Libremail

Libremail is a continuation of free software for the treatment of the email (email).

History

The Projet Libremail comes from an individual initiative of Bernard Chardonneau (France). It was a question of writing under Linux a whole of tools for the management of the emails intended to replace Microsoft Internet Email while bringing solutions to noted problems, which also exist on more recent mailers:

the arrival of a large email (not inevitably desired) on the waiter of transport can strongly delay the Téléchargement other emails, particularly with a telephone link STN,
if the connection with the waiter is stopped during a remote loading, the already downloaded emails will owe the being once again. With one to net traditional, one is thus constrained to download all the emails of only one blow.

The writing of the software constituting the first version of Libremail has took 7 to 8 months. Started in October 2002, it was possible end December 2002 to download the received emails and to answer it. But it is only in February 2003 that the treatment of the attached files was available. The whole of the tools planned for version 1.0 of Libremail was operational during the first week of May 2003.

In version 1.0, the various tools of Libremail were written to treat the emails correctly coming from netting more running of the time, namely Outlook Express. The problem is that the standards MIME of transmission of the emails envisage, as well in the heading of the email as in the body of the message, several of possibilities for the Encodage of characters, the Character set accentuated, the cutting of the email in section… moreover, each to net takes freedoms compared to the standards. One of the evolution of the tools of Libremail will have been to treat more and more particular case in the format of the received emails. The other evolutions relate to the addition of additional tools or options of operation for the existing tools.

Libremail is diffused on the Web since the beginning June 2003. Libremail is diffused under a license free, briefer and less legal than GNU LPG. This license of use insists on the need for diffusing the source S of the programs (and not of the compiled programs) and on the possibility of translating these programs in other languages.

The first version of the site was only in French. However, in order to run the counter to those which estimate that the use of the English language is sufficient to be included/understood well by all the inhabitants of the planet, the author of Libremail chose to translate his Web site which is available into 6 Langue S using the European alphabet since December 2003 and into 8 languages since March 2004 (French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Esperanto). These Traduction S largely calls upon sites In line of Automatic translation and the author wishes that human translators improve the translations carried out. Since March 2005, this site is lodged by Tuxfamily, a shelterer specialized in the free productions. But the initial site on Free was preserved and the 2 sites are updated.

Side documentation, in addition to the explanations provided on the Web site, of the pages of man (written in the 8 languages of the site) are available since September 2004.

Nevertheless, to version 1.2.2 (August 2006) of Libremail, the user interface of the various software was exclusively in French. In addition, if the received emails can since the beginning use a character set as well accentuated ISO-8859-1 with ISO-8859-15 as the character set UTF-8, the user of Libremail was to use to him the character set ISO-8859-1 /15 so that the display and the input of the accentuated characters are carried out correctly, which is not any more the standard for the distribution S Linux recent. It is in July 2006 that a study in three stages started aiming at solving these two problems. Version 2.0 (March 2007) has recourse to data files to offer a user interface in the 8 languages of the Web site and makes it possible to use the character set UTF-8.

Characteristics

Libremail was conceived to function on the systems Linux (and UNIX). Its author does not hope to carry out to him even a bearing towards Windows.

To conceive Libremail, the author was based on an idea of the creators of the operating system UNIX: " tools which do few things, but which does them bien". Libremail is composed of 29 distinct software (a 30ème is in project) able for some to function in an autonomous way (launched in Ligne of order or in Shell S, Cron S etc), for others to dialog with the user in Page layout view (use of the arrows and other keys of the keyboard).
No complementary software is necessary for the sending and the reception of the emails. It is enough that the computer is configured to use the protocols POP and smtp.

Since version 2.0 (even the Béta versions 1.9.2 and 1.9.3) the analysis of the Variable of environment $LANG makes it possible the software automatically to determine the character set accentuated to use (ISO-8859-1 /15 or UTF-8), and the language in which the messages will be posted.

Other characteristics are enumerated low for explains the Slogan " Libremail is not Outlook" .

Fulfilled functions

Visualization (number, list, contained…) emails arrived in the letter-box of the mail server.
automatic Removal of the nondesired emails:

emails comprising a character string prohibited in the field shipper, subject, recipient etc (of the files contain the list of the prohibited chains)
emails written exclusively in HTML (very rare that they are not spams)
emails exceeding a limiting size (but a list of shippers authorized to send large emails can be made up).
emails sent in hidden copy (possible list of shippers authorized).
In the last 3 cases an automatic answer can be sent to the shipper of a refused email.

Remote loading (total or partial) of the emails present in the letter-box of the mail server.
allowing Tool, in combination with the orders Grep, sed, mv, etc to classify the last emails downloaded in distinct repertory S according to their characteristics (shipper, chain and characters in the subject…).
Visualization (list and contents) of the emails downloaded, on standby of sending, or already sent.
Extraction of the attached files.
Drafting of emails, answer, transfers.
Addition of attached files to an email to be sent.
Sending of the emails.
Tool for encoding of the password associated with each letter-box.

Slogans

" Libremail is not Outlook" : This slogan enumerates certain characteristics of Libremail which distinguish it from Outlook Express (and of much of mailers which copies it of which Thunderbird):

a file for each email.
Of many tools specialized rather than only one software with to do everything (and which makes some much less!).
Mode text privileged with the detriment of the emails in HTML, interface in text mode. One sticks to the editorial contents of the emails rather than to the visual aspect that the HTML makes it possible to the advertizing executives to propose in their Spam S.
With one of the tools, in the event of cut of connection Internet during a remote loading, it is not necessary to again recover the already downloaded emails.
Libremail does not take a dangerous initiative without the knowledge of the user as soon as it recovers an attached file (is with the user to decide to open these files).
No Graphical interface (often slow!) is not necessary to use Libremail. But certain tools make it possible nevertheless to work in Page layout view by using the keys of the keyboard.
the source S of Libremail are provided of office. Their low volume (in comparison with the sources of other free applications) should make it possible any programmer C to adapt Libremail to its needs without too many difficulties.

" Freedom is not a marchandise" : Slogan appeared in 2005 whereas another Web site chose to use the name " Libremail" to sell a Antispam service. It is intended to recall that Libremail is a continuation of free software, and that this freedom implies for the user the possibility of using free Libremail ement, for all that it makes it possible to make, including for the filtering of the spams.

See too

External bonds

Official site on free
Official site on tuxfamily

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