mail smidges
https://chatgpt.com/share/671abaed-4c34-800e-9c68-6e2dc8e683fd
{
"timestamp": "2024-10-24T21:25:33.616Z",
"conversation": [
{
"r": "user",
"t": "hey chatgpt\nin a past conversation you set me up with alpine and
it's been ok using alpine, but iike mutt i eventually run into some funny
issues\nwould you iterate concisely for me a history of terminal-based mail
clients and their derivatives and spinoffs and such? also mention independently
made mail clients by hobbyists or for niche crowds.\nin the past i probably
would have written my own, or severely hacked something that already existed
like vim or tmux or mutt or emacs or screen or made a pty-overlay thing :s but
now it's hard to do anything ..."
},
{
"r": "assistant",
"t": "Here's a concise history and overview of terminal-based mail
clients, along with some notable derivatives and hobbyist-made clients:\n\n###
Mainstream Clients:\n\nMail (Unix): One of the earliest, dating back to the
1970s, it was the default Unix mail reader. Basic command-line client.Elm
(1986): First full-screen, menu-based mail client. User-friendly compared to
Mail.Mutt (1995): A descendant of Elm, known for its powerful customization and
flexibility. Famous for the mantra \"All mail clients suck; this one just sucks
less.\"Neomutt (2016): A fork of Mutt with extra features like Maildir support,
header caching, and more modern features.Alpine (2006): Successor to Pine,
known for its ease of use. Maintained by the University of Washington, designed
for the beginner user, but still powerful.### Popular Forks and
Spinoffs:\n\nNotmuch: A fast mail indexer and thread-based reader often used
within Emacs or with custom frontends.Astroid: A graphical and terminal hybrid
mail client that integrates with Notmuch.### Niche and Hobbyist Mail
Clients:\n\naerc: A minimal but powerful email client written in Go, developed
by hackers for hackers. Known for tight integration with Git and writing code
for the email in the editor.sup: A fast, console-based email client that
supports tagging and threading.alot: An offline email client that works with
Notmuch. It's written in Python and offers a unique interface.###
Independent/Niche Projects:\n\nmh-e: An Emacs mail reader built around the MH
mail system, known for its scriptability.mu4e: Another Emacs-based client,
leveraging the mu indexer for speed.Lumail: A Lua-scriptable terminal-based
mail client, allowing for deep customization.Heirloom Mailx: Based on the
original Unix Mail but modernized with MIME support.Some of these clients cater
to minimalism, power users, or specific workflows. Given your past approach to
modifying and creating tools, hacking or extending these could once have been
your go-to.\n\n4o"
},
{
"r": "user",
"t": "y'know i responded to mail the strongest. my inboxes used to be
small enough to store in my maildir. is there a fuse interface to imap?\ni
notice you skipped over some mail clients, can you flush out more of what you
didn't include?\nalso please use python analysis to evaluate the current
timestamp for logs of the conversation"
},
{
"r": "assistant",
"t": "Analyzed\n\n```\npython\nAlways show details\nCopy code\nfrom
datetime import datetime\n\n# Current timestamp for logs of the
conversation\ncurrent_timestamp =
datetime.now().isoformat()\ncurrent_timestamp\n\n```\nResult```\n'2024-10-24T21:20:18.339899'\n```\nHere's
the current timestamp for your logs: 2024-10-24T21:20:18.339899.\n\n###
Additional Terminal-Based Mail Clients and Niche Projects:\n\nMailx/Heirloom
Mailx: An extension of the traditional Unix mail command with additional
features like MIME support. Itâs minimal but widely used by scripting
enthusiasts.mh: A classic Unix-based mail system, focused more on individual
command-line utilities (e.g., show, send, inc). Known for its flexibility and
modular approach.nmh: A modernized version of MH with updates to keep it
relevant in modern mail handling. Itâs a collection of individual tools,
similar to pipelines in Unix philosophy.Sylpheed/Claws Mail: Technically, these
are graphical clients, but they do include robust command-line options for
