Configuring alpine: a text-based email client

I was vying for a text-based email client ever since I came back to IITK this semester. I knew that there was something called Pine that had been in use for quite sometime now. But then I came to know that now its developers, the team at the University of Washington have stopped developing Pine in favour of a new one Alpine. Ubuntu users can install alpine using Synaptic package manager. For others you may install it after downloading from here. For the rest of this post, I assume that it has been successfully installed on your system. I describe here how to configure Alpine so as to make it working for you. I do it specially for people connecting to internet through some institution’s internet and that too perhaps using proxy’s. Moreover, this post is specially for the benefit of IITK junta, since I had to spend quite a bit of time to configure it, specially for some subtle things.

As soon as the installation is done, you will find a .pinerc file in your parent directory (where your .bashrc is ) Open the .pinerc file and make the following changes at the relevant places:

# Over-rides your full name from Unix password file. Required for PC-Alpine.
personal-name=Your name here
#as you would like it to appear in your outgoing emails.

# Sets domain part of From: and local addresses in outgoing mail.
user-domain=iitk.ac.in
# I think it is pretty clear as to what does it mean, you have to put the part after #the '@' of your email address.

# List of SMTP servers for sending mail. If blank: Unix Alpine uses sendmail.
smtp-server=smtp.cc.iitk.ac.in/user=yourloginID@iitk.ac.in/novalidate-cert
# The SMTP sever is the one which manages your outgoing mails. For IITK people its #smtp.cc.iitk.ac.in, but in addition to that you have to tell alpine what if your #login ID  on that sever, so put your institute-email address in full over there. The #novalidate-cert tells alpine not to enquire about the security certificates of the #server, as far as I know.

# Path of (local or remote) INBOX, e.g. ={mail.somewhere.edu}inbox
# Normal Unix default is the local INBOX (usually /usr/spool/mail/$USER).
inbox-path={newmailhost.cc.iitk.ac.in/user=yourloginID/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX
#newmailhost.cc.iitk.ac.in is the IMAP server of IITK. you should put your #institution's IMAP server or the server which receives your incoming messages. And #as similar to SMTP server's case above, you have to write down your username, this #time only your login ID without the '@domainname' suffixed to it. ssl is for secure #shell encryption while communicating the message between the IMAP server
#and your system and novalidate-cert is the same as above. INBOX is the name of the #folder you would like your messages to be saved to. Its a good idea to keep the name #of the folder same as #that on the IMAP server.

# Over-rides default path for sent-mail folder
default-fcc={newmailhost.cc.iitk.ac.in/user=yourloginID/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX.Sent
# This is specially for IITK junta. If you would like the messages you send using #alpine to be accessible from locations other than your own PC, then this is the way. #It saves your outgoing messages to the corresponding Sent folder on the IMAP server. #For others, you can also figure out the folder which stores your outgoing messages #on the mail server and mention its pathname here for alpine to locate it. If you #don't exercise this option, all your outgoing messages are saved in the default #'sent-mail' folder on your local system. Also, for the messages that you wish to be #saved somewhere else,you #can override the default folder by giving the path to the #new folder in 'Fcc' column while composing the message.

# Over-rides default path for postponed messages folder
postponed-folder={newmailhost.cc.iitk.ac.in/user=yourloginID/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX.Drafts
#As similar to above, this is to save your drafts, unsent messages, postponed messages #in the corresponding folder on the mail server so as to be accessible from any #location other than your PC too. If you don't exercise this option at all, the #default is a folder named 'postponed-msgs' on your local system.
# Add these customized headers (and possible default values) when composing
customized-hdrs=From: Your name here <yourloginID@iitk.ac.in>,Reply-To: <yourloginID@iitk.ac.in>
#If you don't exercise this option and the username on your local account is different #from your login ID, then by default Alpine uses yourlocalusername@domainname in the #headers of your outgoing messages, which you might not want it to do.


