FettesPS » pico

Configuring Alpine 2.0 to Access Gmail on Ubuntu x64

FettesPS — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:08:09 +0000

Continuation of from the last post

Installing Alpine 2.0 in Ubuntu Linux is a fairly simple process but can be rather confusing and elusive as there is no GUI to help you out. I ran into a few hitches along the way so I thought I’d help out future command line enthusiasts who might run into the same issue.

Installing Alpine is as simple as:

sudo apt-get install alpine

A few seconds later you’ll have Alpine up and running. Type “alpine” into your terminal and then follow the prompts. To configure it to use Gmail you’ll go into the Setup menu by pressing “S” and from there you’ll go into Config by hitting “C”.

This is how I configured mine for Gmail:

Personal Name                     = 
User Domain                       = gmail.com
SMTP Server (for sending)         = smtp.googlemail.com:587/tls/user=username@gmail.com
NNTP Server (for news)            = 
Inbox Path                        = {imap.gmail.com:993/user=username@gmail.com/ssl/novalidate-cert}Inbox
Incoming Archive Folders          = 
Pruned Folders                    = 
Default Fcc (File carbon copy)    = 
Default Saved Message Folder      = 
Postponed Folder                  = 
Read Message Folder               = 
Form Letter Folder                = 
Trash Folder                      = 
Literal Signature                 = 
Signature File                    =

One thing worth noting there is the Inbox Path I set. Every other guide I read said to use
{pop.gmail.com:993/pop3/ssl/novalidate-cert/user=user@gmail.com}
which simply did not work for me. I struggled with this one for a good 20 min or so until I found this post which did it slightly different than most. Not sure why, but my computer needed that a bit different and if anything I’d guess it’s because I’m using the x64 build.

While you’re in the config menu you’ll also want to fix a few other things which were suggested on the Ubuntu Forums.

[Advanced User Preferences]
[x] "Save Will Not Delete"

[Pruning Rule]
[x] "Don’t rename, don’t delete"

At this point you want to save your settings and exit Alpine. So hit E and then YQ to exit and once again Y to confirm.

Now before you start Alpine again I suggest setting it to save your password. Doing this is a bit convoluted but basically what you’re going to do is create an empty file in your home directory which will store your encrypted password.

cd ~
touch .pine-passfile
alpine

When Alpine starts back up enter your Gmail password and it will then ask if you want to save it locally, hit Y. You will have to do this once more the next time you send an outgoing mail but after that you will not be prompted again for your Gmail password.

Now Alpine is all installed and you can be elite and say you read your email in the command line. You can of course take it one step further and add it to your screen profile and then attach it every time you SSH in. I’ve always got screen windows running for things like IRSSI and Hellanzb and Emacs, and now Alpine.

God Hates Vi Users

FettesPS — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:32 +0000

Truly, our responsibility to spread the Gospel of the Gnu is weighty.
Cleave to what is good. Remember the words the prophet Stallman
brought down from the Mount MIT, graved in Lisp on tablets of
crystalline lambda calculus.

Only this true: Emacs is pure.
All else is false.
Do not be misled by false gods like Vi, the Editor of the Beast.
Do not be seduced by Word, the Scarlet Woman of Babylon.
Do not be driven to madness by Xcode, the Blind Priest of the Children of Asherath.

When the wild winds of chaos blow, stay pure.
When the universe collapses in shards around you, stay holy.
When the gibbering hobgoblins of apostate Editors attack with shards
of broken syntax, seek the crystalline stillness within you.

Brethren, ensure that you (Meta-x-say-hallel-to-Emacs) daily for otherwise you will be lost.
When the Beast comes, only Emacs can save you.

This was brought to you as a public service by the Holy and Ineffable Church of The Mighty Emacs.
SUPPORT THIS CRUSADE WITH YOUR DONATIONS. EMAIL THE STILL BEATING
HEART OF A VILE VI USER TO emacs-highpriest@god-hates-vi-users

Source: alt.religion.emacs

SSH – Assigning a Name to an IP

FettesPS — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:38:59 +0000

If you find yourself using SSH extensively like myself, then I’m sure you’re sick of typing out IPs constantly as you’re trying to log in. This can easily be resolved by adding it as a known host in SSH. This also comes in handy when you’re using a non standard SSH port and you need to connect through something like SVN.

pico ~/.ssh/config

Now enter something like the following:
host subversion Hostname yourDomainOrIP.com Port 22

Emacs – Disable Splash Screen

FettesPS — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:47:59 +0000

For years I’ve been a pico user. However as time went on I became more and more aware that I was limiting myself as there was much pico could not do. After much debating on which I should learn, Vi or Emacs, I eventually went with Emacs. After installing it and starting to use it I found myself quickly becoming frustrated with its annoying splash screen. So here is a handy tip on how to disable that splash screen.

First off, open your config file:

emacs ~/.emacs

Now add the following line and save it:

(setq inhibit-splash-screen t)

That’s all there is to it!