Recommended maildir sorting - Re: Why Gnus is creating .nnmaildir directory in my maildir?

[Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support>]

Recommended maildir management is as following:

1. Create new maildir for each email address. For example
   ss@example.com would be saved in a Maildir:

   ~/Maildir/ss@example.com/ with its sub-directories tmp, cur and new
   ~/Maildir/other-person@example.com/ would be saved as Maildir

2. Every email received save by using From: field, to the Maildir
   folder corresponding to From: email address.

3. Every email sent, save into same folder, corresponding to To: email
   address

4. Exception are mailing lists that could be stored by one email
   address, but even then, storing it by person as original poster is
   pretty handy to find out what was conversation about.

The above is most efficient setup I know for long term, like decades
long email management. It allows user to quickly locate all
conversations related to specific email address.

Searching emails and listing them in a specific folder for specific
email address is then way faster compared to storing all emails, let
us say into "Archive" other type of directory trees. But with proper
copy action or symlinking, it is possible to have multiple sorting
methods with same messages when using Maildirs.

IMHO Maildir should be prime and most secure method for management of
emails in Emacs, yet we do not have much software that supports it
natively.

Gnus does not support it natively, it is influencing Maildir folders.

As Maildir is set of 3 directories, it is meant to remain untouched
for purpose of read only accessing it. That is the beauty, just access
directory, list files by reading headers.

For purposes of reply operations, there is nothing to do with the
existing messages, but reading them.

For purposes of copy of the message or moving it to other Maildir,
there is safe method invented by Maildir authors, and that is easy to
do with Emacs.

By following the efficient system above it is then very easy to
connect any kind of address book management to corresponding lists of
emails as they are stored in Maildir folders by their email
address. All conversation related to one person is then visible.

-- 
Jean

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