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authorPatrick Totzke <patricktotzke@gmail.com>2018-11-11 13:37:54 +0000
committerPatrick Totzke <patricktotzke@gmail.com>2018-11-11 13:37:54 +0000
commit952364471243bd044a406b09ca790f048762b015 (patch)
tree17da90db25efefcc98bda3d8f9eb954bb450a72a /docs
parentfba66ff666d3ed6502ffff26b7a95aea5ccf9473 (diff)
docs: reformat faq
the html one is now on top
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
-rw-r--r--docs/source/faq.rst122
1 files changed, 63 insertions, 59 deletions
diff --git a/docs/source/faq.rst b/docs/source/faq.rst
index 17833a05..75fb5963 100644
--- a/docs/source/faq.rst
+++ b/docs/source/faq.rst
@@ -1,83 +1,87 @@
-FAQ
-***
+Frequently Asked Questions
+**************************
-1. Why reinvent the wheel? Why not extend an existing MUA to work nicely with notmuch?
+.. _faq_1:
+.. rubric:: 1. Help! I don't see `text/html` content!
- alot makes use of existing solutions where possible: It does not fetch, send or edit
- mails; it lets `notmuch <http://notmuchmail.org>`_ handle your mailindex and uses a
- `toolkit <http://excess.org/urwid/>`_ to render its display. You are responsible for
- `automatic initial tagging <http://notmuchmail.org/initial_tagging/>`_.
+You need to set up a mailcap entry to declare an external renderer for `text/html`.
+Try `w3m <http://w3m.sourceforge.net/>`_ and put the following into your
+:file:`~/.mailcap`::
- This said, there are few CLI MUAs that could be easily and naturally adapted to using notmuch.
- Rebuilding an interface from scratch using `friendly and extensible tools <http://www.python.org/>`_
- seemed easier and more promising.
+ text/html; w3m -dump -o document_charset=%{charset} '%s'; nametemplate=%s.html; copiousoutput
- Update: see `mutt-kz <https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz>`_ for a fork of mutt..
+Most `text based browsers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-based_web_browser>`_ have
+a dump mode that can be used here.
-2. What's with the snotty name?
+.. _faq_2:
+.. rubric:: 2. Why reinvent the wheel? Why not extend an existing MUA to work nicely with notmuch?
- It's not meant to be presumptuous. I like the dichotomy; I like to picture the look on
- someone's face who reads the :mailheader:`User-Agent` header "notmuch/alot"; I like cookies; I like
- `this comic strip <http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html>`_.
+alot makes use of existing solutions where possible: It does not fetch, send or edit
+mails; it lets `notmuch <http://notmuchmail.org>`_ handle your mailindex and uses a
+`toolkit <http://excess.org/urwid/>`_ to render its display. You are responsible for
+`automatic initial tagging <http://notmuchmail.org/initial_tagging/>`_.
-3. I want feature X!
+This said, there are few CLI MUAs that could be easily and naturally adapted to using notmuch.
+Rebuilding an interface from scratch using `friendly and extensible tools <http://www.python.org/>`_
+seemed easier and more promising.
- Me too! Feel free to file a new or comment on existing
- `issues <https://github.com/pazz/alot/issues>`_ if you don't want/have the time/know how to
- implement it yourself. Be verbose as to how it should look or work when it's finished and
- give it some thought how you think we should implement it. We'll discuss it from there.
+Update: see `mutt-kz <https://github.com/karelzak/mutt-kz>`_ for a fork of mutt..
-4. Why are the default key bindings so counter-intuitive?
+.. _faq_3:
+.. rubric:: 3. What's with the snotty name?
- Be aware that the bindings for all modes are :ref:`fully configurable <config.key_bindings>`.
- That said, I choose the bindings to be natural for me. I use `vim <http://www.vim.org>`_ and
- `pentadactyl <http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/>`_ a lot. However, I'd be
- interested in discussing the defaults. If you think your bindings are more intuitive or
- better suited as defaults for some reason, don't hesitate to send me your config. The same
- holds for the theme settings you use. Tell me. Let's improve the defaults.
+It's not meant to be presumptuous. I like the dichotomy; I like to picture the look on
+someone's face who reads the :mailheader:`User-Agent` header "notmuch/alot"; I like cookies; I like
+`this comic strip <http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html>`_.
