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Date:      Mon, 20 Dec 2004 09:25:17 -0600
From:      Nathan Kinkade <nkinkade@ub.edu.bz>
To:        Nikolas Britton <freebsd@nbritton.org>
Cc:        freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: migrating from thunderbird to mutt?
Message-ID:  <20041220152517.GA17559@gentoo-npk.bmp.ub>
In-Reply-To: <41C4FA1C.4090006@nbritton.org>
References:  <41C4FA1C.4090006@nbritton.org>

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On Sat, Dec 18, 2004 at 09:48:44PM -0600, Nikolas Britton wrote:
> Need some advice here...
>=20
> I would like to change my mail client from thunderbird to a text based=20
> client so I can email from anywhere using just ssh (don't like "web=20
> based" clients, too slow). I would like to try mutt being that it's a=20
> very popular text client but I have many questions about it. so can=20
> someone at least point me in the right direction(s) (faqs, docs,=20
> how-to's, anything)...

First, it should be noted that mutt can be configured to do just about
anything that you want.  Is it highly configurable and extendable.  You
can almost count on the fact that if something can be done in another
MUA, then it can probably be done it mutt as well.  Some patience and
an Intenet connection should get the job done.

Perhaps you should consider starting at mutt.org.  Read the manual.

> How do I get my old email (from thunderbird, mbox?) into mutt?

Mutt can use both mbox and maildir format.  If you feel like switching
to maildir, which I recommend, there are some scripts floating around
the next that will convert mbox mailboxes to maildir.  I did this in the
past, but don't remember which script I used - just do some smart
websearches.

> Can mutt handle um like 5+ email address and have them all separated and=
=20
> be able to send from diffrent email accounts?

> If I remember right mutt is just a mail reader, so how do I get mail to=
=20
> and sent from mutt?

Mutt is an MUA (Mail User Agent).  You can both read and create mail in
mutt.  However, mutt is NOT an MTA (Mail Transfer Agent), meaning mutt
will have to hand off the message to an MTA, which in turn handles the
actual delivery.  Most people probably configure a local MTA to handle
delivery of messages.

> How does it handle hyperlinks, if I select something will it open up in=
=20
> firefox or whatever?

Mutt will use the system mime types configurations defined in
~/.mailcap.  This won't allow you to "click" anything in the mail body,
but it allows you to view HTML attachments using your browser.  However,
assuming your using mutt in a xterminal windows (or similar), how
difficult is it to just copy the address into your browsers address box?

> Message filtering, for example I have all the different freebsd mailing=
=20
> lists automatically put into different folders, and junk mail sorting?

Most people use something like procmail for mail filtering, but I'm not
sure if mutt has the ability to do some sort of basic
filtering/sorting.  A websearch for "mutt procmail" will probably return
more pages than you can read talking about how to use mutt & procmail.

> Speell check?

Mutt can use the text based spell checker called "ispell".  Just install
ispell from the ports and when you are about to send your message press
'i' and it will launch ispell on the message.

> How do I set the thing up, config file help?

Try a websearch for "example mutt configuration", or something similar.
There are probably thousands of example mutt configs posted on the web.
In the past I have noticed that a lot of people like to post their mutt
config online for others to use.

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