bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c

another instance of Emacs in mail composer mode


In GNU Emacs 29.1 (build 1, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.38,
cairo version 1.17.8)
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12101010
System Description: Arch Linux

Configured using:
'configure --sysconfdir=/etc --prefix=/usr --libexecdir=/usr/lib
--with-tree-sitter --localstatedir=/var --with-cairo
--disable-build-details --with-harfbuzz --with-libsystemd
--with-modules --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 'CFLAGS=-march=x86-64
-mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -fno-plt -fexceptions -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2
-Wformat -Werror=format-security -fstack-clash-protection
-fcf-protection -g
-ffile-prefix-map=/build/emacs/src=/usr/src/debug/emacs -flto=auto'
'LDFLAGS=-Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro,-z,now -flto=auto''

Configured features:
ACL CAIRO DBUS FREETYPE GIF GLIB GMP GNUTLS GPM GSETTINGS HARFBUZZ JPEG
JSON LCMS2 LIBOTF LIBSYSTEMD LIBXML2 M17N_FLT MODULES NOTIFY INOTIFY
PDUMPER PNG RSVG SECCOMP SOUND SQLITE3 THREADS TIFF TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS
TREE_SITTER WEBP X11 XDBE XIM XINPUT2 XPM GTK3 ZLIB

Important settings:
value of $LANG: pl_PL.UTF-8
locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Fundamental

Minor modes in effect:
shell-dirtrack-mode: t
tooltip-mode: t
global-eldoc-mode: t
show-paren-mode: t
electric-indent-mode: t
mouse-wheel-mode: t
tool-bar-mode: t
menu-bar-mode: t
file-name-shadow-mode: t
global-font-lock-mode: t
font-lock-mode: t
blink-cursor-mode: t
line-number-mode: t
indent-tabs-mode: t
transient-mark-mode: (only . t)
auto-composition-mode: t
auto-encryption-mode: t
auto-compression-mode: t

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(reveal noutline outline two-column kmacro conf-mode network-stream
url-http url-gw url-auth eww xdg url-queue shr pixel-fill kinsoku
url-file svg dom mm-url gnus nnheader range cus-theme eieio-custom
xwidget url-handlers bookmark wid-browse tree-widget icon server locate
bib-mode tabify w32-vars ebnf2ps ps-print ps-print-loaddefs lpr dos-vars
tramp tramp-loaddefs trampver tramp-integration files-x tramp-compat
parse-time iso8601 format-spec ntlm hmac-md5 hex-util md4 nsm net-utils
ldap kermit gravatar dns url-cache goto-addr gnutls eudc-vars dig dbus
xml bug-reference ange-ftp cus-edit cus-start cus-load icons wid-edit
cl-print debug backtrace display-line-numbers doc-view filenotify
image-mode exif ps-mode sh-script rx smie treesit executable misearch
multi-isearch dired-aux shell pcomplete comint ansi-osc ring find-func
cl-extra shortdoc thingatpt help-fns radix-tree mailalias mailclient
textsec uni-scripts idna-mapping ucs-normalize uni-confusable
textsec-check help-mode pp shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug message
yank-media puny dired dired-loaddefs rfc822 mml mml-sec epa derived epg
rfc6068 epg-config gnus-util text-property-search mm-decode mm-bodies
mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader sendmail
rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils browse-url url
url-proxy url-privacy url-expand url-methods url-history url-cookie
generate-lisp-file url-domsuf url-util url-parse auth-source cl-seq
eieio eieio-core cl-macs password-cache json map byte-opt gv bytecomp
byte-compile url-vars mailcap mule-util jka-compr info time-date subr-x
apropos imenu man cl-loaddefs cl-lib ansi-color rmc iso-transl tooltip
cconv eldoc paren electric uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type
elisp-mode mwheel term/x-win x-win term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd
fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment
text-mode lisp-mode prog-mode register page tab-bar menu-bar rfn-eshadow
isearch easymenu timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax
font-core term/tty-colors frame minibuffer nadvice seq simple cl-generic
indonesian philippine cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese
tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek
romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
composite emoji-zwj charscript charprop case-table epa-hook
jka-cmpr-hook help abbrev obarray oclosure cl-preloaded button loaddefs
theme-loaddefs faces cus-face macroexp files window text-properties
overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget keymap
hashtable-print-readable backquote threads dbusbind inotify lcms2
dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting cairo
move-toolbar gtk x-toolkit xinput2 x multi-tty make-network-process
emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 388751 43463)
(symbols 48 18372 4)
(strings 32 79709 4859)
(string-bytes 1 1923938)
(vectors 16 57221)
(vector-slots 8 900167 46232)
(floats 8 442 232)
(intervals 56 14049 1321)
(buffers 984 51))

