\fP.
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11 .P
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12 This chapter introduces MH, its history, concepts and how it is used.
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13 It describes nmh's code base and community to give the reader
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14 a better understanding of the state of mmh when it started off.
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meillo@181
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15 Furthermore, this chapter outlines the mmh project itself,
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16 describing the motivation for it and its goals.
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17
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18
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19 .H1 "MH \(en the Mail Handler
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20 .Id mh
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21 .P
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22 MH is a conceptual email system design and its concrete implementation.
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23 Notably, MH had started as a design proposal at RAND Corporation,
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24 where the first implementation followed later.
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25 In spirit, MH is similar to Unix, which
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26 influenced the world more in being a set of system design concepts
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27 than in being a specific software product.
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28 The ideas behind Unix are summarized in the \fIUnix philosophy\fP.
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29 MH follows this philosophy.
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30
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31 .U2 "History
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32 .P
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33 In 1977 at RAND Corporation, Norman Shapiro and Stockton Gaines
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34 proposed the design
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35 of a new mail handling system, called \fIMail Handler\fP (MH),
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36 to superseed RAND's old monolithic \fIMail System\fP (MS).
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37 Two years later, in 1979, Bruce Borden took the proposal and implemented a
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38 prototype of MH.
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39 Before the prototype's existence, the concept was
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40 believed to be practically unusable.
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41 But the prototype proved successful and replaced MS thereafter.
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42 In replacing MS, MH grew to provide anything necessary for emailing.
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43 .P
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44 In the early eighties,
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45 the University of California at Irvine (UCI) started to use MH.
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46 Marshall T. Rose and John L. Romine then became the driving force.
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47 They took over the development and pushed MH forward.
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48 RAND had put the code into the public domain by then.
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49 MH was developed at UCI at the time when the Internet appeared,
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50 when UCB implemented the TCP/IP stack, and when Allman wrote Sendmail.
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51 MH was extended as emailing became more featured.
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52 The development of MH was closely related to the development of email
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53 RFCs. In the advent of MIME, MH was the first implementation of this new
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54 email standard.
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55 .P
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56 In the nineties, the Internet became popular and in December 1996,
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57 Richard Coleman initiated the \fINew Mail Handler\fP (nmh) project.
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58 Nmh is a fork of MH 6.8.3 and bases strongly on the
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59 \fILBL changes\fP by Van Jacobson, Mike Karels and Craig Leres.
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60 Colman intended to modernize MH and improve its portability and
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61 MIME handling capabilities.
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62 This should be done openly within the Internet community.
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63 The development of MH at UCI stopped after the 6.8.4 release in
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64 February 1996, soon after the development of nmh had started.
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65 Today, nmh has almost completely replaced the original MH.
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66 Some systems might still provide old MH, but mainly for historical reasons.
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67 .P
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68 In the last years, the changes in nmh were mostly maintenance work.
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69 However, the development was revived in December 2011
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70 and stayed busy since then.
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71
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72
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73 .U2 "Concepts
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74 .P
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75 MH consists of a set of tools, each covering a specific task of
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76 email handling, like composing a message, replying to a message,
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77 refiling a message to a different folder, listing the messages in a folder.
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78 All of the programs operate on a common mail storage.
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79 .P
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80 The mail storage consists of \fImail folders\fP (directories) and
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81 \fPmessages\fP (regular files).
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82 Each message is stored in a separate file in the format it was
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83 received (i.e. transfer format).
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84 The files are named with ascending numbers in each folder.
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85 The specific format of the mail storage characterizes MH in the same way
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86 as the format of the file system characterizes Unix.
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87 .P
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88 MH tools maintain a \fIcontext\fP, which includes for instance the
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89 current mail folder.
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90 Processes in Unix have a similar context, containing the current working
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91 directory, for instance. In contrast, the process context is maintained
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92 by the Unix kernel automatically, whereas MH tools need to maintain the MH
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93 context themselves.
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94 The user can have one MH context or multiple ones; he can even share it
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95 with others.
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96 .P
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97 Messages are named by their numeric filename,
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98 but they can have symbolic names, too.
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99 These are either automatically updated
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100 position names such as the next or the last message,
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101 or user-settable group names for arbitrary sets of messages.
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102 These names are called sequences.
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103 Sequences can be bound to the containing folder or to the context.
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104 .P
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105 The user's \fIprofile\fP is a file that contains his MH configuration.
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106 Default switches for the individual tools can be specified to
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107 adjust them to the user's personal preferences.
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108 Additionally, a single command can be linked under different names
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109 with different default values easily.
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110 Form templates for new messages or for replies are easily changeable,
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111 and output is adjustable with format files.
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112 Almost every part of the system can be adjusted to personal preference.
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113 .P
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114 The system is well scriptable and extensible.
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115 New MH tools are built out of or on top of existing ones quickly.