# List of directories where saved-message folders may be. First one is
# the default for Saves.
folder-collections=mail/[],
"IMAP folders" {newmailhost.cc.iitk.ac.in/user=yourloginID/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX.[]
#This is again an optional one. It is to fetch your directories that might have your #messages on the mail server.

I think that pretty much sums up all the necessary modifications required by the .pinerc file, for Alpine to start working. Some further comments are in order:

1) You can customize Alpine much more than this and even use some other facilities like access to newsgroups, but as of now, I haven’t figured out how to do so. You may try doing such things at your own risk.

2) As you will slowly figure out for yourselves and from however small stint that I have had with it, all I can say is that Alpine rocks!!! You can even read in text from the files (yeah only text files as far as I know) on your local systems into your messages, not merely attach them. You are able to sort out mails faster and search for them faster and doesn’t require much use of the mouse. Overall, for people like me who are quite lazy to write and reply to mails otherwise, its a much faster and better way out.

3) I acquired all the above knowledge after applying my own brain along with help from the various sources over the net which I forgot . My primary purpose behind writing this post is for my own future reference along with some possible help for IITK junta.

Sayonara

Bragging

Minasan konnichiwa. Watashi wa Singharu Rawi desu. San nen sei desu. Indo jin desu. Otosan wa Singharu Radhey Shyam desu. Kare wa kaisha-in desu. Okaasan wa Singharu Manzu desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Arigato gozaimasu

English: Hi everybody! I am Lovy Singhal. I am third year student. I’m an Indian. My father’s name is Radhey Singhal. He works in a company. My mother’s name is Manju Singhal. Pardon me if I have made any mistake. Thank you.

Ya so as you must have understood by now, this post is to convey to one and all and also brag that I’ve started learning the Japanese. The above introduction is just a random sequence of otherwise meaningful sentences and are quite likely to be full of errors. In particular, I dont know how to write accented letters on WordPress. The course is being offered under the Foreign Language Programme of IITK. So I have learnt only almost this much till now in about 5 classes. :( Yeah, I accept that I wanted to learn French but the seats were occupied but nevertheless I have gr8 respect for Japan as a culture and as a nation and hence decided to learn some little bit of Japanese. Lets c how far it goes. I need not write much about the Japanese script as you can read about it on Wikipedia, but will only say that I cannot more than two three letters of their script(s). So lets c how far I go in this new endeavour of mine. As for now I can only say in part English – part Japanese: Nippon rocks!!!

P.S.: I had written a post related to LaTeX in between, but I found out that the solution had some subtle problems and therefore unpublished the post.

Post JEE counselling

Do have a deadline to meet tommorrow but cudnt resist writing this post coz I had already written it in the guise of sum other person in sum other context. Various social networkin sites popular in India have their communities related to colleges filled wd such questions during this time of the year. This is a slight variant of the post mentioned above which is relevant for those seekin admission to IITK. I feel tht sum belonging to the smarter-thn-the-rest variety might just Google for IITK environment, IITK culture et cetera stuff and might find this post of mine of sum use 2 thm (Indented ones are a sample type of an omniprevalent fresher’s questions)

>I HAVE FEW QUESTIONS..
And I have few answers to give …

> Q. R ther ne fresher’s party? If yes, when n where?
Yes, we have arranged for a freshers’ party at Landmark … will tht suffice? … or shud v book a tour to Nepal.

>Q. Do u regularily go to Kanpur the city for shoppin or watchin movies?
Yes, IITK admin organizes trips to “Kanpur – the city” twice a week in an air-conditioned luxury bus. A demand has been raised to change tht to cars since bus is too cheapos … As for the movies, we do have shows at IITK audi … I understand its a bit uncomfortable but never mind a full scale media theatre is under construction.

