Mail-User-HOWTO(1).pdf

The Linux Mail User HOWTO

Eric Steven Raymond

Thyrsus Enterprises

< esr@thyrsus.com >

This document is an introduction to the world of electronic mail (email) under Linux. It focuses on user−level

issues and typical configurations for Linux home and small−business machines connected to the net via an

ISP.

You need to read this if you plan to communicate locally or to remote sites via electronic mail. You probably

do not need to read this document if don't exchange electronic mail with other users on your system or with

other sites.

For information on configuring and administering mail, see the Mail Administrator HOWTO.

The Linux Mail User HOWTO

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. ....................................................................................................................................................1

1.1. New versions of this documen. ........................................................................................................1

1.2. Hardware requirements for email programs. ....................................................................................1

1.3. Software sources for email programs. ..............................................................................................1

2. Mail User Agents. ............................................................................................................................................2

2.1. Setting your mail editor. ...................................................................................................................2

2.2. mutt. ..................................................................................................................................................2

2.3. elm. ...................................................................................................................................................3

2.4. pine. ...................................................................................................................................................3

2.5. Netscape. ...........................................................................................................................................3

2.6. Emacs rmail/smail and vm. ..............................................................................................................3

2.7. BSD mai. ..........................................................................................................................................4

2.8. Other user agents. ..............................................................................................................................4

3. Advanced topics ..............................................................................................................................................5

3.1. Aliases. ..............................................................................................................................................5

3.2. Forwarding. .......................................................................................................................................5

3.3. Auto−replying. ..................................................................................................................................5

3.4. Mailing lists. .....................................................................................................................................6

3.5. Mail filters. ........................................................................................................................................7

3.6. Coping with spam. ............................................................................................................................7

4. Other sources of information. ........................................................................................................................8

4.1. USENET. ..........................................................................................................................................8

4.2. Books. ...............................................................................................................................................8

4.3. Periodic USENET Postings. .............................................................................................................8

4.4. Where not to look for help. ...............................................................................................................9

5. Administrivia. ................................................................................................................................................10

5.1. Feedback. ........................................................................................................................................10

5.2. Copyright Information. ...................................................................................................................10

5.3. Standard Disclaimer. .......................................................................................................................11

5.4. Acknowledgements. ........................................................................................................................11

1. Introduction

The intent of this document is to explain how email works, and answer some of the questions that appear to

meet the definition of `frequently asked questions' about e−mail software under Linux.

Modern Linux distributions give you a usable, preconfigured setup for electronic mail out of the box, usually

featuring a late version of sendmail−v8. This HOWTO will assume that you have such a setup and a working

Internet connection.

(For information on how to set up a PPP or SLIP link to an ISP, see the ISP Hookup HOWTO . )

Accordingly, unlike Vince Skahan's 1.x versions, this HOWTO focuses on user issues and architecture; most

technical hair about UUCP, IDA sendmail and other formerly important topics has been dropped.

1.1. New versions of this document

This document will be posted monthly to the newsgroup comp.os.linux.answers You should also be able to

view the latest version of this HOWTO on the World Wide Web at

http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Mail−User−HOWTO.html .

1.2. Hardware requirements for email programs

There are no specific hardware requirements for mail under Linux. If you have the hardware necessary to

connect to the Internet, it can support email over that link.

1.3. Software sources for email programs

The software you will need for email support is probably preinstalled in your Linux distribution. You will find

updates on the Metalab Linux Archive , especially in the mail subdirectory .

1. Introduction

2. Mail User Agents

This section contains information related to user agents, which means the software the user sees and uses.

This software relies on the transport agents described in the Mail Administrator's HOWTO (which also

include user−agent configuration and troubleshooting tips for administrators).

2.1. Setting your mail editor

Mail user agents call out to some editor to assist composition of mail. Which editor is the default varies. Most

of them respect a convention going back to Unix's early days; the contents of the environment variable

VISUAL , if it exists, is taken as the name of your preferred editor. If VISUAL is not set, the variable EDITOR

is checked.

Popular values for EDITOR include vi and emacs . But if you are, like me, the sort who always has a GNU

Emacs running, the most useful way to set EDITOR is to the value emacsclient . Use this with the following

lines in your ~/.emacs file:

(autoload 'server−edit "server" nil t)

(server−edit)

The emacsclient program, when it runs, tries to establish communication with an Emacs instance you already

have running and hand the mail message temporary file to that Emacs to be edited. The effect of this will be

that when your mailer calls out for an editor, a mail composition window pops open inside your Emacs.

When you are ready to hand the file back to the mailer for sending, type C−x #. The mail buffer will leave

your display and the emacsclient instance your mailer called will return, handing control back to the mailer.

It is possible to have more than one emacsclient instance open at once without confusing Emacs. However,

calling up another Emacs while an emacsclient session is running can confuse emacsclient enough that it

won't be able to find either instance afterwards. If this happens, shut down all your Emacs instances and

restart just one.

If you're running XEmacs rather than GNU Emacs, these directions change slightly. In this case you waant to

set EDITOR to gnuclient . In recent versions, your init file will live at ~/.xemacs/init.el rather than

~/.emacs .

2.2. mutt

This is what I use and recommend. It is descended from elm and has similar commands by default, but is

much more powerful and configurable. It can be a POP3 or IMAP client, and includes excellent support for

MIME and PGP. There is a Mutt home page on the web.

Mutt respects the EDITOR/VISUAL convention.

2. Mail User Agents

The Linux Mail User HOWTO

2.3. elm

Elm was the first modern, screen−oriented Unix mailer, but has been stagnant for years now and is being

displaced by Mutt. Some versions of elm have POP3 support built in. For more information, see the elm

sources and installation instructions in the Metalab mail user agents directory . Here are a few points that

occasionally trip people up:

No, stock elm is not PGP−aware. There are PGP support patches, but Mutt's PGP support is superior. If you

want to use PGP, I recommend Mutt.

Elm respects the EDITOR/VISUAL convention.

2.4. pine

Pine is a user agent designed for novices; it includes news−reading capability and built−in support for the

IMAP remote−mail protocol. A lot of people swear by it for new users. I find its impoverished command set,

limited configurability and native editor hard to take. It has excellent built−in IMAP support, however. If you

want to check it out, the distribution is available a t http://www.washington.edu/pine .

Pine respects the EDITOR/VISUAL convention.

2.5. Netscape

The Netscape browser has POP3 and IMAP remote−mail capability built into it, so it can be used as a mail

user agent. I don't recommend this; it doesn't specialize in being an MUA, and therefore does not offer many

of the services that real MUAs do (such as aliases and PGP handling). It does, however, support LDAP and

SSL.

Netscape supplies its own mini−editor, the same one used throughout the browser (e.g. for text fields in

forms).

2.6. Emacs rmail/smail and vm.

Emacs has a mode called smail that can send mail, and another called rmail that can read mail. The smail

mode can be quite useful, as you get to compose mail inside a full Emacs environment (but see also the

discussion of emacsclient elsewhere in this document).

The rmail mode, on the other hand, is not recommended. Every time you run it, it converts your inbox to

BABYL format; ordinary mail tools will choke on that. (If this happens to you, do M−x unrmail from the

Emacs command line.)

There is a mailreader for emacs called `vm' that writes and reads standard V7 mailboxes. It is not distributed

with GNU Emacs, but you can find its home page at http://www.wonderworks.com/vm/ .

The most popular mailreader for emacs is probably GNUS, distributed with GNU Emacs. It is a client for

USENET news as well as mail.

2. Mail User Agents

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