[SGVLUG] I can't send email (but now I can).

[David Lawyer]

On Wed, Jun 07, 2006 at 07:02:42PM -0700, Dustin Laurence wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 07, 2006 at 03:27:04PM -0700, David Lawyer wrote:
> > 
> > So while mutt and exim is a nice mail system, it takes some computer
> > savvy to keep it working.  And most desktop users wouldn't have the
> > knowledge or the time to deal with such a problem.
> 
> This has nothing to do with Linux--neither mutt nor exim has any
> intention of serving "desktop users," now or ever.

I'm not so sure of this.  I decided on this pair as a desktop user for
a PC that wasn't capable of a linux GUI (an old 486).  Thus I had to
find software for a command line interface.

I tried using msmtp but it only seems to work if I was connected to
the Internet, while exim stores mail that you've typed offline for
automatic future delivery when you dial up.

> The *only* way a "desktop" user is going to get mail access is IMAP
> or (ugh) POP to their mail provider's server.  exim is designed
> essentially for that mail provider's machine, not the end-user's.
> mutt is designed for the end-user's machine, but only one who is
> self-sufficient and *very* computer savvy.

I should have added that I use fetchmail for getting my mail and then
fetchmail hands it off to exim for delivery.  Mutt seems to be fairly
easy to use so I wouldn't use *very*.  Doesn't IMAP and POP just pick
up mail from an ISP while something like exim sends it? and also
processes/stores what fetchmail gets.  Exim works as a client as well
as a server.  But I'm not sure how or if "desktop" software can freeze
and thaw email as happened (and it should happen) when I couldn't
transfer email thru LAFN.  So exim (a sendmail clone) seems to have some
advantages over other email software.  Like it'll keep trying to send
email if the first time doesn't succeed, etc.  And it keeps good logs
of what it does.

I'm not saying that most desktops should use exim-mutt-fetchmail but
it's for the desktop nitch on old computers that cost almost nothing
today.

			David Lawyer