From bd153e5b3e21ba6eedb72fd9774eaea605c760b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jan Pobrislo Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2016 19:21:29 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add a wiki page `software`. It lists programs usable together with notmuch and mail storage formats and variations they use. --- howto.mdwn | 4 +- software.mdwn | 153 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 155 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) create mode 100644 software.mdwn diff --git a/howto.mdwn b/howto.mdwn index 77df009..7b86f62 100644 --- a/howto.mdwn +++ b/howto.mdwn @@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ utilities support these formats: * [muchsync](http://www.muchsync.org/) - replicate and synchronize your notmuch database (mail and tags) across machines -See the [[initial_tagging]] page for more info on initial tagging of -messages. +See more exhaustive list of [[software]] notmuch works with and the +[[initial_tagging]] page for more info on initial tagging of messages. ## **Sync notmuch tags and maildir flags** diff --git a/software.mdwn b/software.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25fb6e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/software.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,153 @@ +[[!img notmuch-logo.png alt="Notmuch logo" class="left"]] +# Sofware working with Maildir and Notmuch + +## **Mail storage formats** + +Notmuch can index any mail that is stored as singular files in directory structure. +Here are some popular formats used. + +### **Maildir** + +This is the native mail storage format for notmuch. +In addition to indexing mail content notmuch can synchronize standard maildir flags with notmuch tags. See [[special-tags]]. + +[Original specification](http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html), for extensions see below. + +There are slight differences on how to handle the `new` subdirectory. +While the definition specifies it's for freshly-delivered mail before adding flags only, some software (notably mutt) use it for all unread mail even after the flags were added to filenames. + +### **NNTP Spool** + +As NNTP uses incrementing number for each message in a newsgroup those are often used for filenames in NNTP software. +Notmuch can index mail stored like this, but flag synchronization is unavailable and mail-reading software that expects maildir might not work with it. + +### **MH folders** + +This is structured very much like NNTP Spool with numbered messages in a directory. +Above statements apply. + +## **Notmuch frontends** + +Have a separate [[wiki page|frontends]]. + +## **Mail fetchers and synchronizers** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
NameBidirectionalProtocolKeywords/tagsMore info
offlineimapyesIMAP4standard-only?-
muchsyncyescustomnotmuch database-
dsyncyesIMAP4/POP3/customdovecot format + +
mbsync/isyncyesIMAP4standard-only-
getmailnoIMAP4/POP3no-
fetchmailnoIMAP4/POP3nono maildir support, can deliver to SMTP or local MDA
imapfwyesIMAP4?work in progress
+ +Other links of interest: + +* [mswatch](http://mswatch.sourceforge.net/) Triggers sync on mailbox changes. +* [mailsync](http://mailsync.sourceforge.net/) Based on UW library that doesn't support Maildir out of the box. MH folders are supported. +* [imapsync](http://imapsync.lamiral.info/) (unidirectional) +* [slrnpull](http://slrn.sourceforge.net/docs/slrn-FAQ-5.html) Fetches NNTP newsgroups (such as USENET or Gmane) into numbered spool format which notmuch can index. + +## **Filters and mail delivery agents** + +* [procmail](http://www.procmail.org/) +* Courier (or standalone): [maildrop](http://www.courier-mta.org/maildrop/) +* Dovecot: [dovecot-lda](http://wiki.dovecot.org/LDA) +* Postfix: [local](http://www.postfix.org/local.8.html) +* Exim: [appendfile](http://exim.org/exim-html-current/doc/html/spec_html/ch-the_appendfile_transport.html#SECTmaildirdelivery) +* Qmail: [qmail-local](http://qmail.org/man/man8/qmail-local.html) +* OpenSMTPD: supports tuning via [.forward](https://www.opensmtpd.org/forward.5.html) files + +Many MDAs also support filtering via [Sieve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_%28mail_filtering_language%29) language. + +## **IMAP servers** + +Internet Mail Access Protocol servers that can interoperate with notmuch. +It is of note that IMAP protocol supports storing so-called [keywords](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501#page-11) (user-defined flags) which are mostly equivalent to notmuch tags. +Unfortunately Maildir does not have standard way to encode keywords, so there are extensions neccessary to store that information. + +### **Dovecot** + +The fully standard-compliant IMAP server. +Has efficient syncing and multimaster replication capability. + +* Homepage: http://dovecot.org/ +* Maildir extensions: http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailboxFormat/Maildir + +Up to 26 different keywords can be stored per-maildir using Maildir flags a-z. +Their meaning is defined via `dovecot-keywords` file which is simple, well-defined text file which maps each letter to specifig tag/keyword. +If more than 26 keywords appear in one Maildir then some of them are stored in [dovecot-specific](http://wiki.dovecot.org/Design/Indexes/MainIndex) [index files](http://wiki.dovecot.org/IndexFiles). +Dovecot's dsync will sync keywords into this format. + +### **Courier** + +The origin of [Maildir++](http://www.courier-mta.org/imap/README.maildirquota.html) format. Ships many useful commandline tools. + +Further maildir specification: http://www.courier-mta.org/maildir.html + +It stores keywords in [courierimapkeywords](http://www.courier-mta.org/imap/README.imapkeywords.html) inside the maildir. +It supports arbitrary amount of keywords, but unfortunately actually reading them is rather convoluted process. + +### **Other** + +* UW-IMAP supports MH folders and there is a patch for Maildir support. +* Cyrus has it's [own mailbox format](http://www.cyrusimap.org/docs/cyrus-imapd/2.5.7/internal/mailbox-format.php), but stores messages as single files which should be indexable. -- 2.43.0