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116 Furthermore, MH encourages the user to tailor, extend and automate the system.
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117 As the MH tool chest was modeled after the Unix tool chest, the
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118 properties of the latter apply to the former as well.
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119
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120
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121 .ig \"XXX
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122
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123 .P
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124 To ease typing, the switches can be abbreviated as much as the remaining
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125 prefix remains unambiguous.
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126 If in our example no other switch would start with the letter `t', then
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127 .Cl "-truncate" ,
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128 .Cl "-trunc" ,
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129 .Cl "-tr" ,
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130 and
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131 .Cl "-t
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132 would all be the same.
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133 As a result, switches can neither be grouped (as in
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134 .Cl "ls -ltr" )
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135 nor can switch arguments be appended directly to the switch (as in
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136 .Cl "sendmail -q30m" ).
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137 .P
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138 Many switches have negating counter-parts, which start with `no'.
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139 For example
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140 .Cl "-notruncate
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141 inverts the
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142 .Cl "-truncate
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143 switch.
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144 They exist to undo the effect of default switches in the profile.
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145 If the user has chosen to change the default behavior of some tool
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146 by adding a default switch to the profile,
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147 he can still undo this change in behavior by specifying the inverse
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148 switch on the command line.
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149
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150 ..
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151
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152
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153 .U2 "Using MH
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154 .P
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155 It is strongly recommended to have a look at the MH Book,
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156 which offers a thorough introduction to using MH.
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157 .[ [
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158 peek mh book
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159 .], Part II]
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160 Rose and Romine provide a deeper and more technical
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161 though slightly outdated introduction in only about two dozen pages.
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162 .[
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163 rose romine real work
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164 .]
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165 .P
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166 Following is an example mail handling session.
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167 It uses mmh but is mostly compatible with nmh and old MH.
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168 Details might vary but the look and feel is the same.
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169
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170 .so input/mh-session
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171
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172
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173 .H1 "nmh
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174 .P
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175 In order to understand the condition, goals and dynamics of a project,
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176 one needs to know the reasons behind them.
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177 This section explains the background.
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178 .P
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179 MH predates the Internet;
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180 it comes from times before networking was universal,
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181 it comes from times when emailing was small, short and simple.
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182 Then it grew, spread and adapted to the changes email went through.
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183 Its core-concepts, however, remained the same.
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184 During the eighties, students at UCI actively worked on MH.
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185 They added new features and optimized the code for the systems
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186 popular at that time.
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187 All this still was in times before POSIX and ANSI C.
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188 As large parts of the code stem from this time, today's nmh source code
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189 still contains many ancient parts.
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190 BSD-specific code and constructs tailored for hardware of that time
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191 are frequent.
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192 .P
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193 Nmh started about a decade after the POSIX and ANSI C standards were
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194 established. A more modern coding style entered the code base, but still
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195 a part of the developers came from ``the old days''. The developer
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196 base became more diverse, thus broadening the range of different
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197 coding styles.
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198 Programming practices from different decades merged in the project.
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199 As several peers added code, the system became more a conglomeration
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200 of single tools rather than a homogeneous of-one-cast mail system.
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201 Still, the existing basic concepts held it together.
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202 They were mostly untouched throughout the years.
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203 .P
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204 Despite the separation of the tool chest approach at the surface
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205 \(en a collection of small, separate programs \(en
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206 on the source code level, it is much more interwoven.
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207 Several separate components were compiled into one program
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208 for efficiency reasons.
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209 This led to intricate innards.
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210 While clearly separated on the outside,
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211 the programs turned out to be fairly interwoven inside.
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212 .\" XXX FIXME rewrite...
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213 .\" nicht zweimal ``interwoven''
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214 .\" Unfortunately, the clear separation on the outside turned out to be
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215 .\" fairly interwoven inside.
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216 .P
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217 The advent of MIME raised the complexity of email by a magnitude.
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218 This is visible in nmh. The MIME-related parts are the most complex ones.
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219 It is also visible that MIME support was added on top of the old MH core.
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220 MH's tool chest style made this easily possible and encourages
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221 such approaches, but unfortunately, it led to duplicated functions
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222 and half-hearted implementation of the concepts.
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223 .P
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224 To provide backward-compatibility, it is a common understanding not to
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225 change the default settings.
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226 In consequence, the user needs to activate modern features explicitly
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227 to be able to use them.
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228 This puts a burden on new users, because out-of-the-box nmh remains
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229 in the same ancient style.
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230 If nmh is seen to be a back-end,
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231 then this compatibility surely is important.
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232 However, at the same time, new users have difficulties using nmh for
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233 modern emailing.
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234 The small but mature community around nmh needs little change
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235 as they have had their convenient setups for decades.
