{"slug": "mutt", "name": "mutt", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "Open-source, text-based email client for the terminal on Unix-like systems.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 11, "warners": 0, "score": 6.008, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2025-11-17", "latest": "2026-10-22", "why": "Liked as a long-lived primary email client for terminal users that gets through mail quickly and avoids read tracking and embedded JavaScript.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 7, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Longevity", "Terminal workflow"], "caveat": "Mobile use", "short_quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "http://www.mutt.org/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["mutt", "Mutt"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked as a long-lived primary email client for terminal users", "cites": [{"id": 777545777, "item_id": 48596611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48596611", "by": "jjav", "date": "2026-06-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is still my primary email client.", "excerpt": "> It's quite difficult to find software older than Emacs in widespread use. Agredd! Aside from the basic Unix commands (ls, cat, etc), the only substantial program that I use today that I also used in 1991, is emacs. Well, and perl. I don't write much perl these days, but I have tons of perl scripts accumulated over the decades that I use daily so that counts as using it. Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is s", "context": "long-time Unix user since 1991", "use_case": "primary email client", "switched_from": "elm", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 786133728, "item_id": 49133358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133358", "by": "sylware", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "mutt forever.", "excerpt": "It is never really for \"One\". If it is open source and published, It may be use by others... not to mention coding AI ML (Machine Learing), then for many. I have written so much software for one... I cannot recall everything. I use some of it daily: - I have my custom elf(glibc)/linux distro - I use my own ffmpeg based x11 media player (will have an update for wayland). - Since the \"geniuses\" at gogol blocked all acc", "context": "writes own minimal software for Linux", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software for One"}, {"id": 745184835, "item_id": 46574052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46574052", "by": "lelanthran", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used elm, then pine, then mutt", "excerpt": "> Markdown was based on the \"syntax\" already being used informally in emails and on IRC. News to me :-/ > So the author did do some searching to define the syntax. I recall using tin/rtin in 1995, and people used the org mode syntax for italics, underline and bold (not that it made any difference). Same with plain-text email (I used elm, then pine, then mutt). Same with IRC clients - convention was the org mode synta", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text email", "switched_from": "pine", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}]}, {"text": " that gets through mail quickly and avoids read tracking and embedded JavaScript.", "cites": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 748806416, "item_id": 46800401, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46800401", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2026-01-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Not in my email client, mutt.", "excerpt": ">used to surreptitiously track when somebody reads an email Not in my email client, mutt. I use Thunderbird once in a great while. For some reason I thought there was an option to stop that and I enabled it. Will need to check the next time I fire up Thunderbird.", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "That's Not How Email Works, HSBC"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is mobile, where commenters use a phone app or iOS Mail instead.", "cites": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 801304529, "item_id": 50081533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081533", "by": "DrewADesign", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used mutt for most of those years", "excerpt": "Even many people familiar with pocket computers use the iOS Mail client. I was an email user over a decade before Gmail existed, and I used mutt for most of those years. I happily use the iOS email client because of the OS integration, clean UI, well-designed interactions, and decent support for wherever my email happens to live that year. I think mostly it\u2019s because I\u2019ve dicked around with computers enough in my lif", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Longevity", "summary": "Some commenters have used it as their main email client for decades, often after elm or pine.", "quotes": [{"id": 777545777, "item_id": 48596611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48596611", "by": "jjav", "date": "2026-06-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is still my primary email client.", "excerpt": "> It's quite difficult to find software older than Emacs in widespread use. Agredd! Aside from the basic Unix commands (ls, cat, etc), the only substantial program that I use today that I also used in 1991, is emacs. Well, and perl. I don't write much perl these days, but I have tons of perl scripts accumulated over the decades that I use daily so that counts as using it. Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is s", "context": "long-time Unix user since 1991", "use_case": "primary email client", "switched_from": "elm", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 745184835, "item_id": 46574052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46574052", "by": "lelanthran", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used elm, then pine, then mutt", "excerpt": "> Markdown was based on the \"syntax\" already being used informally in emails and on IRC. News to me :-/ > So the author did do some searching to define the syntax. I recall using tin/rtin in 1995, and people used the org mode syntax for italics, underline and bold (not that it made any difference). Same with plain-text email (I used elm, then pine, then mutt). Same with IRC clients - convention was the org mode synta", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text email", "switched_from": "pine", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 801304529, "item_id": 50081533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081533", "by": "DrewADesign", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used mutt for most of those years", "excerpt": "Even many people familiar with pocket computers use the iOS Mail client. I was an email user over a decade before Gmail existed, and I used mutt for most of those years. I happily use the iOS email client because of the OS integration, clean UI, well-designed interactions, and decent support for wherever my email happens to live that year. I think mostly it\u2019s because I\u2019ve dicked around with computers enough in my lif", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}]}, {"label": "Terminal workflow", "summary": "It fits a terminal-centered setup alongside tools like vim, neovim, tin and irssi.", "quotes": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 743083744, "item_id": 46442734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442734", "by": "bolangi", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "programs like mutt or vim, or my latest discovery, talon.", "excerpt": "This thought-provoking essay does not consider one crucial aspect of software: the cost of a user developing a facility with a given software product. Historically monopolistic software producers can force these costs to be borne because the user has no alternative to upgrading to the latest version of, for example, Windows, or gmail, or the latest version of the github GUI. A signficant portion of the open source / ", "context": "", "use_case": "stable interfaces", "switched_from": "", "story": "The rise of industrial software"}, {"id": 735261381, "item_id": 45953836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "mutt, tin, irssi", "excerpt": "First on-topic, you can use runnit on Slackware: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/system/runit/ Now another point of view :) As a Slackware I stick with release because it is extremely stable and my main System (Thinkpad W541) works fast as most modern systems with 16G mem and 8 CPUs. If I ever got a brand new system (doubtful), I would use current until the next release. Also, I like the fact I do not have to", "context": "Slackware user", "use_case": "email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision"}]}, {"label": "Speed", "summary": "One user handles email in half the time a GUI took, and another expects to lose speed if they leave it.", "quotes": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 803135553, "item_id": 50195972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50195972", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I expect migrating my MUTT setup against isync/mbsync with some Golang written MUA", "excerpt": "I love Unix and C, and I use Hyperbola GNU/LInux daily, but if the current AI stance on security is like the one frmo cyberpunk movies, keeping my N270 based netbook with hbola just barely connected (or with NPF rules with just I2PD and YGG networks enabled) and getting mail/usenet in batch mode will be the norm, because my biggie AMD64 Intel NUC machine for sure will be more and more Rust bound, at least for work/se", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rust Style Guide"}]}, {"label": "Privacy", "summary": "Commenters say it avoids read-tracking and embedded JavaScript, with HTML rendered through w3m.", "quotes": [{"id": 748806416, "item_id": 46800401, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46800401", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2026-01-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Not in my email client, mutt.", "excerpt": ">used to surreptitiously track when somebody reads an email Not in my email client, mutt. I use Thunderbird once in a great while. For some reason I thought there was an option to stop that and I enabled it. Will need to check the next time I fire up Thunderbird.", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "That's Not How Email Works, HSBC"}, {"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}]}, {"label": "Filtering", "summary": "Simple expressions make it easy to filter and mass-delete email.", "quotes": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}]}, {"label": "Stable interface", "summary": "It is cited as software with a stable interface that does not force users to relearn it.", "quotes": [{"id": 743083744, "item_id": 46442734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442734", "by": "bolangi", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "programs like mutt or vim, or my latest discovery, talon.", "excerpt": "This thought-provoking essay does not consider one crucial aspect of software: the cost of a user developing a facility with a given software product. Historically monopolistic software producers can force these costs to be borne because the user has no alternative to upgrading to the latest version of, for example, Windows, or gmail, or the latest version of the github GUI. A signficant portion of the open source / ", "context": "", "use_case": "stable interfaces", "switched_from": "", "story": "The rise of industrial software"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Mobile use", "summary": "Commenters turn to a phone app or iOS Mail for email on the go.", "quotes": [{"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 801304529, "item_id": 50081533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081533", "by": "DrewADesign", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used mutt for most of those years", "excerpt": "Even many people familiar with pocket computers use the iOS Mail client. I was an email user over a decade before Gmail existed, and I used mutt for most of those years. I happily use the iOS email client because of the OS