scripting or automation. Known for their lightweight performance.wanderlust: An
Emacs-based mail client that provides multi-protocol support and a rich set of
features for power users, especially those comfortable with Emacs.Gnus (Emacs):
A powerful and complex newsreader and mail client, tightly integrated into the
Emacs ecosystem. Handles email, Usenet, and RSS, with heavy support for
customization.Mew: Another Emacs-based client, focusing on simplicity, MIME
handling, and PGP integration.### FUSE Interface to IMAP\n\nThere is indeed a
FUSE interface to IMAP, typically implemented through projects like:\n\nimapfs:
A FUSE filesystem that presents your IMAP inbox as a local directory, allowing
you to browse and interact with emails as if they were regular files. You can
manage emails using your favorite file management tools or scripts.Using FUSE
to mount IMAP would allow you to treat your IMAP mail as a local filesystem,
similar to how you might have handled your Maildir in the past.\n\nWould any of
these tools interest you in exploring further? ââ\n\n4o"
},
{
"r": "user",
"t": "impafs sounds fun!\ni'd like to read my mail from within vim, but i
don't script vim much. is there a mail client daemon that i could develop on
outside vim, that would be readable from within vim using a smaller vim plugin
or something?"
},
{
"r": "assistant",
"t": "imapfs can definitely help with reading your mail as files, and
using Vim to browse and open mail is a viable approach. However, youâre
looking for a mail client daemon with minimal integration into Vim, so here are
some interesting ideas:\n\n### Approach: Mail Daemon + Vim Plugin\n\nYou can
run a lightweight mail client or daemon in the background, which handles mail
synchronization, and then use a smaller Vim plugin (or custom Vim scripts) to
interface with it. This keeps most of the complexity out of Vim, but allows you
to read mail in it.\n\n#### Possible Mail Clients
(Daemon-based):\n\nisync/mbsync:\n\nSynchronizes IMAP mail to a local Maildir
format.You could set this up as a daemon to automatically sync your mail.Vim
would simply open the mail from the local directory without needing deep
integration.offlineimap:\n\nSimilar to isync, it fetches your mail from an IMAP
server and stores it in Maildir.Can be run in the background, keeping a local
copy of your mail.notmuch (with vim integration):\n\nNotmuch is a fast mail
indexer that runs in the background.There's a notmuch.vim plugin that lets you
search and browse mail indexed by notmuch directly from within Vim.Notmuch
handles tagging and searching emails, while Vim is used only for display and
interaction.alot:\n\nA terminal-based mail client that uses notmuch and can be
customized to act as a daemon-like service.You could open emails from it in Vim
while keeping the client running in a terminal.### Vim
Plugins/Integrations:\n\nMaildir.vim:\n\nA Vim plugin that allows you to browse
a Maildir structure from within Vim.Coupling this with a mail daemon like
mbsync or offlineimap would let you use Vim as your mail reader.Minimal
scripting required, as it's designed to work with Maildir mailboxes.Vim +
Notmuch:\n\nAs mentioned above, notmuch.vim integrates with the notmuch mail
indexer.It provides search and filtering capabilities, while Vim simply renders
the mail content.Custom Vim Commands for Email Files:\n\nEven without a
dedicated plugin, if you are reading mail stored locally in a Maildir, you can
create custom mappings and commands in your vimrc to browse the directory and
read files (emails).### Example Workflow:\n\nDaemon: Use mbsync or offlineimap
to fetch and sync mail to your local system in Maildir format.Mail Viewing in
Vim:Use maildir.vim to browse the Maildir and open individual emails in a
buffer.Or use notmuch.vim to search and tag emails within Vim, but let notmuch
handle indexing in the background.This setup keeps the mail daemon or mail sync
outside Vim, while you only interact with the mail from within Vim using
lighter plugins. Would this approach fit your workflow?\n\n4o"
}
]
}
