[Evolution] workaround for mbox problem

["E. Joshua Rigler" <Jrigler colorado edu>]

I'll break with tradition and actually post a solution (to be followed
shortly by a related question ;^)...

I was recently forced to keep track of "Local Mail" using older style
mbox folders (Pine/Mutt/Elm-friendly mailboxes).  In doing so, I
encountered a problem that I see is not altogether uncommon, based on
what I read in the Evolution list archives.  Evolution will mark a
folder with bold-face type if it contains unread messages, and display
the number of unread messages in that folder to the right.  It
apparently has no way of "remembering" that that folder had any unread
messages if one shuts down Evolution and restarts.

One trick is to configure an IMAP server with access to your local
directories.  Evolution allows you to configure an IMAP account such
that it queries the server for any/all new messages upon startup.  Since
I am no longer able to maintain a local IMAP server, I had to come up
with another solution.  My work-around was to set up a "virtual folder"
that scanned all my local mbox folders for unread messages.  This works
well enough for me, and in fact has the added advantage of a convenient
place to check the total number of new messages in the local directories
(perhaps I should point out that the reason I have "new" messages in my
local folders is that I have a number of filters that automatically move
things from my INBOX to appropriate local folders).

My only question is whether or not this "feature" in Evolution (the fact
that it can't remember the status of a particular mbox folder) is
intentional.  That, and does anyone out there have a better solution
than the one I just described?

Thanks for your attention.

-EJR