I just can’t find a decent email client that looks like it’s from the last 20 years. Geary and Evolution both appear to be pretty modern but something about using Gmail with a Yubikey just doesn’t work and neither of them will connect to my account. Both on Fedora and OpenSUSE. Thunderbird works but it’s so old fashioned and Betterbird doesn’t look much better. What’s everyone else using?

  • DerinA
    1•2 months ago

    Notifications on folders a have been added (I sort all my mail into a plethora of folders, keeping my inbox empty, so for me this is non-negotiable), and they all sync with a single f5 now.

    Might be worth checking out again?

    • @dan@upvote.au
      2•1 month ago

      Interesting… Which email provider do you use?

      Can you choose which folders use real-time push vs which folders use polling?

      • DerinA
        2•1 month ago

        Fastmail.

        Can you choose which folders use real-time push vs which folders use polling?

        I’m afraid not. I’m pretty sure the entire account uses polling. I’ll usually open the app and hit F5 to quickly poll for results, otherwise I’m waiting for the next sync.

        Having said that, the unread counter works fine for sub-folders:

        Edit: I was wrong, Mailspring uses the IMAP IDLE extension to wait for new mail delivery. Still doesn’t stop me from spamming F5 when I’m waiting for new mail to arrive.

        • @dan@upvote.au
          2•1 month ago

          I was wrong, Mailspring uses the IMAP IDLE extension to wait for new mail delivery

          The reason I was asking about the folders is that IMAP IDLE only works for one folder at a time. If you want real-time push for 10 folders (for example), it has to open 10 separate IMAP connections. Because of this, clients usually either only enable push for the inbox, or let you choose which folders to enable it for.

          • DerinA
            1•1 month ago

            Aah, now I understand.

            There is no such setting that I’m immediately aware of - but I am automatically getting messages for my folders. So I’m assuming it’s doing something in the background: most likely a periodic sync for the entire account.

            Definitely doesn’t sound like the behavior you wanted, my bad. But, at least there are notifications on the folders once mail is received. 😅

            Edit: In the repo for their sync engine it explains:

            Mailspring uses a fairly basic syncing algorithm, which runs on two threads with two open connections to the mail server. Within each thread, work is performed synchronously.

            Background Worker: Periodically iterates over folders and (depending on the supported IMAP features) uses CONDSTORE / XYZRESYNC to check for mail or performs either a “local” or “deep” sync of part of the folder’s UID space.

            Foreground Worker: Idles on the primary folder and wakes to syncs changes. Also wakes to perform other tasks, like fetching message bodies the user clicks.

            So the foreground worker only idles on the primary folder, but it does slowly iterate over all folders in the background.

            No settings have been added for this functionality (that I’m aware of).

            Edit 2: Went back and read your original comment; hadn’t noticed the PR was yours. If that’s the case then you’re probably aware of how the sync works anyway. My bad if I’ve posted stuff you’re already aware of.