+.. _email_clients:
+
Email clients info for Linux
-======================================================================
+============================
Git
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-These days most developers use `git send-email` instead of regular
+---
+
+These days most developers use ``git send-email`` instead of regular
email clients. The man page for this is quite good. On the receiving
-end, maintainers use `git am` to apply the patches.
+end, maintainers use ``git am`` to apply the patches.
-If you are new to git then send your first patch to yourself. Save it
-as raw text including all the headers. Run `git am raw_email.txt` and
-then review the changelog with `git log`. When that works then send
+If you are new to ``git`` then send your first patch to yourself. Save it
+as raw text including all the headers. Run ``git am raw_email.txt`` and
+then review the changelog with ``git log``. When that works then send
the patch to the appropriate mailing list(s).
General Preferences
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+-------------------
+
Patches for the Linux kernel are submitted via email, preferably as
inline text in the body of the email. Some maintainers accept
attachments, but then the attachments should have content-type
-"text/plain". However, attachments are generally frowned upon because
+``text/plain``. However, attachments are generally frowned upon because
it makes quoting portions of the patch more difficult in the patch
review process.
patch text untouched. For example, they should not modify or delete tabs
or spaces, even at the beginning or end of lines.
-Don't send patches with "format=flowed". This can cause unexpected
+Don't send patches with ``format=flowed``. This can cause unexpected
and unwanted line breaks.
Don't let your email client do automatic word wrapping for you.
Some email client (MUA) hints
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+-----------------------------
+
Here are some specific MUA configuration hints for editing and sending
patches for the Linux kernel. These are not meant to be complete
software package configuration summaries.
+
Legend:
-TUI = text-based user interface
-GUI = graphical user interface
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+- TUI = text-based user interface
+- GUI = graphical user interface
+
Alpine (TUI)
+************
Config options:
-In the "Sending Preferences" section:
-- "Do Not Send Flowed Text" must be enabled
-- "Strip Whitespace Before Sending" must be disabled
+In the :menuselection:`Sending Preferences` section:
+
+- :menuselection:`Do Not Send Flowed Text` must be ``enabled``
+- :menuselection:`Strip Whitespace Before Sending` must be ``disabled``
When composing the message, the cursor should be placed where the patch
-should appear, and then pressing CTRL-R let you specify the patch file
+should appear, and then pressing :kbd:`CTRL-R` let you specify the patch file
to insert into the message.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claws Mail (GUI)
+****************
Works. Some people use this successfully for patches.
-To insert a patch use Message->Insert File (CTRL+i) or an external editor.
+To insert a patch use :menuselection:`Message-->Insert` File (:kbd:`CTRL-I`)
+or an external editor.
If the inserted patch has to be edited in the Claws composition window
-"Auto wrapping" in Configuration->Preferences->Compose->Wrapping should be
+"Auto wrapping" in
+:menuselection:`Configuration-->Preferences-->Compose-->Wrapping` should be
disabled.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evolution (GUI)
+***************
Some people use this successfully for patches.
When composing mail select: Preformat
- from Format->Paragraph Style->Preformatted (Ctrl-7)
+ from :menuselection:`Format-->Paragraph Style-->Preformatted` (:kbd:`CTRL-7`)
or the toolbar
Then use:
- Insert->Text File... (Alt-n x)
+:menuselection:`Insert-->Text File...` (:kbd:`ALT-N x`)
to insert the patch.
-You can also "diff -Nru old.c new.c | xclip", select Preformat, then
-paste with the middle button.
+You can also ``diff -Nru old.c new.c | xclip``, select
+:menuselection:`Preformat`, then paste with the middle button.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kmail (GUI)
+***********
Some people use Kmail successfully for patches.
wrapping.
At the bottom of your email, put the commonly-used patch delimiter before
-inserting your patch: three hyphens (---).
+inserting your patch: three hyphens (``---``).
-Then from the "Message" menu item, select insert file and choose your patch.
+Then from the :menuselection:`Message` menu item, select insert file and
+choose your patch.
