Re: Best Emacs Mail client.

[Jean Louis]

* Amin Bandali <bandali@gnu.org> [2020-11-15 18:24]:
> Jean Louis writes:
> 
> [...]
> >
> > Maildir format is number one choice for me, and I wish Emacs could be
> > able to handle that, but it does not.
> > https://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html
> >
> [...]
> 
> That is not quite true, though.  Emacs can handle Maildir via nnmaildir,
> Gnus's Maildir backend; albeit with some quirks, such as slower startup
> times for Gnus for large number of messages.

It is not handling really maildirs but it is making something out of
maildirs, producing new files, etc. And it is never ending for
me. I have tried it. There are many maildir folders here on my side.

In general good maildir handling program does not need to do anything
with maildirs until they are accessed. Gnus tries to do what it does
(don't know) and I never get the list of maildirs. So it is not
functional for users that go over certain limits.

> Alternatively, one can use nnimap, Gnus's IMAP backend, and point it
> to a local dovecot instance in front of a local maildir.

Mails on my side are spread and written from various computers and
installing more specific software just to read file system is not
logical.

To handle maildirs for me means to be able to quickly access specific
message by its Message ID or to simply open maildir folder and list
messages and do the usual stuff. Similar how rmail behaves. I am fine
with Emacs sending of emails. Nic Ferrier's package for Maildir is
something closest to what I find efficient and I do use it when I wish
to display all emails from specific user as such emails are in
specific directory.

> Advantages of doing so include the efficiency of dovecot in handling
> large amounts of mail, and trivially easy email synchronization with
> other machines through IMAP, using isync's mbsync.

Normally to read emails in Maildir I use Mutt.

Now for Emacs to read emails in Maildir efficiently I would need to
either fight with nnmaildir in Gnus or use IMAP. It increases number
of settings especially when using emails from multiple machines.

By the way, movemail from GNU Mailutils works well and is well tweaked
to move mails from anywhere to anywhere.

> Have you tried using Gnus's nnimap?  I don't have nearly as many maildir
> folders, but I do have multiple hundred folders, and a total of several
> hundred thousand messages, and my dovecot+nnimap setup has been handling
> it very well thus far.

I understand that and is good to get reminded. As I am using
HyperScope for Emacs, I have to keep it simple for easier referencing
and opening. There are too many command lines that depend on simple
reading from file system. It is easier to keep it simpler without
intermediary IMAP.

IMAP supports some searches but I never used it. Mutt supports load of
searches.

mu4e does not support really direct Maildir access, it only supports
database use. For notmuch I do not know.

So best chance is with that maildir.el package

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