Chapter 7. Email
Applications
Email is a very popular way of communicating with others over
the Internet. An application that allows users to send, receive,
and read email is called an email client.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux includes several email applications,
including graphical email clients like Evolution and Thunderbird, and text-based clients like
mutt. Each of the email client
applications is designed to suit specific types of users; so, you
can choose one with the features that best suits your particular
needs.
The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how to use some of
the popular email applications included in Red Hat Enterprise
Linux. Since all email clients perform the same basic tasks (send
and receive email), you should choose one that is convenient and
easy to use.
This chapter briefly discusses the following email clients:
Before you launch an email client, you need information from
your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to configure the client
properly. The following is a list of important configuration
information:
- Your email address
-
The email address you use to send and receive mail. This is
usually in the form of <yourname>@<example.com>. In
this example, <yourname> is your user name and
<example.com> is the domain name for your ISP.
- Server type for receiving email
-
In order to receive mail, you must know what type of server the
ISP is using, POP or IMAP.
POP, short for Post Office Protocol, is
used to send email from a mail server to your email client's
inbox, the place where incoming email is
stored. Most ISP email servers use the POP protocol, although some
use the newer IMAP protocol. POP mail is downloaded to your email
client directly and does not stay on the
server by default (although most email clients can be configured to
leave email on the server as well).
IMAP, short for Internet Message Access
Protocol, is a protocol for retrieving email messages from your
ISP's email server. IMAP differs from POP in that email from IMAP
servers are stored on the server and not downloaded to the mail
client.
- Address for receiving email
-
In order to receive mail, you must obtain the address of the POP
or IMAP server from your ISP. This address is usually in the form
of mail.example.com.
- Server type for sending email (SMTP)
-
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP) is a protocol for sending email messages between mail
servers. Most email systems use SMTP to send messages over the
Internet; the messages can then be retrieved with an email client
using either POP or IMAP. SMTP is also used to send messages from a
mail client to a mail server. This is why you need to specify both
the POP or IMAP server and the SMTP server when configuring an
email application.
If you have any questions regarding what information you need,
contact your ISP or network administrator. Unless properly
configured, you cannot make full use of the email clients discussed
in this chapter.
7.1.
Evolution
Evolution is more than just an email
client. It provides all of the standard email client features,
including powerful mailbox management, user-defined filters, and
quick searches. Additionally, it features a flexible
calendar/scheduler which allows users to create and confirm group
meetings and special events online. Evolution is a full-featured personal and work
group information management tool for Linux and UNIX-based systems,
and is the default email client for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
To launch Evolution from the desktop
panel, go to => => , or
click on the Email icon on your Panel.
The first time you start Evolution
you are presented with the Welcome Screen (Figure 7-1), which
allows you to configure your email connection. Follow the on-screen
instructions and fill in the information you collected from your
ISP or administrator in the text boxes provided. When you are done,
click Finish. Evolution proceeds to the Main Screen as shown in
Figure
7-2.
To view what is in your inbox or to send an email, click on the
Mail button in the left toolbar, then
select the Inbox icon from the list of
folders.
To compose a new message, click on the down arrow beside the
New icon. Select Mail
Message from the drop-down list. You can also press
[Shift] -[Ctrl] -[M] . Enter the
address of the recipient in the To field,
the subject of the email in the Subject
field, and the text of your message in the large pane below. You
can spell check your email before sending by going to => or by pressing [Shift]
-[Ctrl] -[L] . You can attach documents by clicking on the
Attach icon. A window opens that allows you
to navigate to the file you would like to attach. Click on the name
of the file to highlight it, then click on the Open button. Finally, when you are finished, click
the Send button to send.
While Evolution does much more than
read and send email, this chapter focuses exclusively on its email
capabilities. To learn more about Evolution's other features, refer to the
Help text.