>Q. Do v have 2 bring a laptop?
No, each student is provided a laptop on the first day of registration. For laptop configuration see this site http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&dgc=IR&cid=11973&lid=471885

>Q. Wat do u ask us 2 do in raggin?
No, actually the admin here has been much moved after watching the film Munnabhai MBBS and hence here we have a custom of juniors ragging seniors

>Q. How do u celebrate B’Days? (GPL …. ‘g’ pe laat?)
Yes, GPL is done and much more than tht … like KLPD, rapid-fire, etc etc but to get accustomed to tht, u have to arrive here soon … we look fwd eagerly to c u on d campus.

>Q. Which mobile operator has the best network in the region?
Presently, IITK admin is in talks wd Relaince to bring 3G network to d campus asap, but I m afraid it might take sum time. Till thn, u can alwayz njoy free 24 hr landline phone wd ISD facility for each individual inside his/her/their room.

>Q.What about room net , is this facility available for first yr students??
Plz be precise in ur ques … do u mean a mosquito net or internet … For d moment I m assumin it 2 b mosquito net, they r quite gud over here. U also hav d option of havin mosquito xitnguishers sprayed every week inside ur room

>Q.What about dress code??
Do we need to follow any dress code??
Students r allowed only one of these dress combinations:
1) Jodhpuri suit of deep blue color (inspired from ex-Presi of India Dr. Kalaam)
2) only a plain colored undergarment (inspired from western superheroes … those who runnin high on patriotism can as well wear Shaktimaan’s costume)

>Q.how r the hostel rooms??and electricity???
Hostel rooms are BIS (Beaureu of Indian standards, in case u forgot) approved ******* rooms wd all world-class facilities … after payin sum nominal xtra fees, u can as well live in a state-of-art suite built at Landmark.

>Q.What do u do in the eves? play cricket? gym? swim? wat else?
We have snookers club, also ppl do to go for bikin daredevilry to the banks of Ganges many-a-dayz … ppl who r interested also go to discos almost religiously daily … and needless to say, we hav a swimmin complex which houses pools varyin in size from tht for beginners to five Olympic sized pools.

>Q.can someone plz giv me some idea about d placements statistics?
As a matter of policy, it has been decided tht only companies wd minimum turnover of US$1000m and havin business in atleast 3 continents will b allowed to recruit students. I hope u can appreciate our concern for maintainin d levels of xcellence over here.

Please lemme know if u have sum more queries. I will b more thn happy to satisfy thm

And yes I hav indeed written answers to all these questions myself and do claim all d copyrights, irrespective of whrever else u c thm.

Anarchism at its height in one of the world’s best educational institute

This is one of the several mails that I’m used to receive daily, but this perhaps reflects best the state of anarchism that prevails in India’s No. 1 engineering institute, though at somebody’s cost. More comments after the mail …

Dear Friends,
Please go through the following mail which was received by us in the
morning. I thought that it is imperative that we as a part of the campus
community knew what is going on. What good are rules (of whether or not a
person is to be treated in HC) if they lead to death of a child?

--

This is to share an incident which reflects the state of affairs for the
disenfranchised in our Institute of excellence. I suspect this incident
would not be reported by anybody in authority in the Institute and hence
would not reach most of us. In this case too we got to know of it just by
chance, as would be evident from the account, which makes us believe that
occurrence of such incidents may not be a rarity after all, but that is
just not shared with the community. A similar incident happened a month
ago and the sequence of events are much similar. This account is to inform
the community of this incident, acknowledge a feeling of collective shame
that this could occur in an Institute which claims to be the best, and
hopefully to evoke some collective action to prevent such occurrences in
future. I am sure of the facts, as I got to know of it from a first person
account and yet would not name anybody to avoid unnecessary personal
vilification. This is the system and not the individuals involved.