integration, clean UI, well-designed interactions, and decent support for wherever my email happens to live that year. I think mostly it\u2019s because I\u2019ve dicked around with computers enough in my lif", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}]}, {"label": "Setup effort", "summary": "A former long-time user now prefers iOS Mail over tinkering with their phone setup.", "quotes": [{"id": 801304529, "item_id": 50081533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081533", "by": "DrewADesign", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used mutt for most of those years", "excerpt": "Even many people familiar with pocket computers use the iOS Mail client. I was an email user over a decade before Gmail existed, and I used mutt for most of those years. I happily use the iOS email client because of the OS integration, clean UI, well-designed interactions, and decent support for wherever my email happens to live that year. I think mostly it\u2019s because I\u2019ve dicked around with computers enough in my lif", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}]}, {"label": "Security migration", "summary": "One user expects to move from a mutt setup to a Go-based client for security reasons.", "quotes": [{"id": 803135553, "item_id": 50195972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50195972", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I expect migrating my MUTT setup against isync/mbsync with some Golang written MUA", "excerpt": "I love Unix and C, and I use Hyperbola GNU/LInux daily, but if the current AI stance on security is like the one frmo cyberpunk movies, keeping my N270 based netbook with hbola just barely connected (or with NPF rules with just I2PD and YGG networks enabled) and getting mail/usenet in batch mode will be the norm, because my biggie AMD64 Intel NUC machine for sure will be more and more Rust bound, at least for work/se", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rust Style Guide"}]}], "who": [{"by": "sylware", "context": "writes own minimal software for Linux", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133358", "date": "2026-08-01"}, {"by": "jjav", "context": "long-time Unix user since 1991", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48596611", "date": "2026-06-19"}, {"by": "jmclnx", "context": "Slackware user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "date": "2025-11-17"}], "tags": ["for terminal users", "for vim users", "for Linux and BSD users", "privacy-minded"], "use_cases": ["email client", "email", "primary email client", "plain-text email", "stable interfaces", "email at work"], "compared": [{"slug": "elm", "name": "Elm", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "aerc", "name": "aerc", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "vim", "name": "Vim", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "linux", "name": "Linux", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "openbsd", "name": "OpenBSD", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "emacs", "name": "Emacs", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50186010", "title": "Rust Style Guide", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072913", "title": "Thunderbird for iOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49096605", "title": "Software for One", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48584135", "title": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48533101", "title": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48523881", "title": "What old technology do you still use regularly?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 3, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 803135553, "item_id": 50195972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50195972", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I expect migrating my MUTT setup against isync/mbsync with some Golang written MUA", "excerpt": "I love Unix and C, and I use Hyperbola GNU/LInux daily, but if the current AI stance on security is like the one frmo cyberpunk movies, keeping my N270 based netbook with hbola just barely connected (or with NPF rules with just I2PD and YGG networks enabled) and getting mail/usenet in batch mode will be the norm, because my biggie AMD64 Intel NUC machine for sure will be more and more Rust bound, at least for work/se", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rust Style Guide"}, {"id": 801304529, "item_id": 50081533, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081533", "by": "DrewADesign", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used mutt for most of those years", "excerpt": "Even many people familiar with pocket computers use the iOS Mail client. I was an email user over a decade before Gmail existed, and I used mutt for most of those years. I happily use the iOS email client because of the OS integration, clean UI, well-designed interactions, and decent support for wherever my email happens to live that year. I think mostly it\u2019s because I\u2019ve dicked around with computers enough in my lif", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 786133728, "item_id": 49133358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133358", "by": "sylware", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "mutt forever.", "excerpt": "It is never really for \"One\". If it is open source and published, It may be use by others... not to mention coding AI ML (Machine Learing), then for many. I have written so much software for one... I cannot recall everything. I use some of it daily: - I have my custom elf(glibc)/linux distro - I use my own ffmpeg based x11 media player (will have an update for wayland). - Since the \"geniuses\" at gogol blocked all acc", "context": "writes own minimal software for Linux", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software for One"}, {"id": 777545777, "item_id": 48596611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48596611", "by": "jjav", "date": "2026-06-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is still my primary email client.", "excerpt": "> It's quite difficult to find software older than Emacs in widespread use. Agredd! Aside from the basic