Re: read mail in mbox files

[Leonidas Tsampros]

Richard Riley <rileyrg@googlemail.com> writes:
> ernest <nfdisco@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Hi,
>> This is my setup: I use fetchmail to get mail from
>> different POP/IMAP servers, then split the incoming
>> mail with procmail into different mbox files in ~/Mail.
>> What I'd like is gnus to work directly on these mbox
>> files. Is this possible? What backend do I need?
>> I'd say I don't even want a backend, because I don't
>> want to copy mail anywhere!
>> Frankly, I'm a bit confused :/
>> Cheers,
>> Ernest
>
> You're not alone! This is *probably* the nnml backend.
>
>    (setq gnus-select-method '(nnml "nnml"))
>
> That said I dont know for sure ;)
>
> I mention it because the default is  ~/Mail.
>
> But a point : despite using Gnus for a few years now I am not clear
> on what "incoming mail" means in the context.  Possibly it looks in
> /var/spool/mail. But since your mail is already there, I dunno.
>
> Best of luck!

If I understand correctly 'incoming mail' in this context means that
Gnus will use ~/Mail as a directory from which he will get and 'digest'
email to the selected mail (nnml) backend.

I remember experimenting with these two here:

(setq mail-source-delete-incoming t)
(setq mail-sources '((directory :path "~/Mail"
                                :suffix "")))

Setting the suffix Gnus will digest only the mbox-es with that suffix in
the filename. As long as mail-source-delete-incoming is nil, I think you
are safe (as the original mbox-es will be intact).

That said (to the OP), in order to get Gnus read your ~/Mail directly,
you will have to use the nnfolder backend I think. I'm sure I have tried
successfully the nnfolder sometime in the past as I had the exact same
setup as yours. Don't forget to BACKUP your email. I bear no
responsibility etc etc.

Ultimately I ended up with nnml+fancy splitting+mail sources removing
procmail from the equation completely. I think that I ended up with a
much more versatile setup.

Best Regards
Leonidas Tsampros