The mail client. From mutt to alpine and back to mutt.

I'm a long time Mutt user and sometimes, well, it just don't feel right.
Especially when using IMAP, GPG, HTML messages, ..., the unsane defaults
lead to hours of fiddling the rc files.

Alpine has been around for a while (well, it's a pine clone) and has a
large fan base promoting its "simplicity" over Mutt. "Just as good,
fatless, sane defaults", huh, yummy.

My mail setup looks like that :
- IMAP accounts to Maildir folders on a Debian box, thanks to
"offlineimap"
- direct Maildir access from mutt over ssh in screen (classic win)
- indirect Maildir access through a local IMAP server on the debian box
This setup allows me a decent sync/backup, offline access,
- I use many external apps with mutt like : html/pdf/xls/doc/odt to
text, lbdb as an external PIM, mairix for virtual folders, gpg,
muttprint for pretty printing, ...

Alpine features an address book, an integrated setup utility, good IMAP
and GPG setup ... but :
- in Debian, it doesn't support Maildir :/ (See #405762, early 2007)
- the setup utility is just insane
- I just can't use this non-vi-like UI : pressing "/" doesn't trigger
the search function
- nano for editor ... No joke.

Well, the whole non-vi-like thing just calls "apt-get remove --purge
alpine".

Mutt: http://mutt.org
Alpine: http://www.washington.edu/alpine/
Offlineimap:
http://software.complete.org/software/projects/show/offlineimap
--
Jérôme

Some useful tips for Mutt and GPG

Ok, time passes and my mutt/GPG config is getting old. Here come some
useful I may forget again.

** GPG :
- list keys with "gpg --list-keys"
- add / remove adresses within your key with "gpg --edit-key KEYID"
- export key to pgp.mit.edu like pgp servers with "gpg --send-key KEYID"

** Mutt
- general GPG config here :
- encrypt/sign messages pressing "p" just before sending "y"
- decrypt messages, no matter their content type using "check-
traditional-pgp" : "ESC-P"
- auto-decrypt messages with : '''message-hook '!(~g|~G) ~b"^-----BEGIN
\ PGP\ (SIGNED\ )?MESSAGE"' "exec check-traditional-pgp"'''
- forget passphrase with "CTRL-F"

Dev version has "pgp_auto_decode" ...

Nouvelle version de l'API Geoportail

Ark ark ark, une nouvelle version de l'API Géoportail arrive ... aujourd'hui.

Plus de fonds, changement de conditions d'utilisation, ... a priori, que du mieux.

Voir le message d'annonce ici

Net-install and setup Debian PPC on New World Imac g3

Got an old nice looking mac your girlfriend can't resign to refurb ?
Like Linux running on it to serve as a juke / web / bittorrent client
box instead of your deprecated and slow MacOSX 10.3 ?

Debian is a nice Linux distribution for PPC systems (YellowDog,
Net/OpenBSD should be OK as well).
As those old Imac CD drives are most of the time out of order, let's
try a netboot install ; macs are shipped with OpenFirmware, which,
since v4.1, can netboot using bootp/tftp. If unsure, try to upgrade
your firmware (called "Internal program" by Apple update manager).

Requirements :
============

- Imac G3 400Mhz - 256M
- any unix box than can provide bootp/tftp


Setting up a netboot server
======================

On your Debian server box :

1. install "tftpd-hpa" and "bootp" servers
$ atp-get install tftd-hpa bootp

2. create "/tftpboot" folder
$ mkdir /tftpboot

3. check /etc/inetd.conf for these lines and edit accordingly :
...
bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/bootpd
bootpd -i -t 120
tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
/usr/sbin/in.tftpd -v -v -v -s /tftpboot
...

4. check /etc/bootptab and edit accordingly :
...
client:\
hd=/tftpboot/:\
bf=tftpboot.img:\
ip=192.168.1.20:\
sm=255.255.255.0:\
sa=192.168.1.21:\
ha=003065A6C878:
...
where :
sa=.21 is my debian server IP
ip=.20 is the imac IP
ha= is the MAC (hardware address) of the active ethernet device

5. monitor logs in a different shell/window
$ tail -f /var/log/daemons

6. restart inetd service
$ /etc/init.d/openbsd-inetd restart

7. change to /tmp/ ang fetch Debian PPC netboot image
$ lftp ftp://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/lenny/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/
> mirror netboot
> exit
$ mv /tmp/netboot/* /tftpboot/

Netbooting the Imac
================

1. Start and hold "CMD + OPT + O + F" until you can see the OF (Open
Firmware) prompt

2. type :
> boot enet:192.168.1.21,yaboot
where 192.168.1.21 is the IP of my Debian-bootp-server,

3. you should face the yaboot prompt (boot.msg) : just read the
instructions (press enter)

Installing
=======

Be careful at DHCP config time, if your BOOTP server is still active,
the Debian installer might have some problems to get an IP from the
DHCP. You can safely disconnect the bootp/tftp server during this
phase

Nothing special here, just install Debian the way you like it.


Final words
==========

- The iMac is a decent desktop as a net/juke box even with Gnome loaded.
One could try some lightweight environments to speed it up a little.

- Power management doesnt't work at all for now (s2ram or s2disk).

- 2D performances are correct, refresh is a bit slow.