Re: [orca-list] Best email solution?

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 05:31:17PM +0100, Alastair Irving wrote:
> Personally, I still run mutt either from the gnome-terminal using orca or
> from a standard virtual console using speakup.  In my opinion, just because
> orca provides us with very good access to graphical applications it doesn't
> necessarily make them the best for the job, and I haven't seen a graphical
> email client that can compete with mutt.

I agree, and Mutt also works very well with BRLTTY, particularly if you
specify
set braille_friendly=yes
in your configuration file.

As for the more general point, my strategy is to use GUI programs only when
they are the best tools for the task at hand. Often, under Linux, this is not
the case: working from the console is frequently more efficient.

The only X-based e-mail software I am aware of which has been claimed
competitive with Mutt, is Claws-mail. As discussed on this list some time ago
(see the archives for the details), it currently offers limited accessibility
with Orca.

Another advantage of console-based e-mail is that you can choose which editor
to use. Thus, if you are an Emacs enthusiast (or a Vim enthusiast), you can
edit all of your e-mail in the familiar and flexible environment that you like
to use for other editing tasks.

I also agree with those on the list who have pointed out that copying text
between X applications and terminal applications is sometimes desirable. I
think this creates a strong rationale for fixing the remaining Orca and
Gnome-terminal related bugs.