| | 1 | = Overloaded Names in Mutt, Procmail and the Rest of the Mail World = |
| | 2 | |
| | 3 | Unfortunately, there are several terms that have multiple meanings. |
| | 4 | This page aims to explain the proper usage of terms. |
| | 5 | |
| | 6 | Overview table: |
| | 7 | || || '''Mutt''' || '''procmail''' || '''common setting''' || |
| | 8 | || default folder location || $folder || $MAILDIR || ~/Mail || |
| | 9 | || default folder format || $mbox_type || mbox (trailing slash for maildir) || mbox or maildir || |
| | 10 | || read mail folder || $mbox || N/A || ~/mbox || |
| | 11 | || inbox location || $spoolfile || $DEFAULT || /var/mail/$USER or ~/Maildir || |
| | 12 | |
| | 13 | == folder == |
| | 14 | |
| | 15 | 1. '''A folder stores mail.''' A folder is a thing that contains messages. |
| | 16 | A folder can be anything from a single file (mbox format), |
| | 17 | a directory with files (MH format, deprecated), |
| | 18 | a directory with subdirectories with files (maildir format), |
| | 19 | or even a remote resource on the network (IMAP and folders; POP only supports one folder per account, the inbox). |
| | 20 | 1. '''"folder" is a directory that contains folders.''' |
| | 21 | This meaning is used by Mutt's $folder variable. |
| | 22 | There's nothing special about that directory, it is just what you get when you open =fldr (or equivalently +fldr), which will expand to $folder/fldr. |
| | 23 | Mutt defaults to ~/Mail; ~/mail is also common. ($folder roughly corresponds to procmail's $MAILDIR.) |
| | 24 | |
| | 25 | == mbox == |
| | 26 | |
| | 27 | 1. '''mbox is a folder format.''' The mbox format stores all messages in a single big file, separated by "From " lines (sometimes called From_ lines). |
| | 28 | mbox is the default format used by most MTAs for /var/mail/$USER. Alternatives are the MaildirFormat (see below) and MH (deprecated). |
| | 29 | 1. '''mbox is a folder that stores read mail.''' |
| | 30 | With move=(ask-)yes, Mutt moves read mail from your $spoolfile to $mbox (which defaults to ~/mbox) when exiting mutt (or leaving the $spoolfile folder). |
| | 31 | 1. '''Mutt's default folder format is $mbox_type.''' Mutt auto-detects formats when opening folders; $mbox_type is used when creating new folders. |
| | 32 | |
| | 33 | == maildir == |
| | 34 | |
| | 35 | 1. '''maildir is a folder format.''' The MaildirFormat stores messages in separate files in subdirectories new, cur, and tmp below a common parent directory. |
| | 36 | In procmail, a trailing slash makes a folder use MaildirFormat (fldr/; Mutt does not care about trailing slashes). |
| | 37 | 1. '''maildir is a folder that gets incoming mail.''' When the $spoolfile (inbox) is not in /var/mail but in the user's home, it is often in ~/Maildir, |
| | 38 | which incidentally uses the MaildirFormat. (Courier [?] introduced that location, thereby also giving the format its name.) |
| | 39 | 1. '''maildir is a directory that stores folders.''' This is the meaning procmail uses. When assigning MAILDIR=some/dir, |
| | 40 | procmail chdirs to that directory and all subsequent references to fldr will now write to $HOME/some/dir/fldr (instead of $HOME/fldr before). |
| | 41 | |
| | 42 | == mailbox(es) == |
| | 43 | |
| | 44 | 1. '''mailbox is a synonym for "folder".''' Sometimes, people refer to folders as mailboxes. |
| | 45 | In a stricter meaning, the mailbox is the inbox where new mail gets delivered ($spoolfile in Mutt, $DEFAULT in procmail.) |
| | 46 | 1. '''mailboxes are what Mutt checks for new mail.''' Mutt periodically checks any folder declared as "mailboxes" (plural!) in .muttrc for new mail |
| | 47 | and notifies the user (this information is also shown with <buffy-list>, which is bound to '.' per default). |
| | 48 | |
| | 49 | == sendmail == |
| | 50 | |
| | 51 | 1. '''sendmail is an MTA.''' The internet's most commonly used is (was?) sendmail - see http://www.sendmail.org/. |
| | 52 | 1. '''sendmail is /usr/sbin/sendmail.''' All MTAs support the "sendmail" interface, that is, they provide |
| | 53 | /usr/sbin/sendmail (historically /usr/lib/sendmail) and support options like -t, -f, and -bs. |
| | 54 | (Mutt's $sendmail variable defaults to "/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi", which should work with most MTAs like sendmail, postfix, exim, etc.) |
| | 55 | |
| | 56 | ---- |
| | 57 | |
| | 58 | == The Bottom Line == |
| | 59 | |
| | 60 | * It is usually wrong to set MAILDIR=~/Maildir in procmail or folder=~/Maildir in Mutt (use ~/Mail). |
| | 61 | * mbox_type=maildir does not convert existing folders to MaildirFormat, it only creates new ones that way. |
| | 62 | * Setting $MAILDIR in procmail will neither make the folder use MaildirFormat (this is done by the trailing slash "/") |
| | 63 | nor is this a recommended location for the inbox folder (this is what $DEFAULT is for). |
| | 64 | * Use "fldr/" in procmail to write to a maildir folder. Do not use "fldr/new/". |