Unix commands (ls, cat, etc), the only substantial program that I use today that I also used in 1991, is emacs. Well, and perl. I don't write much perl these days, but I have tons of perl scripts accumulated over the decades that I use daily so that counts as using it. Third oldest for me would be mutt, which is s", "context": "long-time Unix user since 1991", "use_case": "primary email client", "switched_from": "elm", "story": "Emacs 31 Is Around the Corner: The Changes I'm Daily Driving"}, {"id": 776601047, "item_id": 48537565, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48537565", "by": "tenderfault", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I still use mutt for mail, not Office.", "excerpt": "I switched to Windows 10 as my main development machine few years ago after 25 years of continuously crashing Linux with an enormous pleasure. FreeBSD, well, there's nothing to crash there, that's the problem with it. Nothing. I didn't know almost anything about this Windows OS so I just started playing some sort of whac-a-mole game with it. I don't know what I did but right now I'm a happy (windows 11) user. I use H", "context": "", "use_case": "email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 776384641, "item_id": 48524040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48524040", "by": "ventana", "date": "2026-06-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "does vim and mutt count?", "excerpt": "If Logitech B100 is considered an \"old technology\", then yes, I've been using this type of mouse for years. Software wise, does vim and mutt count?", "context": "", "use_case": "email", "switched_from": "", "story": "What old technology do you still use regularly?"}, {"id": 775905089, "item_id": 48494068, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48494068", "by": "skydhash", "date": "2026-06-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use a combination of mutt hto directly connect via imap) and fdm/mu4e", "excerpt": "I use OpenBSD as a daily driver (but could use Alpine or VoidLinux too) and my setup is pretty much silent. No notifications, no rainbows of colors, no glitz. Let\u2019s take mail. I use a combination of mutt hto directly connect via imap) and fdm/mu4e (to have them locally). I\u201dm not interested in having counters or notifications for any of those. The \u201ccalm technology\u201d book has an handful of advices, but one of the best e", "context": "", "use_case": "email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software Is Made Between Commits"}, {"id": 748806416, "item_id": 46800401, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46800401", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2026-01-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Not in my email client, mutt.", "excerpt": ">used to surreptitiously track when somebody reads an email Not in my email client, mutt. I use Thunderbird once in a great while. For some reason I thought there was an option to stop that and I enabled it. Will need to check the next time I fire up Thunderbird.", "context": "", "use_case": "email client", "switched_from": "", "story": "That's Not How Email Works, HSBC"}, {"id": 745184835, "item_id": 46574052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46574052", "by": "lelanthran", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used elm, then pine, then mutt", "excerpt": "> Markdown was based on the \"syntax\" already being used informally in emails and on IRC. News to me :-/ > So the author did do some searching to define the syntax. I recall using tin/rtin in 1995, and people used the org mode syntax for italics, underline and bold (not that it made any difference). Same with plain-text email (I used elm, then pine, then mutt). Same with IRC clients - convention was the org mode synta", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text email", "switched_from": "pine", "story": "Org Mode Syntax Is One of the Most Reasonable Markup Languages to Use for Text"}, {"id": 743083744, "item_id": 46442734, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442734", "by": "bolangi", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "programs like mutt or vim, or my latest discovery, talon.", "excerpt": "This thought-provoking essay does not consider one crucial aspect of software: the cost of a user developing a facility with a given software product. Historically monopolistic software producers can force these costs to be borne because the user has no alternative to upgrading to the latest version of, for example, Windows, or gmail, or the latest version of the github GUI. A signficant portion of the open source / ", "context": "", "use_case": "stable interfaces", "switched_from": "", "story": "The rise of industrial software"}, {"id": 739490160, "item_id": 46218135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218135", "by": "toprerules", "date": "2025-12-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back.", "excerpt": "I switched to mutt, started getting through my email in half the time in took me using a GUI, and never looked back. Being able to write simple expressions to filter email, mass delete, and avoid embedded javascript are killer features. I can run all html through w3m and still have nicely rendered emails. I still use a phone app for on the go browsing, but during work hours I have mutt open alongside neovim all day l", "context": "", "use_case": "email at work", "switched_from": "GUI email client", "story": "Putting email in its place with Emacs and Mu4e"}, {"id": 735261381, "item_id": 45953836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "mutt, tin, irssi", "excerpt": "First on-topic, you can use runnit on Slackware: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/system/runit/ Now another point of view :) As a Slackware I stick with release because it is extremely stable and my main System (Thinkpad W541) works fast as most modern systems with 16G mem and 8 CPUs. If I ever got a brand new system (doubtful), I would use current until the next release. Also, I like the fact I do not have to", "context": "Slackware user", "use_case": "email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision"}]}