Choosing a Mail Back End
* Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
-* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
+* Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
* Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
* MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
* Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
@kindex O r (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
Save the current article in Rmail format
-(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
+(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
+Babyl in older versions.
@item O f
@kindex O f (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
@vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
@findex gnus-plain-save-name
-This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
+This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
+23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
+@dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
+Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
+of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
@code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
@vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
@vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
-happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
-file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
+happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
+23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
@menu
* Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
-* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
+* Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
* Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
* MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
* Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
@end table
-@node Rmail Babyl
-@subsubsection Rmail Babyl
+@node Babyl
+@subsubsection Babyl
@cindex nnbabyl
-@cindex Rmail mbox
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
@vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
-The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
-mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
-mail article to say which group it belongs in.
+The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
+@code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
+group it belongs in.
Virtual server settings:
@table @code
@item nnbabyl-mbox-file
@vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
-The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
+The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
@item nnbabyl-active-file
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
-The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
+The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
@file{~/.rmail-active}
@item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
-course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
+course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
+uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
@table @code
@cindex Babyl
-@cindex Rmail mbox
@item babyl
-The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
+The Babyl format.
@cindex mbox
@cindex Unix mbox
@item
@code{message-insinuate-rmail}
+@c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can