Re: Commit mailbox, good idea?

["Jesse D . Sightler" <jsight mindspring com>]

On Tue, 13 Apr 1999 06:00:10 Richard Hult wrote:
> A mailer is an application you use quite much, and reading/sending mail
> should be very easy and quick.
> 
> One way of making balsa a bit more easy and quick to use, would be to get
> rid of the "commit" thing. When I press delete, I want the mail to go
> directly to the trash and disappear from the current mailbox. And of course
> the same if I move a mail to another mailbox.
> 
> Does anyone agree with me or am I alone on this? ;)

Ok, everyone has been banging around the periphery of this issue without really hitting
the core.  :)  Currently Balsa does (is supposed to) commit changes after you manually
order it to do so, or if you close the mailbox.  This is vastly different from every other
mailer.  Most other popular mailers generally ONLY commit changes when you manually order them to.  :)
(of course, there are exceptions, but that's why I said... "most":)

Of course, they all call it different things.  Under Netscape it is called "compress folders".
In reality all this does is purge messages marked for deletion.  I forget what Outlook Express
calls it, but it is something remarkably similar.  The point is that nobody commits immediately,
they just go through more contortions to hide this from the poor unsuspecting user (who in many cases
doesn't know that merely deleting a message still leaves it out on the hard drive in plain text for
the world to see:).

The major differences are that these mailers do not normally display messages marked for deletion
along with other mail, and they fully support the concept of a Trashcan.  Balsa probably ought
to do both of these things.  At some point in the future, it probably will.  :)

---------------
Jesse D. Sightler
http://www3.pair.com/jsight/

"An honest answer can get you into a lot of trouble." 
         - Anonymous