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More refs to MH tutorials.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:16:27 +0200
parents fead1fc981f0
children 9317d789cef9
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208:fead1fc981f0 209:1b38b1c3c01d
32 MH follows this philosophy. 32 MH follows this philosophy.
33 33
34 .U2 "History 34 .U2 "History
35 .P 35 .P
36 In 1977 at RAND Corporation, Norman Shapiro and Stockton Gaines 36 In 1977 at RAND Corporation, Norman Shapiro and Stockton Gaines
37 proposed the design 37 proposed the design of a new mail handling system,
38 of a new mail handling system, called \fIMail Handler\fP (MH), 38 .[
39 shapiro gaines mh proposal
40 .]
39 to superseed RAND's old monolithic \fIMail System\fP (MS). 41 to superseed RAND's old monolithic \fIMail System\fP (MS).
40 .[ 42 More than one year later, in late 1978, Bruce Borden returned to the
41 shapiro gaines mh proposal 43 proposal and implemented a prototype, which he called
42 .] 44 \fIMail Handler\fP (MH).
43 Two years later, in 1979, Bruce Borden took the proposal and implemented a
44 prototype of MH.
45 Before the prototype's existence, the concept was 45 Before the prototype's existence, the concept was
46 believed to be practically unusable. 46 believed to be practically unusable.
47 But the prototype proved successful and replaced MS thereafter.\& 47 But the prototype \(en written in only three weeks \(en
48 .[ 48 proved successful and replaced MS within six months.\&
49 history of mh website 49 .[ [
50 .] 50 rand note design of mh
51 .], p. 4]
51 .P 52 .P
52 In the early eighties, 53 In the early eighties,
53 the University of California at Irvine (UCI) started to use MH. 54 the University of California at Irvine (UCI) started to use MH.
54 Marshall T. Rose and John L. Romine then became the driving force. 55 Marshall T. Rose and John L. Romine then became the driving force.
55 They took over the development and pushed MH forward. 56 They took over the development and pushed MH forward.
57 .[ [
58 rand note design of mh
59 .], p. 4]
56 RAND had put the code into the public domain by then. 60 RAND had put the code into the public domain by then.
57 MH was developed at UCI at the time when the Internet appeared, 61 MH was developed at UCI at the time when the Internet appeared,
58 the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) added TCP/IP 62 the BSD started to include TCP/IP networking,
59 networking to their distribution, and Eric Allman wrote Sendmail. 63 and Eric Allman wrote Sendmail.
60 MH was extended as emailing became more featured. 64 MH was extended as emailing became more featured.
61 The development of MH was closely related to the development of email 65 The development of MH was closely related to the development of email RFCs.
62 RFCs.
63 In the advent of the \fIMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions\fP (MIME), 66 In the advent of the \fIMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions\fP (MIME),
64 MH was one of the first implementations of the new email standard. 67 MH was one of the first implementations of the new email standard.
65 MH grew to provide anything necessary for emailing. 68 MH grew to provide anything necessary for emailing.
66 .P 69 .P
67 In the nineties, the Internet became popular and in December 1996, 70 In the nineties, the Internet became popular and in December 1996,
85 88
86 89
87 .U2 "Concepts 90 .U2 "Concepts
88 .P 91 .P
89 MH consists of a set of tools, each covering a specific task of 92 MH consists of a set of tools, each covering a specific task of
90 email handling, like composing a message, replying to a message, 93 email handling, such as composing a message, replying to a message,
91 refiling a message to a different folder, listing the messages in a folder. 94 refiling a message to a different folder, listing the messages in a folder.
92 All of the programs operate on a common mail storage. 95 The tools are invoked directly from the Unix shell.
93 .P 96 .[
94 The mail storage consists of \fImail folders\fP (directories) and 97 a rand note design of mh
95 \fPmessages\fP (regular files). 98 .]
96 Each message is stored in a separate file in the format it was 99 .P
97 received (i.e. transfer format). 100 The tools operate on a common mail storage, which consists of
101 \fImail folders\fP (directories) and \fPmessages\fP (regular files).
102 Each message is stored in a separate file.
103 .[
104 a rand note design of mh
105 .]
98 The files are named with ascending numbers in each folder. 106 The files are named with ascending numbers in each folder.
99 The specific format of the mail storage characterizes MH in the same way 107 The specific format of the mail storage characterizes MH in the same way
100 as the format of the file system characterizes Unix. 108 as the format of the file system characterizes Unix.
101 .P 109 .P
102 MH tools maintain a \fIcontext\fP, which includes for instance the 110 MH tools maintain a \fIcontext\fP, which includes for instance the
165 173
166 174
167 175
168 .U2 "Using MH 176 .U2 "Using MH
169 .P 177 .P
170 It is strongly recommended to have a look at the \fIMH Book\fP, 178 Many tutorials to using MH
179 .[
180 rose sweet mh tutorial
181 .]
182 .[
183 moss jackson user's guide for mh
184 .]
185 .[
186 hegardt mh for beginners
187 .]
188 are old, but they still teach the basics.
189 Rose and Romine introduce MH deeper and more technical in two dozen pages.
190 .[
191 rose romine real work
192 .]
193 For a more recent introduction, it is strongly recommended to have
194 a look at the \fIMH Book\fP.
171 .[ [ 195 .[ [
172 peek mh book 196 peek mh book
173 .], Part II] 197 .], Part II]
174 which introduces into using MH. 198 The online version of the book was updated on in May 2006.
175 Rose and Romine provide a deeper and more technical,
176 though slightly outdated, introduction in only about two dozen pages.
177 .[
178 rose romine real work
179 .]
180 .P 199 .P
181 Following here is an example mail handling session. 200 Following here is an example mail handling session.
182 Although it uses mmh, it is mostly compatible with nmh and the 201 Although it uses mmh, it is mostly compatible with nmh and the
183 original MH. 202 original MH.
184 Details might vary but the look and feel is the same. 203 Details might vary but the look and feel is the same.