Discussion:
Speed
David Woodfall
2017-10-24 17:43:03 UTC
Permalink
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.

Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?

I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.

Any tips?

TIA
Leho Kraav
2017-10-24 18:01:04 UTC
Permalink
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.
Any tips?
Switching to `lmdb` backend made a significant speed upgrade difference for me.
David Woodfall
2017-10-24 18:48:31 UTC
Permalink
Thanks I'll give that a shot.
Post by Leho Kraav
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.
Any tips?
Switching to `lmdb` backend made a significant speed upgrade difference for me.
Scott Kostyshak
2017-10-24 23:36:48 UTC
Permalink
I don't know if it's an option for your situation, but you might
consider offlineimap. For a folder of size about 1000, it took 2 seconds
to open it. Of course, this is after using offlineimap to download the
messages locally.

Scott
--
Scott Kostyshak
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of Florida
https://people.clas.ufl.edu/skostyshak/
Post by David Woodfall
Thanks I'll give that a shot.
Post by Leho Kraav
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.
Any tips?
Switching to `lmdb` backend made a significant speed upgrade difference for me.
Ian Zimmerman
2017-10-25 03:07:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
Is IMAP a hard requirement? Do you have shell access to the server?
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David Woodfall
2017-10-25 19:48:43 UTC
Permalink
Yes I have shell access. I have tried just setting mutt without imap
to use maildir, but It only sees my Inbox and no other folders.
Perhaps there's a way of doing it but I haven't managed yet.
Post by Ian Zimmerman
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
Is IMAP a hard requirement? Do you have shell access to the server?
--
Please don't Cc: me privately on mailing lists and Usenet,
if you also post the followup to the list or newsgroup.
Do obvious transformation on domain to reply privately _only_ on Usenet.
Ian Zimmerman
2017-10-26 16:11:53 UTC
Permalink
Post by David Woodfall
Yes I have shell access. I have tried just setting mutt without imap
to use maildir, but It only sees my Inbox and no other folders.
Perhaps there's a way of doing it but I haven't managed yet.
Sync the store to your local box by other means (see below) and read it
that way. Or just run mutt on the server over ssh, but this has some
disadvantages: saved attachments will be on the server and you'll have
to download them (minor), and to handle PGP/GPG you'll have to put your
secret key on the server (major).

"Other means" are:

1. offlineimap - well tested and works great, but you still need IMAP.
2. maildirsync - no IMAP needed, but somewhat obscure and slow.
3. unison - if you can use an Ocaml compiler on the server :-P
4. rsync - if you only ever sync with ONE workstation, this MIGHT work
(but I never tried it)
5. syncmaildir [*] - Somewhat new; I just started using it and I
absolutely love it. Fast and syncs correctly every time.

Myself I just switched from 3 to 5, when I could no longer tolerate the
Ocaml version dependency nonsense.

[*]
http://syncmaildir.sourceforge.net/
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David Woodfall
2017-10-26 18:09:31 UTC
Permalink
Ok Thanks.
Post by Ian Zimmerman
Post by David Woodfall
Yes I have shell access. I have tried just setting mutt without imap
to use maildir, but It only sees my Inbox and no other folders.
Perhaps there's a way of doing it but I haven't managed yet.
Sync the store to your local box by other means (see below) and read it
that way. Or just run mutt on the server over ssh, but this has some
disadvantages: saved attachments will be on the server and you'll have
to download them (minor), and to handle PGP/GPG you'll have to put your
secret key on the server (major).
1. offlineimap - well tested and works great, but you still need IMAP.
2. maildirsync - no IMAP needed, but somewhat obscure and slow.
3. unison - if you can use an Ocaml compiler on the server :-P
4. rsync - if you only ever sync with ONE workstation, this MIGHT work
(but I never tried it)
5. syncmaildir [*] - Somewhat new; I just started using it and I
absolutely love it. Fast and syncs correctly every time.
Myself I just switched from 3 to 5, when I could no longer tolerate the
Ocaml version dependency nonsense.
[*]
http://syncmaildir.sourceforge.net/
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Please don't Cc: me privately on mailing lists and Usenet,
if you also post the followup to the list or newsgroup.
Do obvious transformation on domain to reply privately _only_ on Usenet.
Christian Brabandt
2017-10-25 07:41:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.
Any tips?
Are you using any unusual headers for e.g. coloring? That may make mutt
need to fetch the complete message instead of fetching it from the
cache. See the `:set imap_headers` for adding additional headers to the
cache.

Also you might want to check this article:
http://www.codeblueprint.co.uk/2016/12/19/a-kernel-devs-approach-to-improving.html

regards,
Christian
--
"How did you spend the weekend?" asked the pretty brunette secretary
of her blonde companion.
"Fishing through the ice," she replied.
"Fishing through the ice? Whatever for?"
"Olives."
Georg Faerber
2017-10-25 20:03:12 UTC
Permalink
Post by Christian Brabandt
http://www.codeblueprint.co.uk/2016/12/19/a-kernel-devs-approach-to-improving.html
Nice, thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
Georg
David Woodfall
2017-10-25 19:58:50 UTC
Permalink
No unusual headers. But I tried the options on that webpage and it
seems to have improved. Thanks.
Post by Christian Brabandt
Post by David Woodfall
I've been using mutt a fair while now. Lately I've been using it with
imap and find that it can take a while to read headers.
Are there any tricks to speeding up imap?
I do have a header cache, but it still takes some time opening a
folder with a 1000+ or so messages.
Any tips?
Are you using any unusual headers for e.g. coloring? That may make mutt
need to fetch the complete message instead of fetching it from the
cache. See the `:set imap_headers` for adding additional headers to the
cache.
http://www.codeblueprint.co.uk/2016/12/19/a-kernel-devs-approach-to-improving.html
regards,
Christian
--
"How did you spend the weekend?" asked the pretty brunette secretary
of her blonde companion.
"Fishing through the ice," she replied.
"Fishing through the ice? