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Marrying Gmail and Mutt

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the get-it-together dept.

teumima writes "I found this article very nice and simple on how to configure mutt for g-mail." Indeed; nice piece. I've been experimenting with using Gmail as my default mail drop, but don't really want to be dependent on being online or just POP; I just wish they would let me pay for IMAP service. Linux.com is also owned by OSTG.

31 comments

  1. Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've tried to figure this out a few times. Thanks! *salute*

  2. Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Move along...

  3. Braindead article by brunes69 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was expecting/hoping to find an article on how to download my GMail while preserving my labels (treating them as folders).

    What I got was a tutorial on how to use POP in Mutt.

    What does this article even have to do with GMail, other than it happened to be the person's POP server?

    GMail's POP access is basically useless IMO. Until they get IMAP I will continue with my current scheme, whereby I send all email to GMail, and forward it to my own IMAP server as well. Then I can read my email with an IMAP client when at home and work, and with GMail when on the road.

    1. Re:Braindead article by xiong.chiamiov · · Score: 1

      Same here. I know that I _can_ use POP in Gmail, but that defeats the whole point of Gmail. Conversations? 2 gigs storage? Labels, Google-searching my email, etc.?

      --
      have you read the Moderation Guidelines Addendum?
    2. Re:Braindead article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Gmail is marrying Mutt ? Mutt Lange ? He's splitting with Shania Twain ?
      I don't believe it.

      But, just in case ... Shania, 555-1234. Call me.

    3. Re:Braindead article by kernelpanicked · · Score: 1

      While I agree that an article on configuring fetchmail and mutt is not exactly ground breaking, the point is to get your mail out of that horrid gmail interface and into a real mail client.

      --
      Ubuntu: If at first you don't succeed, blindly slap a sudo in front of it
    4. Re:Braindead article by kernelpanicked · · Score: 1

      and on my hard drive just to counter. procmail? 120+ GB of storage? mboxgrep searching with full regex?

      --
      Ubuntu: If at first you don't succeed, blindly slap a sudo in front of it
    5. Re:Braindead article by pembo13 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why have a Gmail account at all if you don't like the UI ?

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    6. Re:Braindead article by kernelpanicked · · Score: 1

      Good point. Myself, I have plenty of domains and servers to handle my email, so I use Gmail to catch all the crap messages I may or may not want. Some people don't have this luxury and just need an email account with pop access.

      --
      Ubuntu: If at first you don't succeed, blindly slap a sudo in front of it
    7. Re:Braindead article by crush · · Score: 1

      Because you want a nice, reliable web-interface for when you're somewhere without one of your own machines, but you prefer the efficiency of using Mutt when you're at the office or at home.

    8. Re:Braindead article by spiritraveller · · Score: 1

      While I agree that an article on configuring fetchmail and mutt is not exactly ground breaking

      Yeah, especially since the article is over a year old.

    9. Re:Braindead article by xiong.chiamiov · · Score: 1

      See, but that storage you have to pay for (granted, not much, but). I don't need more clutter on my hd. And, ... crap I forgot what I was going to say. That's what happens when you're IMing and /.ing at the same time lol.

      --
      have you read the Moderation Guidelines Addendum?
    10. Re:Braindead article by NateTech · · Score: 2, Informative

      Agreed. Another "let's say these two things are related" article with key buzzwords to get people to think there's really news here. POP in mutt is news? Please. Really.

      --
      +++OK ATH
    11. Re:Braindead article by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1
      Being able to use a 'fat' client for email is the selling point for me. (Only ever had access to IMAP once, so POP3 suffices).

      Many providers offer free web mail (advertising revenue).Some offer free POP3. I've signed up for these twice and been stung. All of a sudden I can receive mail but not send. Turns out, via an obscure note on their website that SMTP is now a premium service! This is a problem because:

      1. If you're outside your home ISP you may not be able to piggyback off a known SMTP server (think wireless hotspot)
      2. Spam filters do block emails that aren't sent from the same SMTP server

      I hope that gmail's SMTP remains free or I'll be looking for yet another free service.

    12. Re:Braindead article by k33l0r · · Score: 1

      I don't understand why people complain about the gmail UI. I feel that hotmail (old and the new 'live' one) are far, far worse. The same goes for yahoo and aol (only signed up for that to get an xdrive account)... I love the way gmail is uncluttered, hotmail has flashing, screaming ads all over the place.