As an added bonus you can customise the message creation toolbar menu
-and put the "insert file" icon there.
+and put the :menuselection:`insert file` icon there.
Make the composer window wide enough so that no lines wrap. As of
KMail 1.13.5 (KDE 4.5.4), KMail will apply word wrapping when sending
If you absolutely must send patches as attachments instead of inlining
them as text, right click on the attachment and select properties, and
-highlight "Suggest automatic display" to make the attachment inlined to
-make it more viewable.
+highlight :menuselection:`Suggest automatic display` to make the attachment
+inlined to make it more viewable.
When saving patches that are sent as inlined text, select the email that
contains the patch from the message list pane, right click and select
-"save as". You can use the whole email unmodified as a patch if it was
-properly composed. There is no option currently to save the email when you
-are actually viewing it in its own window -- there has been a request filed
-at kmail's bugzilla and hopefully this will be addressed. Emails are saved
-as read-write for user only so you will have to chmod them to make them
+:menuselection:`save as`. You can use the whole email unmodified as a patch
+if it was properly composed. There is no option currently to save the email
+when you are actually viewing it in its own window -- there has been a request
+filed at kmail's bugzilla and hopefully this will be addressed. Emails are
+saved as read-write for user only so you will have to chmod them to make them
group and world readable if you copy them elsewhere.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lotus Notes (GUI)
+*****************
Run away from it.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mutt (TUI)
+**********
-Plenty of Linux developers use mutt, so it must work pretty well.
+Plenty of Linux developers use ``mutt``, so it must work pretty well.
Mutt doesn't come with an editor, so whatever editor you use should be
used in a way that there are no automatic linebreaks. Most editors have
-an "insert file" option that inserts the contents of a file unaltered.
+an :menuselection:`insert file` option that inserts the contents of a file
+unaltered.
+
+To use ``vim`` with mutt::
-To use 'vim' with mutt:
set editor="vi"
- If using xclip, type the command
+If using xclip, type the command::
+
:set paste
- before middle button or shift-insert or use
+
+before middle button or shift-insert or use::
+
:r filename
if you want to include the patch inline.
-(a)ttach works fine without "set paste".
+(a)ttach works fine without ``set paste``.
+
+You can also generate patches with ``git format-patch`` and then use Mutt
+to send them::
-You can also generate patches with 'git format-patch' and then use Mutt
-to send them:
$ mutt -H 0001-some-bug-fix.patch
Config options:
+
It should work with default settings.
-However, it's a good idea to set the "send_charset" to:
+However, it's a good idea to set the ``send_charset`` to::
+
set send_charset="us-ascii:utf-8"
Mutt is highly customizable. Here is a minimum configuration to start
-using Mutt to send patches through Gmail:
-
-# .muttrc
-# ================ IMAP ====================
-set imap_user = 'yourusername@gmail.com'
-set imap_pass = 'yourpassword'
-set spoolfile = imaps://imap.gmail.com/INBOX
-set folder = imaps://imap.gmail.com/
-set record="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
-set postponed="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Drafts"
-set mbox="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/All Mail"
-
-# ================ SMTP ====================
-set smtp_url = "smtp://username@smtp.gmail.com:587/"
-set smtp_pass = $imap_pass
-set ssl_force_tls = yes # Require encrypted connection
-
-# ================ Composition ====================
-set editor = `echo \$EDITOR`
-set edit_headers = yes # See the headers when editing
-set charset = UTF-8 # value of $LANG; also fallback for send_charset
-# Sender, email address, and sign-off line must match
-unset use_domain # because joe@localhost is just embarrassing
-set realname = "YOUR NAME"
-set from = "username@gmail.com"
-set use_from = yes
+using Mutt to send patches through Gmail::
+
+ # .muttrc
+ # ================ IMAP ====================
+ set imap_user = 'yourusername@gmail.com'
+ set imap_pass = 'yourpassword'
+ set spoolfile = imaps://imap.gmail.com/INBOX
+ set folder = imaps://imap.gmail.com/
+ set record="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
+ set postponed="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Drafts"
+ set mbox="imaps://imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/All Mail"
+
+ # ================ SMTP ====================
+ set smtp_url = "smtp://username@smtp.gmail.com:587/"
+ set smtp_pass = $imap_pass
+ set ssl_force_tls = yes # Require encrypted connection
+
+ # ================ Composition ====================
+ set editor = `echo \$EDITOR`
+ set edit_headers = yes # See the headers when editing
+ set charset = UTF-8 # value of $LANG; also fallback for send_charset
+ # Sender, email address, and sign-off line must match
+ unset use_domain # because joe@localhost is just embarrassing
+ set realname = "YOUR NAME"
+ set from = "username@gmail.com"
+ set use_from = yes
The Mutt docs have lots more information:
+
http://dev.mutt.org/trac/wiki/UseCases/Gmail
+
http://dev.mutt.org/doc/manual.html
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pine (TUI)
+**********
Pine has had some whitespace truncation issues in the past, but these
should all be fixed now.
