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author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Tue, 12 Jun 2012 21:00:43 +0200
parents 30830e3b9e98
children 093ccf39a45e
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88:30830e3b9e98 89:83bfb4dbf59f
22 Instead, the aspects of email should be covered my multiple projects, 22 Instead, the aspects of email should be covered my multiple projects,
23 which then can be combined to form a complete system. 23 which then can be combined to form a complete system.
24 Excellent implementations for the various aspects of email exist already. 24 Excellent implementations for the various aspects of email exist already.
25 Just to name three examples: Postfix is a specialized MTA, 25 Just to name three examples: Postfix is a specialized MTA,
26 Procmail is a specialized MDA, and Fetchmail is a specialized MRA. 26 Procmail is a specialized MDA, and Fetchmail is a specialized MRA.
27 I believe that it is best to use such specilized tools instead of 27 I believe that it is best to use such specialized tools instead of
28 providing the same function again as a side-component in the project. 28 providing the same function again as a side-component in the project.
29 .P 29 .P
30 Doing something well, requires to focus on a small set of specific aspects. 30 Doing something well, requires to focus on a small set of specific aspects.
31 Under the assumption that focused development produces better results 31 Under the assumption that focused development produces better results
32 in the particular area, specialized projects will likely be superior 32 in the particular area, specialized projects will likely be superior
33 in their field of focus. 33 in their field of focus.
34 Hence, all-in-one mail system projects \(en no matter if monolithic 34 Hence, all-in-one mail system projects \(en no matter if monolithic
35 or modular \(en will never be the best choice in any of the fields. 35 or modular \(en will never be the best choice in any of the fields.
36 Even in providing the best consistent all-in-one system they are likely 36 Even in providing the best consistent all-in-one system they are likely
37 to be beaten by projects that focus only on integrating existing mail 37 to be beaten by projects that focus only on integrating existing mail
38 components to a homogenious system. 38 components to a homogeneous system.
39 .P 39 .P
40 The limiting resource in Free Software community development 40 The limiting resource in Free Software community development
41 is usually man power. 41 is usually man power.
42 If the development power is spread over a large development area, 42 If the development power is spread over a large development area,
43 it becomes even more difficult to compete with the specialists in the 43 it becomes even more difficult to compete with the specialists in the
67 This part was implemented by the 67 This part was implemented by the
68 .Pn post 68 .Pn post
69 command. 69 command.
70 The changes in emailing in the last years 70 The changes in emailing in the last years
71 demanded changes in this part of nmh too. 71 demanded changes in this part of nmh too.
72 Encryption and authetication for network connections 72 Encryption and authentication for network connections
73 needed to be supported, hence TLS and SASL were introduced into nmh. 73 needed to be supported, hence TLS and SASL were introduced into nmh.
74 This added complexity to nmh without improving it in its core functions. 74 This added complexity to nmh without improving it in its core functions.
75 Also, keeping up with recent developments in the field of 75 Also, keeping up with recent developments in the field of
76 mail transfer requires development power and specialists. 76 mail transfer requires development power and specialists.
77 In mmh this whole facility was simply cut off. 77 In mmh this whole facility was simply cut off.
250 250
251 251
252 .H2 "Removal of non-MUA Tools 252 .H2 "Removal of non-MUA Tools
253 .P 253 .P
254 One goal of mmh is to remove the tools that are not part of the MUA's task. 254 One goal of mmh is to remove the tools that are not part of the MUA's task.
255 Further more, any tools that don't improve the MUA's job significently 255 Further more, any tools that don't improve the MUA's job significantly
256 should be removed. 256 should be removed.
257 Loosely related and rarely used tools distract from the lean appearance. 257 Loosely related and rarely used tools distract from the lean appearance.
258 They require maintenance work without adding much to the core task. 258 They require maintenance work without adding much to the core task.
259 On removing these tools, the project shall become more stream-lined 259 On removing these tools, the project shall become more stream-lined
260 and focused. 260 and focused.
