Posted on 04/05/2024 10:42:05 AM PDT by zeugma
I'm running Kubuntu 22.04.
I've been annoyed for some time that Thunderbird removed support for Movemail a while back. I have searched for ways around it, to no avail. I'd like to be able to read my local system mail using something more then just the command-line mail program.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for an email program that will move mail from /var/spool/mail/ This is strictly local mail. I do not intend to send mail at all from this
Linux Ping!....................
you mean besides pine, alpine, or elm?
found this online because I was curious (I don’t use it) about mail transfer agents. Maybe it helps
https://superuser.com/questions/306163/what-is-the-you-have-new-mail-message-in-linux-unix
Where is this mail?
It’s likely to be in the spool file: /var/mail/$USER or /var/spool/mail/$USER are the most common locations on Linux and BSD.
(Other locations are possible – check if $MAIL is set – but by default, the system only informs you about /var(/spool)/mail.)
Usually the spool file is in a very simple mbox format, so you can open it in a text editor or pager.
For a slightly more convenient way, most distributions come with a program called mail (or Mail, mailx). You can try mutt or alpine; you can even configure it to be sent to an outside mailbox. (See “is this real mail?” below.)
What does it contain, and who/what sent it?
Most often the messages contain output of cron jobs, or a system security report by logwatch, or similar junk. Read it and find out.
How important is it?
Depends greatly on the contents of each message.
You should at least scan the subject headers – often people ignore the mail for months never realizing that their daily cron jobs fail.
Is this even actual “mail” in the same sense as email? Or is it just my system telling me something?
Yes to both – it’s generated by your system telling you something, but it’s also actual email and can be handled as such.
You can (and should) configure your mail software – the “MTA” aka /usr/sbin/sendmail – to forward the messages to your personal mail address. The exact instructions vary depending on which MTA (if any) you have installed, whether this is a personal computer or a server, whether you have your own domain or use a @gmail.com, and so on.
Note that /usr/sbin/sendmail nowadays is a shared API and doesn’t necessarily mean the original Sendmail MTA. In fact, you shouldn’t use Sendmail, but something more modern like OpenSMTPD, Postfix, or Exim4. All of them provide the same /usr/sbin/sendmail tool, but they’re easier to configure, more secure, and just as powerful.
I haven’t used pine in years. Didn’t even think of it. Might work for this purpose. Thanks!
mv $(grep -l hey inbox/*) hey/
“hey” is in the Subject line.
Ref.:
https://www.unix.com/unix-for-dummies-questions-and-answers/91352-command-file-moving-emails.html
Wow, pine, that takes me back. Right out of the good old days.
Wow, pine, that takes me back. Right out of the good old days.
pine was apparently not in my repo, but alpine was. Works perfect for what I need! I’m getting old and forgetful of my roots in forgetting pine.
My Thunderbird was configured to update automatically, but when they upgraded the program to version 105 I put a halt to that and rolled it back to version 102. 105 broke too many things that I liked, especially the color schemes. So my suggestion would be uninstall your current version, reinstall the last version 102, then afterwards turn off the auto-update in both the config editor and the program itself. It’s the only thing that saved me the grief and frustration of dealing with programmers who forget how to keep a program user friendly.
“ I’m getting old and forgetful of my roots in forgetting Pine”
Looks like you made a pun. 👍
where did you get version 102? Looks like I’m on 102, because I’ve been using the standard repos for Mint.
https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/102.9.1/
I never use the standard repos for any Linux O/S. I’ll go to the manufacturer website and download the most recent from them, like in the case of Thunderbird, also the Palemoon web browser and LibreOffice.
Sounds like you can install and run LFS
It's the biggest reason why I like Windows 7 and Linux. You can pretty do what you want, if you know how to do it. For instance:
1. when I install Linux Mint, I use 18.3 because I find it's the most stable and it can browse my Windows network easily. Yeah it's older, but the kernel can be updated if you know where to find it.
2. I will also uninstall the standard version of LibreOffice, Firefox and Thunderbird, and I will install latest version of LibreOffice, the 102 version of Thunderbird and the latest versions of Palemoon, Slimjet and Brave. I will also install MasterPDF and the latest version of Gimp. That's it, that's all I need. I uninstall anything I don't need or want.
3. Windows 7 the same thing. W7, Office 2010 or 2016, Acrobat 10, Photoshop CS5, the same browsers as stated above and Thunderbird 102. However, I am finding that my browsers in W7 are losing their effectiveness because Chromium no longer supports W7 and all the Chromium browsers are increasingly not working since they won't update. However, since I tri-boot my computers with W7, W10 and Linux I can go back and forth between them and get what I need to do, done.
I'm a scraper when it comes to all things IT. I guess that's a big reason why the IT folks in the Air Force didn't like me. I drove them nuts! I gave my aircrews the best IT equipment I knew to get and THEY were happy. Base IT folks, not so much! LOL
“I never use the standard repos for any Linux O/S. I’ll go to the manufacturer website and download the most recent from them.”
Wise to always go to the default repository first because it is trusted and curated. It makes it easier to install and uninstall if you like later and properly creates the menu listing for you. I just go update that one app with the terminal after installing it which will bring it up to current.
“Yeah it’s older, but the kernel can be updated if you know where to find it.”
Sharing where with others if you don’t mind because it is easy. In the update manager click “view” and then “linux kernels” and it will give you a list of kernels you can select and install or switch as you like using the update manager. Read the warning though, it could break 3rd party stuff but the devs are pretty good about making sure it will not.
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