This next bit has to do with why people might prefer Pine...
Quoting mutt-users-digest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 00:18:20 -0500
> From: dannyman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Email client poll
>
> This is border-line troll ...
>
> 1) The commands are listed at the bottom - immediately available.
Mutt does have the one line for a mini-menu at the bottom (at
least, the way I've got it configured). I'm sure this has been
discussed before, but what is the possibility of a configuration
option to set how many lines get used for this (or do we have that
already), as well as setting what goes into it (another -format
option, perhaps)?
> 2) You can configure it without reading the man page ... errr, I mean, going
> to the web site, errr, I mean finding the manual, err, I mean, reading the
> whole fucking manual to find the keyword you want ... errr, I mean, going to
> the mailing list for an explanation or finding an excellent .muttrc from
> someone else ...
A reasonable complaint, for someone just wanting to get into it
quickly. A good template .muttrc with comments on each variable is a
good way to go, but something a little better couldn't hurt. Perhaps
someone would be interested in putting together a sort of "Mutt
configuration tool" which presents all the options through a series of
menus, similar to the menu-config tool for Linux kernels (maybe even
using the same "dialog" package, or something like it). Then we'd
just need to make sure to update the file which drives this system
when options are added, changed, obsoleted, etc.
> 3) News support, without reverse-hacking in one of Brandon's old patches.
> 4) Nice, short, multi-column listing of mailboxes.
>
Not sure about these. I don't read news on a regular basis, so I
don't have that strong of an opinion on the first item. I also don't
really deal with multiple mailboxes, other than the ones that I save
messages off to (for archiving purposes) when I'm done with them. Do
you really have so many mailboxes that the longer format used by Mutt
is that much of a problem?
> ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 10:47:07 +0200
> From: Anders Andersson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Email client poll
>
> * [EMAIL PROTECTED] ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) [990716 18:59]:
> > FYI, Linus Torvalds himself uses Pine. So it's not just newbies
> > or morons.
>
> Heh, I love it the way people looks up to Mr Torvalds, "If Linus uses it, it
> must be good". Like if all things Linus does is great, yeah right...
>
I think the point was less Linus himself so much as "a well known,
very knowledgeable person". Linus certainly has the aptitude to make
extensive use of all of Mutt's advanced features, but he apparently
finds that Pine is suitable for his needs.
One point that has occurred to me during these discussions is the
fact that Mutt is still clearly declared to be a BETA product. I know
that there are supposedly certain issues that must be addressed before
it is considered non-BETA (1.0). Can anyone run down what those are,
or point me to information about them? I have to figure that at least
some people are hesitant to use *BETA* software (even though we all
know that Mutt is perfectly stable and useful) for their day-to-day
mail reading.
-Brandon :)