275 .\" XXX historic reasons? 275 .\" XXX historic reasons?
276 .BU 276 .BU
277 .Pn rcvtty 277 .Pn rcvtty
278 was removed 278 was removed
279 .Ci 14767c94b3827be7c867196467ed7aea5f6f49b0 279 .Ci 14767c94b3827be7c867196467ed7aea5f6f49b0
280 because its usecase of writing to the user's terminal 280 because its use case of writing to the user's terminal
281 on receiving of mail is obsolete. 281 on receiving of mail is obsolete.
282 If users like to be informed of new mail, the shell's 282 If users like to be informed of new mail, the shell's
283 .Ev MAILPATH 283 .Ev MAILPATH
284 variable or graphical notifications are technically more appealing. 284 variable or graphical notifications are technically more appealing.
285 Writing directly to a terminals is hardly ever wanted today. 285 Writing directly to a terminals is hardly ever wanted today.
416 .Pn show 416 .Pn show
417 had been MH's message display program. 417 had been MH's message display program.
418 .Pn show 418 .Pn show
419 mapped message numbers and sequences to files and invoked 419 mapped message numbers and sequences to files and invoked
420 .Pn mhl 420 .Pn mhl
421 to have the files formated. 421 to have the files formatted.
422 With MIME, this approach wasn't sufficient anymore. 422 With MIME, this approach wasn't sufficient anymore.
423 MIME messages can consist of multiple parts, some of which aren't 423 MIME messages can consist of multiple parts, some of which aren't
424 directly displayable, further more text content might be encoded in 424 directly displayable, further more text content might be encoded in
425 foreign charsets. 425 foreign charsets.
426 .Pn show 's 426 .Pn show 's
573 .P 573 .P
574 The switches 574 The switches
575 .Sw --with-tls 575 .Sw --with-tls
576 and 576 and
577 .Sw --with-cyrus-sasl 577 .Sw --with-cyrus-sasl
578 had activated the support for transfer encryption and authetication. 578 had activated the support for transfer encryption and authentication.
579 This is not needed anymore. 579 This is not needed anymore.
580 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3 580 .Ci fecd5d34f65597a4dfa16aeabea7d74b191532c3
581 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b 581 .Ci 156d35f6425bea4c1ed3c4c79783dc613379c65b
582 .P 582 .P
583 The configure switch 583 The configure switch
653 Eventually, however, the new trash folder concept 653 Eventually, however, the new trash folder concept
654 .Cf "Sec. XXX 654 .Cf "Sec. XXX
655 obsoleted the concept of the backup prefix completely. 655 obsoleted the concept of the backup prefix completely.
656 .Ci 8edc5aaf86f9f77124664f6801bc6c6cdf258173 656 .Ci 8edc5aaf86f9f77124664f6801bc6c6cdf258173
657 (Well, there still are corner-cases to remove until the backup 657 (Well, there still are corner-cases to remove until the backup
658 prefix can be layed to rest, eventually.) 658 prefix can be laid to rest, eventually.)
659 .\" FIXME: Do this work in the code! 659 .\" FIXME: Do this work in the code!
660 660
661 .U3 "Editor and Pager 661 .U3 "Editor and Pager
662 .P 662 .P
663 The two configure options 663 The two configure options
665 .CW --with-pager=PAGER 665 .CW --with-pager=PAGER
666 were used to specify the default editor and pager at configure time. 666 were used to specify the default editor and pager at configure time.
667 Doing so at configure time made sense in the Eighties, 667 Doing so at configure time made sense in the Eighties,
668 when the set of available editors and pagers varied much across 668 when the set of available editors and pagers varied much across
669 different systems. 669 different systems.
670 Today, the situation is more homegeneic. 670 Today, the situation is more homogeneous.
671 The programs 671 The programs
672 .Pn vi 672 .Pn vi
673 and 673 and
674 .Pn more 674 .Pn more
675 can be expected to be available on every Unix system, 675 can be expected to be available on every Unix system,
718 Command 718 Command
719 .Pn vi . 719 .Pn vi .
