Hi Bob,
Bob Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said something to this effect on 07/09/2001:
> I just installed mutt on a Unix box I started setting up recently, so
> I'm pretty new to both mutt and Unix. I have six questions:
I'll address the ones for which I have (more or less) definite answers.
> 3) And while I'm at it, what is a .forward file? They are mentioned
> in the FAQ, along with the suggestion that I examine one to find out
> about it. I did so, but I'm not much wiser. I assume it forwards
> something to /usr/home/bob, but what and why?
Some MTA's (notably sendmail) will look for $HOME/.forward for
delivery instructions after checking the system aliases file.
Normally, .forward contains another email address (for
forwarding, thus the name), but it can also contain a program to
execute, like |/usr/bin/procmail (programs begin with a |).
> 4) There's a very garbled explanation of spoolfiles in one of the
> configuration files. Is a spoolfile a file that stores mail
> temporarily after the pop client downloads it and before the
> mailreader loads it? Same concept as a printer spool?
The mailspool (herein referred to as ``$MAIL'') is the file in
which your incoming mail is placed by default (unless you
redirect it using, e.g., a .forward file). It is usually a file
with your username in /var/spool/mail or /var/mail. From a
shell, try "echo $MAIL" (no quotes) (if that fails, try printenv
$MAIL, and change your shell to bash).
In short, unless you (or the sysadmin of your mail server) have
other steps (.forward, qmail as an MTA, etc), your incoming mail
goes into your $MAIL file.
The relation of the $MAIL to the POP3 protocol is very
different from the relationship between the print spool and lpr.
A POP3 server accesses $MAIL directly when it sends mail to a
POP3 client.
> 5) I need to set up something to transfer mail from mutt to my ISP's
> smtp server. I know nothing about this sort of program. Does anyone
> have any suggestions? The only functionality I need is uploading my
> mail.
This is the realm of the mail transfer agent (MTA), like
sendmail, qmail, exim, postfix, nullmailer, etc. I'll defer a
recommendation to someone else (Suresh?).
(darren)
--
Every thought you think is contributing its share to the ultimate
result of your life.
