From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Robert Thorpe Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: using movemail directly in .emacs Date: Sun, 25 May 2014 20:54:18 +0100 Message-ID: <87bnul63dh.fsf@robertthorpeconsulting.com> References: <8738fzcpvz.fsf@yun.yagibdah.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1401047695 28900 80.91.229.3 (25 May 2014 19:54:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 25 May 2014 19:54:55 +0000 (UTC) Cc: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, ichijyo@macross.sdf.jp To: lee Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sun May 25 21:54:48 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1WoeVL-0003Mr-Cs for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Sun, 25 May 2014 21:54:47 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:53108 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1WoeVL-0003YH-2N for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Sun, 25 May 2014 15:54:47 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:43349) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1WoeV3-0003Ud-Lz for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 25 May 2014 15:54:36 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1WoeUw-0002ed-Is for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 25 May 2014 15:54:29 -0400 Original-Received: from outbound-smtp04.blacknight.com ([81.17.249.35]:42733) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1WoeUw-0002eT-Cc for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Sun, 25 May 2014 15:54:22 -0400 Original-Received: from mail.blacknight.com (pemlinmail04.blacknight.ie [81.17.254.17]) by outbound-smtp04.blacknight.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9A76D9848A for ; Sun, 25 May 2014 19:52:07 +0000 (UTC) Original-Received: (qmail 6599 invoked from network); 25 May 2014 19:54:19 -0000 Original-Received: from unknown (HELO RTLaptop) (rt@robertthorpeconsulting.com@[109.77.171.68]) by 81.17.254.9 with ESMTPSA (DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA encrypted, authenticated); 25 May 2014 19:54:19 -0000 In-Reply-To: <8738fzcpvz.fsf@yun.yagibdah.de> (message from lee on Sat, 24 May 2014 14:39:12 +0200) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6.x X-Received-From: 81.17.249.35 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:97857 Archived-At: lee writes: > Hikaru Ichijyo writes: >> Is any of this impossible or misguided? I'd just strongly prefer my >> mailbox in the system spool area where most UNIX tools expect it to >> be. > > It`s not impossible, yet it doesn`t make much sense. Using a single > file like the spool file is an anachronism (and apparently doesn`t work > too well over NFS). A single file is very awkward to work with: When > you delete an email somewhere within the file or set a flag (like read, > answered, etc.), the whole file needs to be rewritten. That wouldn`t be > ideal with a file of over 4GB. > > In any case, the file can easily be damaged, in which case you might > loose all your email. What happens when your computer crashes while > it`s copying or rewriting your 4GB+ spool file? Spool files are a temporary storage area for email. A user reads their mail using a program (a "Mail User Agent" or MUA) which takes the mail from the spool file and stores it elsewhere. For most MUAs all mail is moved from the spool file to somewhere in the user's home directory. For some MUAs the "inbox" is the spool file, normally for those the user is expect to move stuff out into other files. The problem here isn't that spool files are an anarchonism, it's that they're not made for storing large amounts of mail. It may now work on some system too because they have scripts that delete very large spool files. (Notice I'm not saying that spool files aren't an anachonism. Multi-user *nix computers that are never switched off are going the way of dinosaurs and spool files with them.) BR, Robert Thorpe