On Fri, 12 Jul 2002, J C Lawrence wrote:
>
> Urk. I'm on similar high volume lists and instead use keyword
> and pattern matching to extract and externally present those bits
> I think I might be interested in (those messages get copied to a
> second <listname>-interesting folder). That way there's no fetch
> delay time for the specific messages I tag and I can easily read
> the whole list or backtrack a thread should I wish to.
>
> Simpler, faster, more featured. Good stuff.
That would require A) far more computer skill than I've got
(If someday it were to be an option to just turn on, the likes of
me would delight in it -- but not, I fear, in my time,) and B) far
more memory than I can afford. I'm already paying extra to double
my quota with ISP, and still have to archive a bunch of stuff onto
CD at least once a month to keep from breaking it. (And in my
particular case, also C -- I haven't yet found time to learn to ftp
to CD on linux; that's one of the things I still reboot to W98 for,
when it (sigh) has to be done.)
> Quite simply the fetchable index approach seems an unmitigated
> pain with no gain or benefit _UNLESS_ your mail system is so
> poorly featured that you effectively have no (or extremely poor)
> filtering tools (which pretty well defines all mass market MUAs).
Pine has acquired filtering tools, but that was during my
first year or so of retirement, when I had not yet found an ISP
offering shell accounts; they have developed to the point of what
seems to me considerable complexity already, and I haven't found
time to learn to use them more than minimally. I do filter a couple
of lists into folders, on things I hope to find time to study one
day -- and if I don't look out, they pile up there and bust my
quota.
Using the index tool is indeed a pain, but not unmitigated.
It has three mitigations. One, it works -- with no learning curve
(It must have been a vast benefit when first invented); two, it
doesn't bust quota if I forget to turn my subscription off when we
go out of town and offline; three, seeing it every day reminds me
to get to it. (Some occupational hazards mark you for life: once a
professor, always absent-minded.)
Also, not a mitigation, but a reluctant benefit, having to
bother diminishes the amount I shoot my mouth off; my car carries a
warning sign that ought to go on my forehead, I suppose: Warning!
Retiree! Knows everything, and has plenty of time to tell you about
it. (Sigh) The (quite small) downside of being on no schedule
(wonderful; glorious; worth retiring for) is that you tend to
concentrate on the item at hand, unhurriedly. <grin>
--
RR 'Beartooth' Neuswanger <karhunhammas (at) lserv.com>
double retiree, linux greenhorn running pine 4.43 on ISP's SunOS 5.8;
Opera 6.02, Pan 0.11.2, Galeon 1.2.0, & Mozilla 0.9.9 under RH 7.2
Keep in mind that I have no idea what I am talking about.
References:
|
|
