11.4 Comparison of the Three Interface Methods

The following short discussion summarizes the advantages and deficiencies of the three interface methods described in the previous sections. It could serve you as a guideline on which interface method to choose.

Using mail.remote

Advanatages:

1. Does not require modifying mutt.
2. Is compatible with any version of mutt.
3. Runs faster than msg2smtp.pl

Deficiences:

1. Running an external program to transmit the message is not the best idea. However, it is mutt default, anyway...
2. Runs slower than directly connecting to anubis using SMTP

Using msg2smtp.pl

Advantages:

1. Does not require modifying mutt.
2. Is compatible with any version of mutt.

Deficiences:

1. See extprog.
2. Runs slower than the other two methods (sending each message requires loading perl interpreter, which is rather expensive).

Using patch.sde.libesmtp.3

Advantages:

1. Is the fastest of the three methods.
2. Does not require any intermediate programs.

Deficiences:

1. Requires patching mutt, which is not always possible or acceptable.
2. May not work for versions of mutt newer than 1.5.3 (but then, again, not necessarily so).

This document was generated by Sergey Poznyakoff on December, 20 2008 using texi2html 1.78.