  4. Sounds kinky. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No text.

  5. POP. by Aladrin · · Score: 1

    It's just POP. It's nothing special. If you've ever used MUTT for POP3, then you've done this.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  6. Married? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1

    So. GMail married mutt! Doesn't that take the cake? In High School, they didn't even like each other!

    Wasn't Stallman married to a DEC PDP System at one point?

    Share the software, and you'll be free...

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:Married? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      Wasn't Stallman married to a DEC PDP System at one point?

      Yes, but one day he hooked a gas chromatograph up to it, and it could suddenly smell him...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. GMail IMAP is needed by j0ebaker · · Score: 1

    There are concerns about some IMAP clients being implemented innefficiently.

    Still, I really thing Google should support the protocol. Maybe they could detect the patterns of the inneficient clients and simply disconnect them untill the client's protocol support is cleaned up.

    For the most part, I LOVE Mozilla Thunderbird's IMAP support. I have 45 email users using Thunderbird with IMAP.

    -Joe Baker
    IT Administrator
    NEL Frequency Controls, Inc.

    1. Re:GMail IMAP is needed by On+Lawn · · Score: 1


      Check out iGmail.

      I tried it out yesterday, in fact. It works as advertised, which means many limitations. But it does translate Gmail to IMAP efficiently and effectively.

      The two limitations are based on Gmail. You can't copy from another email address to Gmail, so it isn't an import tool. I don't know there is any way to simply import mail to Gmail (all I've seen is one that forwards all the mail in your mailbox). The other limitation is based in the different paradigms of folders and labels. iGmail handles labels as best as it can in the folder paradigm, but it takes some thought to get used to. Its pretty straight forward though.

    2. Re:GMail IMAP is needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Gmail handles a few more than 45 email accounts though...

    3. Re:GMail IMAP is needed by Anonymous+Bullard · · Score: 1
      The disclaimer at the bottom of the iGmail site might constitute a third "limitation"..

      --

      Should invading one's peaceful neighbours be opposed, or rewarded with trade deals?

    4. Re:GMail IMAP is needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean the same disclaimer at the bottom iGmail site?

  8. No IMAP == no ads. POP for backups. by jetxee · · Score: 1
    I think Gmail will not offer IMAP in the near future (gratis). This will make the web interface, we all like so much, less attractive. Who will read ads after that?

    Though offering at least POP access is very important. This is the way I may make offline backup of my mail archive. And prefer using web interface :)

  9. Should read: IMAP == no ads by jetxee · · Score: 1

    Sorry for wrong subject: it should be read as "IMAP == no ads". I forgot to proof-read the title.

  10. Not a great article by crush · · Score: 1

    I suppose part of the blame for my reaction to this article is the title that Slashdot editors gave it "Marrying Gmail and Mutt" which implies complete integration, whereas the original article title is "Fetching email with Mutt" (a much more modest endeavour that is covered fairly well). However the article fails on that foot too by suggesting that there's a need to use an external fetchmail, whereas Mutt can be compiled to have POP support built in and some simple editing of .muttrc will then suffice. (That said it's probably a bit cleaner to have a separate program for downloading the mail and just to let mutt do the job it does best). http://www.mutt.org/doc/manual/manual-4.html#ss4.1 0

  11. German by SlashGet · · Score: 0, Troll

    If slashdot should be in booth German and English, should the subject on this article be "Marrying Gmail and your Mutter" then?

  12. Google, are you listening? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Maybe I'm going a little OT, but I'm a mutt fan myself, and although I like GMail, I wouldn't consider it for my corporation unless/until it provides a little more than it currently does.

    I would readily outsource my corporate email to Google under the following conditions:

    * Provide IMAP support. Sending labels as X-Label headers would be icing on the cake.
    * Give me a privacy policy. Requirements:
        - If I delete an email, it is deleted. Period.
        - Backup/restore run by my corporation, not Google.
        - Guarantee that nothing but uncontroversial demographic data will be shared with third parties
    * Mailing List Management.
    * Good management tools (account add/hold/delete, etc.) for corporate IT. Scriptable.
    * No ads.

    The privacy bit is really important. No-one, not even the government, should every have access to my user's email. The only way I want the Government to have access to any user data is via subpoena to my corporation. I do not want anyone submitting subpoena's to a third party for my corporate data.

    People will pay good money for this; especially if integrated with calendaring and chat. Give the people what they want, and they'll eat it up.

  13. Mutt has *native* POP support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this article is pointless.

  14. New name needed by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 1

    (gah, yeah, I'm gonna say it)

    I for one welcome our new Gm'muttail (pronounced Gum-mutt tail) overlords.

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)