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Manuel Giraud via Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors]

Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl> writes:

> M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c

Hi,

What are you trying to achieve here?  It seems that after "test", you
have filled the mail subject but then 'C-c' is not a complete command.

> another instance of Emacs in mail composer mode

What does that mean?
-- 
Manuel Giraud

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c C-c

Emacs is configured (by default) to tell the browser to send mail.  So the browser has to figure out what it can use to send mail.  So it looks around and examines applications that are ready to send mail.  It happens the only such application is Emacs, so it launches another instance of Emacs.  Da capo al fine.

On 19.01.2024 10:33, Manuel Giraud wrote:
> Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl> writes:
>
>> M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c
> Hi,
>
> What are you trying to achieve here?  It seems that after "test", you
> have filled the mail subject but then 'C-c' is not a complete command.
>
>> another instance of Emacs in mail composer mode
> What does that mean?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Cc: 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:36:02 +0000
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c C-c
> 
> Emacs is configured (by default) to tell the browser to send mail.  So the browser has to figure out what it can use to send mail.  So it looks around and examines applications that are ready to send mail.  It happens the only such application is Emacs, so it launches another instance of Emacs.  Da capo al fine.

So it sounds like what happens is according to how you configured your
system.  Why do you consider this an Emacs bug?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

Emacs does not tell the system the truth when it claims it can handle 
mailto requests.  It cannot.

When Emacs detects that it has been invoked to handle a mailto request 
and it is configured to outsource the job, which is the default nowadays 
and rightfully so, it should refuse and instruct the user to configure 
their default mailto handler otherwise or to configure Emacs to use the 
internal handler, which is bound to fail except under very special 
circumstances because direct e-mail messages will probably bounce.

On 19.01.2024 11:57, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Cc: 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:36:02 +0000
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> M-x mail a@b.com C-n test C-c C-c
>>
>> Emacs is configured (by default) to tell the browser to send mail.  So the browser has to figure out what it can use to send mail.  So it looks around and examines applications that are ready to send mail.  It happens the only such application is Emacs, so it launches another instance of Emacs.  Da capo al fine.
> So it sounds like what happens is according to how you configured your
> system.  Why do you consider this an Emacs bug?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:06:34 +0000
> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> Emacs does not tell the system the truth when it claims it can handle 
> mailto requests.  It cannot.

Where and how does Emacs tell the system it can handle mailto
requests?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

C-x C-f /usr/share/applications/emacs-mail.desktop

 > MimeType=x-scheme-handler/mailto;

On 19.01.2024 12:12, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:06:34 +0000
>> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> Emacs does not tell the system the truth when it claims it can handle
>> mailto requests.  It cannot.
> Where and how does Emacs tell the system it can handle mailto
> requests?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

tags 68582 notabug wontfix
close 68582
thanks

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:16:20 +0000
> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> C-x C-f /usr/share/applications/emacs-mail.desktop
> 
>  > MimeType=x-scheme-handler/mailto;

If you configure Emacs to outsource the email job, you should tell the
system Emacs cannot handle mailto requests.  The emacs-mail.desktop
file that comes with Emacs is not meant to be used in all possible
system configurations, it is just a useful template and example.  It
is the responsibility of the user or system admin to modify it when
the system is configured in a way that contradicts the assumptions in
emacs.desktop.

