Animail is a mail retrieval tool that supports multiple servers and protocols including POP3, APOP, IMAP4, and SSL.
Some key features of Animail include its ability to activate several filters based on message size, maximum number of messages to download, or deleting messages on the server. These filters are written in a config file and only download the header, not the entire message.
Moreover, Animail can be combined with other mail filters like SpamAssassin or Bogofilter in an easy, elegant and documented way. This utility functions like 'plugins' and extends its filtering capabilities without limits, allowing other filters the chance to determine if a mail is spam or not.
Animail also allows downloading mail from several mail servers, which can be written to a local mailbox with mbox format or a QMail style directory. It can also be sent to a local SMTP like Sendmail or forwarded to another email address or a comma-separated list of addresses.
Users can configure the download order of the messages based on their size, allowing them to start reading smaller messages while a multimegabyte message is being downloaded. The program also has a silent mode that redirects all output to the system log instead of the console. This is useful for creating scripts that periodically check for mail.
The program output is a lot friendlier than that of Fetchmail and other MDAs. It shows the message origin and a percentual indicator of the message download over a total given in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or terabytes, depending on the message size. The current version also supports colored output.
Animail has a good speed, especially when working in text mode with the -t switch enabled. It can be faster than Fetchmail in a fast computer (x86 350+), and the faster the computer, the bigger the difference. However, this only applies to local networks, as the internet is the bottleneck.
To quickly configure Animail after installation, users should create a .animail directory on their home dir, copy the file /usr/share/doc/animail/animailrc, and edit it to their preferences.
Version 2.0.12-1: N/A