Article 139884 of comp.os.vms:
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From: mathog@seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: PINE, why and why not
Date: 8 Feb 1996 22:49:35 GMT
Organization: Biology Division, Caltech, Pasadena CA 91125
Lines: 51
Message-ID: <4fdulv$gbc@gap.cco.caltech.edu>
References: <960207172614.40c03e9d@western.edu>
Reply-To: mathog@seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu

In article <960207172614.40c03e9d@western.edu>, JOE KATZ <STU000051474@western.edu> writes:
>My SYS OP refuses to install PINE we are using VMSmail he claims that
>it would mean teaching everyone a new system.  I replyed that PINE
>is menu driven and there for less hassle for him in the long run.  I
>pointed out to him that SMTP%"username@userdoman.com" would no longer
>be a tormentor for students.  I told him that he would not longer get 
>called when a student wrote 10 lines and the system kicked him off for
>forgeting to hit enter after every line.  And that he would not longer
>get complaints from students that type slowly and WATCHER (a program from
>hell that kicks you off if you do not do something and VMSmail is not
>considered something).  But please will all VMS operators please write either
>me or my sys op at SYS_WESS@western.edu about the pros & cons.  And I will
>be sure to forward them to him.  I am very fair, when TALK was banned and
>you folks told me about the security risks in talk I still fowarded them to
>him...

Pine is easier to use than the VMS MAIL utility.  It handles MIME mail,
which MAIL most certainly does not.  However,

1.  It is unsupported (unless you buy it with PMDF from Innosoft)
2.  It doesn't work quite the same way as on Unix, leading to woes such as:
      "Hey, I went to check my saved files, and there weren't any".  At
      least this is true for the free version.

There is also an ELM clone called PTMAIL, which you can get at:

  ftp://tango.cchs.su.edu.au  [ftp.vms.ptmail]ptmail-4_1_2.zip

This is based on S-mail and should be, in some ways, more bullet proof than
pine.  It basically just remaps all of the callable MAIL pieces into their
appropriate ELM positions, and the options it allows are just what you see
in SET-SHOW mail.

I've got both on my system (MM too, one guy swears by it).  I tell the 
users that these things are "likely to work, but unsupported".

The happiest MAIL users seem to be the people who send/receive mail via
POP.  They have Eudora on their Macs, and the Multinet POP server on the
Alpha.  Works great.

>
>
>PS what is the best way to talk a SYS OP into more disk QUOTA space?

Say please.  Also, explain why you need it.

Regards,

David Mathog
mathog@seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu
Manager, sequence analysis facility, biology division, Caltech