On Sunday morning at about 4.15 am one of the canteen owners of one of the
Halls was going back after work when he chanced upon a crowd of migrant
workers at the security crossing near the Motor Transport/ air strip road.
Apparently a boy, whose family had been employed in the construction site
of the Environment Engineering building had been bitten by something
poisonous (they were not sure whether it was a scorpion or a snake), in
his sleep. The workers including the family consisting of the father a
brother and a younger sister (his mother is no longer alive) had come to
the SIS for help. The boy who was around 12-13 seemed to have been bitten
around 3 in the morning and was alive though unconscious. The SIS guards
(there were around 20-25 of them there) kept urging the  workers to take
the boy to the city hospital but refused to extend any help. The group of
migrant workers did not know anything about the city, and this is usual
because they are brought from far of  places like Malda  and Chhattisgarh
by the contractor and are herded back at the end of their term. The
canteen owner requested the SIS to lend their jeep for transporting the
boy to the Health Center. The SIS guards refused to ask for their jeep
(though several of them had their walkie talkie) and instead told this man
that the boy would not be treated in the Health Center and hence has to be
taken to the city. At this point the Canteen Owner decided to take the boy
in his motorcycle, along with another worker to hold the inert form, to
the Health Center.

At the Health Center, the person at the desk refused to entertain the
case, when he came to know that the boy was not related to an Institute
employee and was neither a student. The canteen owner tried to impress
upon the person that the case was very serious and the boy may just
survive if only the hospital intervened and the formalities and the
expenses could be handled later. He also volunteered to get the health
card of his father who is an Institute employee, as treating guests is
routinely done in the HC. The attendant at the desk refused to comply but
conceded to give the phone number of the doctor on duty. He told the
canteen owner that he may call up the doctor to check if she would treat
the boy, but not to mention that he was calling from the HC, but tell her
that he was calling from one of the Halls.

The canteen owner called the doctor, who when she realized that it
involved the child of worker, was extremely annoyed and said that this
facility was not available to them. When the canteen owner pleaded that
the case was serious and may turn fatal she apparently shouted 'which
language do you understand?' and slammed the phone down.

After that the canteen owner decided to take the child to the city and
requested the hospital attendant to provide the services of the ambulance
so that he could be taken as soon as possible and anyway it is extremely
difficult to negotiate the GT road with an unconscious person. But he was
refused even that. The boy was still alive till that point.

The rest of the story in short - the canteen owner took the boy to a
nearby nursing home in Kalyanpur but that setup was not equipped to handle
snake bites. Then he drove with the unconscious boy all the way to the
Hallett (medical college) - the doctor on duty was much more prompt and
immediately attended to the boy, but unfortunately he had already died.
Then this canteen owner drove all the way back to the campus with a dead
child in the pillion. As he ended his account 'bilkul kuch achcha nahin
lag raha hai tab se - health centre hote hue ek chote se bachche ko marne
de sakten hain - kyun ki woh ek mazdoor ka bachcha hai sirf isiliye?'

--

Who sent this mail is immaterial. The point is do we as the community have
an answer to this? It's not about just shouting out loud against the
people who ignored the poor child's state. It's about identifying what
makes people so insensitive and taking measures so that such inhumanity is
not showcased again. I still hope we are human.

Firstly some full forms to make the above mail more comprehensible …

HC — Health Center, SIS — Security Intelligence Services, GT Road –Grant Trunk Road (Connecting the institute concerned to Kanpur city)

One more thing which has not been said about in the mail is that apparently even if the doctor at HC would have agreed to attend the boy, the boy would have been killed sooner as there are only eight General Physicians at this HC who perhaps do not even qualify to be General Physician … one more incident … last week itself one of the doctor at this HC told one of my batchmate that he was sufferin from malaria, only to be brushed aside by the outside “practising” docs. [:x] … Then, we proudly claim ourselves to be one of the world’s best institute … an institute par xcellence … compare ourselves to MIT and Princeton … the strength of the campus is around 10000 … even going by the Govt. of India’s norms about setting up hospitals based on regions’ population, we should be havin a little better HC than one with only eight General Physicians.

If this isn’t height of anarchism, then plz let me know what else it is?