720 .P 720 .P
721 .Ci f85f4b7ae62e3d05a945dcd46ead51f0a2a89a9b 721 .Ci f85f4b7ae62e3d05a945dcd46ead51f0a2a89a9b
722 .P 722 .P
723 The pager to use is deteminded in a similar order, 723 The pager to use is determined in a similar order,
724 also taking the first available and non-empty item: 724 also taking the first available and non-empty item:
725 .IP (1) 725 .IP (1)
726 Environment variable 726 Environment variable
727 .Ev MMHPAGER 727 .Ev MMHPAGER
728 .IP (2) 728 .IP (2)
787 .Pn slocal , 787 .Pn slocal ,
788 the dependency on 788 the dependency on
789 .I ndbm 789 .I ndbm
790 vanished and 120 lines of complex autoconf code could be saved. 790 vanished and 120 lines of complex autoconf code could be saved.
791 .Ci ecd6d6a20cb7a1507e3a20d6c4cb3a1cf14c6bbf 791 .Ci ecd6d6a20cb7a1507e3a20d6c4cb3a1cf14c6bbf
792 The change removed funtionality too, but that is minor to the 792 The change removed functionality too, but that is minor to the
793 improvement by dropping the dependency and the complex autoconf code. 793 improvement by dropping the dependency and the complex autoconf code.
794 794
795 .U3 "mh-e Support 795 .U3 "mh-e Support
796 .P 796 .P
797 The configure option 797 The configure option
1101 the support for it. By this removal, MD5 computation is not needed 1101 the support for it. By this removal, MD5 computation is not needed
1102 anywhere in mmh. Hence, over 500 lines of code were removed by this one 1102 anywhere in mmh. Hence, over 500 lines of code were removed by this one
1103 change. Even if the 1103 change. Even if the
1104 .Hd Content-MD5 1104 .Hd Content-MD5
1105 header field is useful sometimes, 1105 header field is useful sometimes,
1106 I value its usefulnes less than the improvement in maintainability, caused 1106 I value its usefulness less than the improvement in maintainability, caused
1107 by the removal. 1107 by the removal.
1108 1108
1109 .U2 "Prompter's Control Keys 1109 .U2 "Prompter's Control Keys
1110 .P 1110 .P
1111 The program 1111 The program
1315 Code layout, goto, ... 1315 Code layout, goto, ...
1316 1316
1317 1317
1318 1318
1319 1319
1320 .H1 "Concept Exploitation/Homogeniety 1320 .H1 "Concept Exploitation/Homogeneity
1321 1321
1322 1322
1323 .H2 "Draft Folder 1323 .H2 "Draft Folder
1324 .P 1324 .P
1325 Historically, MH provided exactly one draft message, named 1325 Historically, MH provided exactly one draft message, named
1341 .Mp mh-draft(5) 1341 .Mp mh-draft(5)
1342 to document 1342 to document
1343 the feature well. 1343 the feature well.
1344 .P 1344 .P
1345 The only advantage of not using the draft folder facility is the static 1345 The only advantage of not using the draft folder facility is the static
1346 name of the draft file. This could be an issue for MH frontends like mh-e. 1346 name of the draft file. This could be an issue for MH front-ends like mh-e.
1347 But as they likely want to provide working on multiple drafts in parallel, 1347 But as they likely want to provide working on multiple drafts in parallel,
1348 the issue is only concerning compatibility. The aim of nmh to stay compatible 1348 the issue is only concerning compatibility. The aim of nmh to stay compatible
1349 prevented the default activation of the draft folder facility. 1349 prevented the default activation of the draft folder facility.
1350 .P 1350 .P
1351 On the other hand, a draft folder is the much more natural concept than 1351 On the other hand, a draft folder is the much more natural concept than