Re: read mail in mbox files

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:59:40 +0100, Richard wrote:

>> nnml does not store in mbox format:
 
>> ,----[ 6.3.13.3 Mail Spool <http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_194.html#SEC194> ]
>> |
>> | If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
>> | one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
>> | directories under the directory specified by the nnml-directory
>> | variable. The default value is `~/Mail/'.

> So what format? Maildir?

No, that would be nnmaildir.

nnml stores mail in its own format, call it nnml-format if you wish -
i.e. each article in a file by itself and with a .overview and a .marks
file for each group.

> What is a "nnaml-directory"?

nnml-directory is where the email (files and directories) are stored.

> Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Or under-, I dunno... ;-)

> But "nnml"?

What about "nnml"? It's just the name of a backend to store email in.

> My comments are also reflective of the times we see the same questions
> here and in #emacs : clearly it isnt at all clear.

You'll need to say _what_ isn't clear.

> As it is nnfolder, nnml and some others seem to be some sort of
> abstract gnus only concepts.

Abstract is perhaps a little much, but they are Gnus concepts
(backends). What did you imagine they were?

> I'm just voicing the difficulties and many others find trying to
> configure gnus.

That is fine, but I find it very hard to understand what exactly it is
you don't comprehend, so my attempts at helping are quite feeble, I'm
afraid.

> One cant improve it if one doesnt know what something is;) What is nnml?

I just quoted you half of the page in the manual that answers that
question, and even included the link:
http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_194.html#SEC194 - what else do you need?
(I'm not being sarcastic, I actually want your answer.)

> If i was to start I think some sort of overview of Linux/*IX mail would
> go a long way. e.g What IS incoming mail?

I would understand that as "mail in the place that Gnus is supposed to
fetch it from".

> It might seem obvious to some but it really isn't to many. Is incoming
> mail in /var/spool?

On many systems, yes.

> What about if the system is configured to deliver mail locally e.g to
> ~/Mail? How does that work with nnml backend?

Then you would configure Gnus to get incoming mail from there and put it
somewhere else (as Gary described it in this thread, under ~/Mail.Gnus/
for instance).

You could also configure Gnus to read mail delivered to ~/Mail/
directly, if it is in a format that Gnus understands (maildir would be
an example).

(I wouldn't, because I would lose the gains that can be had when Gnus
knows it is the only one writing and I don't care to use multiple MUAs
on the same email, but ... different strokes for different folks).

>> I don't use IMAP, so I can't give any other examples than the ones
>> already posted.

> Most of the major nognus changes have been imap related.

I know. Sorry I can't be of any help there.


  Best regards,

    Adam

-- 
 "Här kommer rädslan, gamle vän                               Adam Sjøgren
  När alla fjärilar i magen vaknar upp                   asjo@koldfront.dk
  Viskar välkommen hem"