-5. Help! I don't see `text/html` content!
+.. _faq_4:
+.. rubric:: 4. I want feature X!
- better: How do I properly set up an inline renderer for `text/html`?
- Try `w3m <http://w3m.sourceforge.net/>`_ and put the following into your
- :file:`~/.mailcap`::
+Me too! Feel free to file a new or comment on existing
+`issues <https://github.com/pazz/alot/issues>`_ if you don't want/have the time/know how to
+implement it yourself. Be verbose as to how it should look or work when it's finished and
+give it some thought how you think we should implement it. We'll discuss it from there.
- text/html; w3m -dump -o document_charset=%{charset} '%s'; nametemplate=%s.html; copiousoutput
+.. _faq_5:
+.. rubric:: 5. Why are the default key bindings so counter-intuitive?
- Most `text based browsers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-based_web_browser>`_ have
- a dump mode that can be used here.
+Be aware that the bindings for all modes are :ref:`fully configurable <config.key_bindings>`.
+That said, I choose the bindings to be natural for me. I use `vim <http://www.vim.org>`_ and
+`pentadactyl <http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/>`_ a lot. However, I'd be
+interested in discussing the defaults. If you think your bindings are more intuitive or
+better suited as defaults for some reason, don't hesitate to send me your config. The same
+holds for the theme settings you use. Tell me. Let's improve the defaults.
-6. Why are you doing $THIS not $THAT way?
+.. _faq_6:
+.. rubric:: 6. Why are you doing $THIS not $THAT way?
- Lazyness and Ignorance: In most cases I simply did not or still don't know a better solution.
- I try to outsource as much as I can to well established libraries and be it only to avoid
- having to read rfc's. But there are lots
- of tasks I implemented myself, possibly overlooking a ready made and available solution.
- Twisted is such a feature-rich but gray area in my mind for example.
- If you think you know how to improve the current implementation let me know!
+Lazyness and Ignorance: In most cases I simply did not or still don't know a better solution.
+I try to outsource as much as I can to well established libraries and be it only to avoid
+having to read rfc's. But there are lots
+of tasks I implemented myself, possibly overlooking a ready made and available solution.
+Twisted is such a feature-rich but gray area in my mind for example.
+If you think you know how to improve the current implementation let me know!
- The few exceptions to above stated rule are the following:
+The few exceptions to above stated rule are the following:
- * The modules cmd and cmd2, that handle all sorts of convenience around command objects
- hate urwid: They are painfully strongly coupled to user in/output via stdin and out.
- * `notmuch reply` is not used to format reply messages because 1. it is not offered by
- notmuch's library but is a feature of the CLI. This means we would have to call the notmuch
- binary, something that is avoided where possible. 2. As there is no `notmuch forward` equivalent,
- this (very similar) functionality would have to be re-implemented anyway.
+* The modules cmd and cmd2, that handle all sorts of convenience around command objects
+ hate urwid: They are painfully strongly coupled to user in/output via stdin and out.
+* `notmuch reply` is not used to format reply messages because 1. it is not offered by
+ notmuch's library but is a feature of the CLI. This means we would have to call the notmuch
+ binary, something that is avoided where possible. 2. As there is no `notmuch forward` equivalent,
+ this (very similar) functionality would have to be re-implemented anyway.
.. _faq_7:
+.. rubric:: 7. I thought alot ran on Python 2?
-7. I thought alot ran on Python 2?
-
- It used to. When we made the transition to Python 3 we didn't maintain
- Python 2 support. If you still need Python 2 support the 0.7 release is your
- best bet.
+It used to. When we made the transition to Python 3 we didn't maintain
+Python 2 support. If you still need Python 2 support the 0.7 release is your
+best bet.
.. _faq_8:
+.. rubric:: 8. I thought alot used twisted?
-8. I thought alot used twisted?
-
- It used to. After we switched to python 3 we decided to switch to asyncio,
- which reduced the number of dependencies we have. Twisted is an especially
- heavy dependency, when we only used their async mechanisms, and not any of
- the other goodness that twisted has to offer.
+It used to. After we switched to python 3 we decided to switch to asyncio,
+which reduced the number of dependencies we have. Twisted is an especially
+heavy dependency, when we only used their async mechanisms, and not any of
+the other goodness that twisted has to offer.