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236 .\" XXX Explain more
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237
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238
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239 .H1 "mmh
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240 .P
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241 I started to work on my experimental version in October 2011,
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242 basing my work on nmh version \fInmh-1.3-dev\fP.
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243 At that time no more than three commits were made to nmh
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244 since the beginning of the year, the latest one being
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245 .Ci a01a41d031c796b526329a4170eb23f0ac93b949
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246 on 2011-04-13.
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247 In December, when I announced my work in progress on the
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248 nmh-workers mailing list,
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249 .[
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250 nmh-workers mmh announce December
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251 .]
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252 nmh's community became active, all of a sudden.
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253 This movement was heavily pushed by Paul Vixie's ``edginess'' comment.
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254 .[
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255 nmh-workers vixie edginess
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256 .]
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257 After long years of stagnation, nmh became actively developed again.
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258 Hence, while I was working on mmh, the community was working on nmh,
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259 in parallel.
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260 .P
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261 The name \fImmh\fP may stand for \fImodern mail handler\fP,
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262 because the project tries to modernize nmh.
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263 Personally however, I prefer to call mmh \fImeillo's mail handler\fP,
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264 emphasizing that the project follows my visions and preferences.
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265 (My login name is \fImeillo\fP.)
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266 This project model was inspired by \fIdwm\fP,
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267 .\" XXX Ref
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268 which is Anselm Garbe's personal window manager \(en
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269 targeted to satisfy Garbe's personal needs whenever conflicts appear.
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270 Dwm had retained its lean elegance and its focused character, whereas
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271 its community-driven predecessor \fIwmii\fP had grown fat over time.
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272 .\" XXX ref
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273 The development of mmh should remain focused.
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274
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275
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276 .U2 "Motivation
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277 .P
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278 MH is the most important of very few command line tool chest email systems.
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279 Tool chests are powerful because they can be perfectly automated and
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280 extended. They allow arbitrary kinds of front-ends to be
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281 implemented on top of them quickly and without internal knowledge.
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282 Additionally, tool chests are easier to maintain than monolithic
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283 programs.
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284 As there are few tool chests for emailing and as MH-like ones are the most
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285 popular among them, they should be developed further.
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286 This keeps their
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287 conceptional elegance and unique scripting qualities available to users.
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288 Mmh creates a modern and convenient entry point to MH-like systems
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289 for new and interested users.
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290 .P
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291 The mmh project is motivated by deficits of nmh and
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292 my wish for general changes, combined
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293 with the nmh community's reluctancy to change.
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294 .P
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295 At that time, nmh had not adjusted to modern emailing needs well enough.
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296 The default setup was completely unusable for modern emailing.
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297 Too much setup work was required.
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298 Several modern features were already available but the community
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299 did not want to have them as default.
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300 Mmh is a way to change this.
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301 .P
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302 In my eyes, MH's concepts could be exploited even better and
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meillo@45
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303 the style of the tools could be improved. Both would simplify
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meillo@45
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304 and generalize the system, providing cleaner interfaces and more
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meillo@53
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305 software leverage at the same time.
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meillo@106
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306 Mmh is a way to demonstrate this.
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meillo@45
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307 .P
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meillo@45
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308 In providing several parts of an email system, nmh can hardly
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meillo@45
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309 compete with the large specialized projects that focus
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meillo@45
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310 on only one of the components.
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meillo@45
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311 The situation can be improved by concentrating the development power
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meillo@51
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312 on the most unique part of MH and letting the user pick his preferred
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meillo@45
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313 set of other mail components.
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meillo@45
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314 Today's pre-packaged software components encourage this model.
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meillo@106
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315 Mmh is a way to go for this approach.
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meillo@45
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316 .P
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meillo@197
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317 It is worthwhile to fork nmh for the development of mmh,
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meillo@197
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318 because the two projects focus on different goals and differ in
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meillo@197
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319 fundamental questions.
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meillo@106
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320 The nmh community's reluctance regarding change conflicts
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meillo@106
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321 with my strong desire for it.
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meillo@43
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322 In developing a separate experimental version new approaches can
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meillo@43
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323 easily be tried out without the need to discuss changes beforehand.
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meillo@43
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324 In fact, revolutionary changes are hardly possible otherwise.
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meillo@43
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325 .P
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meillo@117
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326 The mmh project provides the basis on which the aforementioned
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meillo@117
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327 ideas can be implemented and demonstrated,
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meillo@164
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328 without the need to change the nmh project or its community.
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meillo@43
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329 Of course, the results of the mmh project shall improve nmh, in the end.
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meillo@159
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330 By no means it is my intent to work against the nmh project.
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meillo@117
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331
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meillo@27
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332
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meillo@27
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333 .U2 "Target Field
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meillo@27
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334 .P
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meillo@45
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335 Any effort needs to be targeted towards a specific goal
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meillo@45
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336 in order to be successful.
