Mailspring: [Feature Request] Line wrapping, plaintext support for Linux Kernel community

[robertfoss]

Nearly all Linux related mailing list development is currently done using mutt/thunderbird/evolution.
And those email clients are all flawed in serious ways.

• Mutt has the 1960ies UI going for it.
• Thunderbird just permanently pegs a CPU core at 100% due to not coping with higher than normal mail volume.
• Evolution does not filter email properly, it will just dump _all_ incoming email into 'Inbox' if connection issues are had, like when moving around your laptop between WiFis.

So adding support for a few features could be a cheap and fast PR and adoption win.

• [ ] Line wrapping support at 80-chars
• [ ] Plain text email support
• [ ] The general ability to cope with >100k emails

Does this feature exist in another mail client or tool you use?
Mutt, Evolution and Thunderbird

[bengotow]

Hey! Thanks for filing this—would it be possible for me to create a new email address and subscribe to the firehose of these emails? It'd be helpful to have a test account that mirrors the sort of email you're receiving.

We've got #52 for plain text (sending) support—the app should handle incoming plaintext email fine as-is, but it doesn't have any specific line wrapping settings (it just wraps based on the viewport width.)

[robertfoss]

• Subscribe to: linux-kernel @ http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html
• Subscribe to: dri-devel @ https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/dri-devel
• Subscribe to: mesa-dev @ https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/mesa-dev
• Subscribe to: intel-gfx @ https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/intel-gfx

The way I typically use these lists is by filtering them all into their own folder, except for any email that is explicitly To/CC/BCC-ing me. Those emails get to stay in the inbox.

After a few months you'll have 100-200k emails. And having them around is kind of useful for searching for patches that have been submitted, so just throwing them away is not a great solution.

[bengotow]

Thanks @robertfoss — I've signed one of my test accounts up for these emails. It's actually pretty difficult to sign up for the linux-kernel one without a client that sends plaintext. Hah :-) Will keep you posted on further improvements for this use case.

[bayang]

Hi,
plain text mail composing and sending would be a huge improvement for me as well.

[simotek]

I also use a number of mailing lists that are fussy about plain text, in addition it would also be nice if you could set up plain text email signatures.

[kevinherron]

It looks like line wrapping is possible to implement via plugin, but even then, it's going to be sending <br> elements once Mailspring HTML-ifies the message.

Is there any movement on plaintext support @bengotow ?

[soleen]

kernel developers would need: messages in plain text, enabled/disable line wrapping via a button/hotkey, exclusive threading by message-id, download all messages in a thread (to be able to apply patches).

[fragkp]

This is the only reason, why i cant currently use mailspring 🤒

Can we get a status update @bengotow?

[bengotow]

Hey folks—linking this to #52. Mail merge is coming in an upcoming release, and I think that feature would also benefit a lot from a plaintext mode. I'll take a look and see what it'd take to get this in.

[fragkp]

Really cool, cant wait for it! Thx