[Cialug] bsd mail/mailx reading

[David Champion]

Alpine is pretty easy to use, and has menu-based prompts for the commands
you can't remember. Other than the minimal space it takes to install it, I
don't see any advantage to using the "mail" command, other than proving
that you're a command-line ninja.

I have alpine connected to my imap email, so I can also access it with
thunderbird, webmail, my phone etc. I find it handy to have an email client
I can ssh to.

-dc


On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Josh More <jmore at starmind.org> wrote:

> For me, it's because, as Barry discovered, the commands in the clients are
> somewhat esoteric.  I use grep all the time and don't have to remind myself
> how to use them.
>
> And really, on my servers, the only time I should get mail is when
> something goes horribly wrong, and in those situations, I just need enough
> data out of the email to put into a tracking system and then the emails can
> go away.
>
> Processing to zero is usually more cost effective than keeping the emails
> around for "reference", especially since there has not been a single
> instance in over 15 years that I've needed to refer to an email on a
> server.
>
> -Josh
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 11:33 AM, David Champion <dchamp1337 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Captain Obvious says: Why not just use mutt or (al)pine?
> >
> > -dc
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 11:05 AM, Barry Von Ahsen <barry at vonahsen.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > yeah, vi works just as well - delete messages by regex: d/Message: :)
> > >
> > > (may require vim)
> > >
> > >
> > > -barry
> > >
> > >
> > > On Dec 28, 2012, at 11:01 AM, Josh More wrote:
> > >
> > > > I use grep and less directly on the mail spool files.
> > > >
> > > > Then I use "rm *"  :)
> > > >
> > > > -Josh
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Scott Yates <Scott at yatesframe.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> ish, that sucks.  Time to install Pine or Elm.  lol
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 10:57 AM, Barry Von Ahsen <
> barry at vonahsen.com
> > > >>> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >>> thanks - I think I found that in the past from 'help', but I forgot
> > to
> > > >>> mention this is on CentOS, which is slightly confused about what it
> > can
> > > >> and
> > > >>> can't do.  I tried that and:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> & l
> > > >>> Commands are:
> > > >>> next, alias, print, type, Type, Print, visual, top, touch,
> preserve,
> > > >>> delete, dp, dt, undelete, unset, mail, mbox, more, page, More,
> Page,
> > > >>> unread, U, !, copy, chdir, cd, save, source, set, shell, version,
> > > >>> group, write, from, file, folder, folders, ?, z, headers, help, =,
> > > >>> Reply, Respond, reply, respond, edit, echo, quit, list, xit, exit,
> > > >>> size, hold, if, else, endif, alternates, ignore, discard, retain,
> > > >>> saveignore, savediscard, saveretain, core, #, clobber
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> attempting to run 'list', which it says is a command, gives the
> same
> > > >>> message again:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> & list
> > > >>> Commands are:
> > > >>> next, alias, print, type, Type, Print, visual, top, touch,
> preserve,
> > > >>> delete, dp, dt, undelete, unset, mail, mbox, more, page, More,
> Page,
> > > >>> unread, U, !, copy, chdir, cd, save, source, set, shell, version,
> > > >>> group, write, from, file, folder, folders, ?, z, headers, help, =,
> > > >>> Reply, Respond, reply, respond, edit, echo, quit, list, xit, exit,
> > > >>> size, hold, if, else, endif, alternates, ignore, discard, retain,
> > > >>> saveignore, savediscard, saveretain, core, #, clobber
> > > >>>
> > > >>> so it's probably a CentOS issue
> > > >>>
> > > >>> -barry
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> On Dec 28, 2012, at 10:48 AM, Scott Yates wrote:
> > > >>>
> > > >>>> I THOUGHT it was just  "L" (lower case) to list the messages, but
> i
> > > may
> > > >>> be
> > > >>>> mistaken.  It has been a few years.
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>> On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Barry Von Ahsen <
> > barry at vonahsen.com
> > > >>>> wrote:
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>>> does anybody use bsd mail/mailx for reading?  since it's often
> > > >> installed
> > > >>>>> for sending, it's also useful for reading and not needing to
> > install
> > > a
> > > >>>>> "real" client like mutt or (al)pine
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>> my question is: when you first run mail, it lists the messages
> and
> > > you
> > > >>> can
> > > >>>>> operate on them.  after the operations, though, the list goes
> away.
> > > >> is
> > > >>>>> there a way to redisplay the messages without quitting and
> > > restarting?
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>> example: login, start mail, it displays that I have 1000
> messages.
> > > >> run
> > > >>>>> d1-998 to delete the first 998, 999 to read that message, d999 to
> > > >> delete
> > > >>>>> it.  how do I re-list the messages to show the headers for
> message
> > > >> 1000
> > > >>>>> (like when I launched mail)?  now I just quit, then restart mail
> > and
> > > >> it
> > > >>>>> shows the one message (as message 1)
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>> nothing end of the world, but there must be a Better Way(TM)
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>> -barry
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>>
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