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meillo@197
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337 Therefore, a description of an imagined typical mmh user follows.
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meillo@197
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338 Mmh should satisfy his needs.
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meillo@48
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339 Actually, as mmh is my personal version of MH, this is a description
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meillo@48
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340 of myself.
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meillo@197
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341 Writing software for oneself is a reliable way to produce software
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meillo@197
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342 that matches the user's desires.
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meillo@45
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343 .P
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meillo@197
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344 The target user of mmh likes Unix and its philosophy.
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meillo@197
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345 He appreciates to use programs that are conceptionally appealing.
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meillo@197
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346 He is familiar with the command line and enjoys its power.
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meillo@197
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347 He is capable of shell scripting and wants to improve his
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meillo@27
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348 productivity by scripting the mail system.
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meillo@197
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349 He uses modern email features, such as attachments,
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meillo@169
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350 non-ASCII text, digital signatures and message encryption in a natural way.
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meillo@197
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351 He is able to set up mail system components,
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meillo@197
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352 and like to have the choice to pick the ones he prefers.
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meillo@197
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353 He has a reasonably modern operating system that complies to the
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meillo@164
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354 POSIX and ANSI C standards.
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meillo@27
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355 .P
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meillo@197
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356 The typical user invokes mmh commands directly in an interactive
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meillo@197
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357 shell session, but he uses them to automate mail handling tasks as well.
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meillo@197
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358 Likely, he runs his mail setup on a server machine,
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meillo@197
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359 to which he connects via ssh.
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meillo@197
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360 He might also have a local mmh installation on his workstation.
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meillo@197
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361 Still, he tend to use mmh directly in the shell instead
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meillo@117
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362 of using graphical front-ends.
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meillo@197
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363 He definitely wants to be flexible and thus be able to change
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meillo@197
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364 his setup to suit his needs.
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meillo@8
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365 .P
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meillo@197
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366 The typical mmh user is a programmer.
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meillo@197
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367 He likes to, occasionally, take the opportunity of free software to put
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meillo@197
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368 hands on and get involved in the software he uses.
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meillo@197
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369 In consequence, he likes small and clean code bases and cares for
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meillo@197
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370 code quality.
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meillo@197
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371 In general, he believes that:
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meillo@8
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372 .BU
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meillo@197
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373 The elegance of source code is most important.
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meillo@8
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374 .BU
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meillo@197
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375 Concepts are more important than concrete implementations.
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meillo@8
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376 .BU
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meillo@197
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377 Code optimizations for anything but readability should be avoided.
|
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meillo@8
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378 .BU
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meillo@45
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379 Having a lot of choice is bad.
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meillo@48
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380 .BU
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meillo@48
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381 Removed code is debugged code.
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meillo@8
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382
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meillo@197
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383
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meillo@48
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384 .U2 "Goals
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meillo@45
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385 .P
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meillo@45
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386 The general goals for the mmh project are the following:
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meillo@128
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387 .IP "Streamlining
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meillo@87
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388 Mmh should be stripped down to its core, which is the user agent (MUA).
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meillo@117
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389 The feature set should be distilled to the indispensable ones,
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meillo@171
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390 effectively removing corner cases.
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meillo@173
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391 Parts that do not add to the main task of being a conceptionally
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meillo@187
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392 appealing user agent should be removed.
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meillo@117
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393 This includes the mail submission and mail retrieval facilities.
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meillo@48
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394 Choice should be reduced to the main options.
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meillo@131
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395 All tools should be tightly shaped.
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meillo@48
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396 .IP "Modernizing
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meillo@48
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397 Mmh's feature set needs to become more modern.
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meillo@164
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398 Better support for attachments, digital signatures and message encryption
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meillo@164
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399 should be added.
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meillo@159
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400 MIME support should be integrated deeper and more naturally.
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meillo@48
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401 The modern email features need to be readily available, out-of-the-box.
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meillo@117
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402 On the other hand,
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meillo@117
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403 bulletin board support and similar obsolete facilities can be dropped out.
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meillo@131
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404 Likewise, ancient technologies should not be supported any further.
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meillo@131
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405 The available concepts need to be expanded as far as possible.
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meillo@131
|
406 A small set of concepts should recur consistently.
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meillo@131
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407 .IP "Styling
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meillo@48
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408 Mmh's source code needs to be updated to modern standards.
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meillo@48
|
409 Standardized library functions should replace non-standard versions
|
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meillo@48
|
410 whenever possible.
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meillo@117
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411 Code should be separated into distinct modules when feasible.
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meillo@48
|
412 Time and space optimizations should to be replaced by
|
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meillo@48
|
413 clear and readable code.
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meillo@48
|
414 A uniform programming style should prevail.
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meillo@117
|
415 The whole system should appear to be of-one-style;
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meillo@117
|
416 it should feel like being cast as one.
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