• lemmyreader@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      A Terminal Email Client As An Alternative To Gmail: The Old Dog Neomutt And Pals

      A title like “A Terminal Email Client for Gmail As An Alternative To Gmail web: The Old Dog Neomutt And Pals” would be a better fit.

      • Hmm.

        OK, so I haven’t used Neomutt (or mutt) in ages, but I assume it’s about as capable as aerc, which I do use. Aerc is an alternative to Gmail in a couple of ways:

        1. If you interpret the meaning the way you did, aerc can access a gmail account via IMAP, just like any IMAP client can. So it’s a replacement for GMail web
        2. It can be configured to use notmuch, which is the most GMail-like interface to mail in that it indexes email for searching and uses tags instead of folders - like GMail. So it’s a replacement for GMail in that it behaves the most like GMail without being backed by GMail (although, you can connect it to a GMail account email corpus if you like).
        3. It can talk to any IMAP server, so it’s a replacement for GMail in the purest sense: there is nothing GMail involved.

        I suspect Neomutt is equally capable; I’ve just always disliked the UI.

        What were you expecting? A promo for ProtonMail, or a replacement as in, “hey you can go here and register an email account, so it’s a replacement for GMail?”

    • cheddar@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      Gmail is a service. A client is a client. A client can’t be an alternative to a service just like Firefox can’t be an alternative to Lemmy.

      • hellofriend@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Don’t be pedantic. It’s obvious the OP is referring to the client portion of Gmail, not the service portion.

        • cheddar@programming.dev
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          5 months ago

          The title says:

          An alternative to Gmail

          If the title is misleading, the problem is not on my side.

    • boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net
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      5 months ago

      Because

      • gmail has a simple web ui
      • is an integrated service you often accidentally get
      • a service and a client
      • does not need installation

      And so much more