Mutt and NeoMutt

A mutt is a dog of mixed breed, often with parents from different, unknown, or multiple lineages, sometimes referred to as a mongrel. They are often considered healthier than purebreds due to higher genetic diversity, which reduces the likelihood of inheriting specific genetic conditions.

Now you understand why both Mutt and NeoMutt are using a puppy on their image icons.

Mutt and NeoMutt

Mutt and NeoMutt are powerful, text-based command-line (CLI) email clients (MUAs) for Unix-like systems, designed for speed and keyboard-driven efficiency. NeoMutt is a popular fork of Mutt that adds modern features like a sidebar, improved IMAP/Gmail support, and better performance.

Key Features and Differences

• Mutt: A small, fast, and stable text-based email client.
• NeoMutt: A fork that integrates many "patches" (extra features) that were previously separate, offering a more feature-rich experience.
• Modern Enhancements: NeoMutt includes features such as a sidebar for folder navigation, header caching, and integration with notmuch for fast searching.

isync and mbsync

isync (and its modern executable, mbsync) is a command-line tool used to synchronize mailboxes between a local computer and a remote server.

It is primarily used by users who want to manage their email offline or bridge different email protocols.

Key Features

• Bidirectional Sync: It propagates new messages, deletions, and flag changes (like "Read" or "Important") both ways between your local machine and the server.
• Protocol Support: It typically syncs remote IMAP mailboxes with local Maildir storage.
• Efficiency: It uses unique message identifiers (UIDs) to track emails, preventing identification conflicts even if you modify mailboxes while the tool is running.
• Offline Access: By keeping a local copy of your mail, you can read and draft messages without an internet connection and sync them later.

Why the Dual Name?

The project itself is called isync, but the command you actually type in your terminal to run it is mbsync.

• isync: The original project name.
• mbsync: The current executable. This change occurred several years ago to support a major overhaul in the user interface and configuration format.
• Wrapper: In many modern Linux distributions, an isync command still exists but acts only as a wrapper that calls mbsync to maintain compatibility with older scripts.

Common Use Cases

• Power Users: Often used alongside terminal-based email clients like Mutt, NeoMutt, or mu4e in Emacs.
• Backups: Creating a local, searchable archive of all emails from providers like Gmail or Fastmail.
• Mail Migration: Moving emails between two different IMAP servers by syncing both to a local machine.

Notmuch

Notmuch is a fast, command-line based program for indexing, searching, and tagging large volumes of email messages, often used as a backend for terminal-based mail clients like mutt or emacs. It uses the Xapian search engine to provide rapid searches, focusing on managing existing local maildir structures rather than fetching or sending mail itself.

Notmuch Key features

• Search & Tag: It is designed for speed, allowing instant searching across vast, multi-year email archives. It uses a tag-based system rather than traditional folder structures.
• Workflow: It acts as a "thin front end" for searching and tagging, usually paired with tools like OfflineIMAP or mbsync to handle the actual syncing of emails.
• Integration: It provides bindings for Python, Vim, and Emacs, allowing for customization and integration into existing workflows.
• Performance: Written in C, it is designed to be very fast and can handle incremental indexing, meaning it continues where it left off if interrupted.

Notmuch is essentially designed for users who want a fast, local, keyboard-driven interface for their email.

khard and khal

"khard" and "khal" are two separate terminal-based (CLI) applications often used together for personal information management on Linux/Unix systems.

• Khard: A CLI address book application that creates, reads, modifies, and removes vCard address book entries. It works with local vCard files and is often used with email clients like mutt or alot.
• Khal: A CLI calendar application that reads and writes vCalendar (.ics) files. It allows you to view, add, and edit calendar events in the terminal.

Key Details

• Synchronization: Neither khard nor khal handles network synchronization on their own. They are designed to work with vdirsyncer, which synchronizes local files with CardDAV (contacts) or CalDAV (calendars) servers.
• Usage: They are frequently used together by users who prefer command-line tools for managing contacts and calendars, often in conjunction with terminal email clients.
• Compatibility: Both tools are written in Python.