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Mahogany is a cross-platform mail client being developed under the Mahogany
Artistic License. Mahogany sports a remarkable set of features, including a
built-in Python scripting component. In addition to Linux, Mahogany is being
developed for SunOS, Solaris, FreeBSD and the MS Windows family.
Mahogany provides support for POP3, IMAP, NNTP, and PalmOS-based devices. We
found it fairly easy to configure it to deal with multiple accounts. It also
works with existing mbox and MH format mail files.
We were very pleased to note that Mahogany supports an external editor.
Those migrating from the Windows world may not mind the notepad most Windows
mail clients use for a text editor, but we've developed a preference for
favorite text editors over the years, so it was a pleasure to be able to invoke
vi or emacs-server to edit messages.
Mahogany also has solid address book support, including an auto-gathering
mode, not unlike Emacs Big Brother Database (bbdb). In addition, Mahogany is
also able to use existing bbdb files, which is a very nice surprise. Coupled
with a decent lookup tool, multiple address books, and the auto-gathering mode,
Mahogany is outstanding. Mahogany's filter support is also excellent, allowing
for and/or filters to be set up.
Mahogany sports a wide array of other features, including in-line MIME
viewing, support for invoking a browser to handle URLs, dialup connection
management, and support for receiving faxes.
Mahogany has a very good setup feature that helps new users configure the
client quickly and easily, but it also allows the setup wizard to be toggled
off, allowing advanced users to handle things their own way.
There are a few warts with Mahogany. There are some acknowledged stability
issues with the latest release. In addition, there isn't any support for
PGP/GPG, though that's currently under development. Finally, file attachments
weren't the simplest thing to figure out. Integration with GNOME's file manager
is still on the TODO list, and we're not sure how that will dovetail with the
upcoming Nautilus project, which will supplant GMC on the GNOME desktop.
We were a little surprised at Mahogany. It isn't a client that turns up in a
lot of discussions about common mailers, but it provides a wonderful amount of
functionality and outstanding features despite its low profile. More
experienced users will enjoy the configurability and rich featureset, and new
users will have a mail client that functions well at the basic level and
provides plenty of room to grow. In addition, the documentation is outstanding
(and searchable).
Mahogany is an outstanding program, and well worth checking out by just
about anyone interested in a GUI mail client under any environment, let alone
GNOME.
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