Use alpine (pine's successor) if you can.
Config options:
-- quell-flowed-text is needed for recent versions
-- the "no-strip-whitespace-before-send" option is needed
+
+- ``quell-flowed-text`` is needed for recent versions
+- the ``no-strip-whitespace-before-send`` option is needed
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sylpheed (GUI)
+**************
- Works well for inlining text (or using attachments).
- Allows use of an external editor.
- Adding addresses to address book doesn't understand the display name
properly.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thunderbird (GUI)
+*****************
Thunderbird is an Outlook clone that likes to mangle text, but there are ways
to coerce it into behaving.
- Allow use of an external editor:
The easiest thing to do with Thunderbird and patches is to use an
- "external editor" extension and then just use your favorite $EDITOR
+ "external editor" extension and then just use your favorite ``$EDITOR``
for reading/merging patches into the body text. To do this, download
and install the extension, then add a button for it using
- View->Toolbars->Customize... and finally just click on it when in the
- Compose dialog.
+ :menuselection:`View-->Toolbars-->Customize...` and finally just click on it
+ when in the :menuselection:`Compose` dialog.
Please note that "external editor" requires that your editor must not
fork, or in other words, the editor must not return before closing.
You may have to pass additional flags or change the settings of your
editor. Most notably if you are using gvim then you must pass the -f
- option to gvim by putting "/usr/bin/gvim -f" (if the binary is in
- /usr/bin) to the text editor field in "external editor" settings. If you
- are using some other editor then please read its manual to find out how
- to do this.
+ option to gvim by putting ``/usr/bin/gvim -f`` (if the binary is in
+ ``/usr/bin``) to the text editor field in :menuselection:`external editor`
+ settings. If you are using some other editor then please read its manual
+ to find out how to do this.
To beat some sense out of the internal editor, do this:
-- Edit your Thunderbird config settings so that it won't use format=flowed.
- Go to "edit->preferences->advanced->config editor" to bring up the
- thunderbird's registry editor.
+- Edit your Thunderbird config settings so that it won't use ``format=flowed``.
+ Go to :menuselection:`edit-->preferences-->advanced-->config editor` to bring up
+ the thunderbird's registry editor.
-- Set "mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed" to "false"
+- Set ``mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed`` to ``false``
-- Set "mailnews.wraplength" from "72" to "0"
+- Set ``mailnews.wraplength`` from ``72`` to ``0``
-- "View" > "Message Body As" > "Plain Text"
+- :menuselection:`View-->Message Body As-->Plain Text`
-- "View" > "Character Encoding" > "Unicode (UTF-8)"
+- :menuselection:`View-->Character Encoding-->Unicode (UTF-8)`
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TkRat (GUI)
+***********
Works. Use "Insert file..." or external editor.
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gmail (Web GUI)
+***************
Does not work for sending patches.
Another problem is that Gmail will base64-encode any message that has a
non-ASCII character. That includes things like European names.
-
- ###
projects / GitHub / MotorolaMobilityLLC / kernel-slsi.git / commitdiff