So I don't think this is an Emacs bug to fix, and I'm therefore
closing it.

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

I did not configure Emacs to outsource the e-mail sending job, it is the 
DEFAULT configuration.

Neither the user nor the administrator can overwrite /usr stuff, it is 
maintained by the package manager.  If you think I can override it 
instead, I would appreciate a hint on how to do it.

Do you mean that the file emacs-mail.desktop should go to 
docs/emacs/examples instead of applications?

On 19.01.2024 12:35, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> tags 68582 notabug wontfix
> close 68582
> thanks
>
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:16:20 +0000
>> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
>> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
>>
>> C-x C-f /usr/share/applications/emacs-mail.desktop
>>
>>   > MimeType=x-scheme-handler/mailto;
> If you configure Emacs to outsource the email job, you should tell the
> system Emacs cannot handle mailto requests.  The emacs-mail.desktop
> file that comes with Emacs is not meant to be used in all possible
> system configurations, it is just a useful template and example.  It
> is the responsibility of the user or system admin to modify it when
> the system is configured in a way that contradicts the assumptions in
> emacs.desktop.
>
> So I don't think this is an Emacs bug to fix, and I'm therefore
> closing it.

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:51:05 +0000
> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> I did not configure Emacs to outsource the e-mail sending job, it is the 
> DEFAULT configuration.

What do you mean by "default configuration"?

If you installed Emacs (including the emacs.desktop file) from a
distro, then please take this up with the distro maintainers: they
should configure Emacs to be able to send email if they install the
emacs.desktop file.  If you built and installed Emacs yourself, it is
your responsibility to either configure Emacs to be able to send
email, or not install the emacs.desktop file if you don't.

> Neither the user nor the administrator can overwrite /usr stuff, it is 
> maintained by the package manager.  If you think I can override it 
> instead, I would appreciate a hint on how to do it.

With sudo, I presume.

But if Emacs was installed with a package manager, and the result is
that Emacs is both declared as a handle for mailto and is unable to
send email, then please take this up with whoever prepared the distro
you installed using the package manager.

> Do you mean that the file emacs-mail.desktop should go to 
> docs/emacs/examples instead of applications?

My opinion is and has always been that it is a mistake to distribute
emacs.desktop, because setting up applications on the user systems is
not something the Emacs project should be involved in.  But people
disagreed, so we now have this file, and sure enough it causes trouble
to users.  So from my POV, this file should go to the trash bin.

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Christopher Yeleighton]

Thank you.  I would suggest to change the rejection reason to downstream.

On 19.01.2024 14:38, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> What do you mean by "default configuration"?
>
> If you installed Emacs (including the emacs.desktop file) from a
> distro, then please take this up with the distro maintainers: they
> should configure Emacs to be able to send email if they install the
> emacs.desktop file.
>

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:43:38 +0000
> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> From: Christopher Yeleighton <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> 
> Thank you.  I would suggest to change the rejection reason to downstream.

I would agree, but AFAIK we don't have such a tag in this bug tracker.

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Krzysztof Żelechowski]

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bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2024 15:42:08 +0100
> From: Krzysztof Żelechowski <giecrilj@stegny.2a.pl>
> Cc: manuel@ledu-giraud.fr, 68582@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> It concur that the desktop file should not be installed.  It has turned out that downstream does not
> install this file except as instructed by us.
> 
> <URL: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/emacs/-/issues/1#note_157822 >
> 
> We should stop installing it.  It lies to the desktop and disables one of the crucial functionalities,
> namely reporting a bug in Emacs, leaving the user perplexed and frustrated.

Maybe the emacs-mail.desktop file as included in the Emacs release
tarballs should have some prominent comment in it warning about this
issue?

bug#68582: 29.1; Emacs does not handle mailto requests

[Krzysztof Żelechowski]

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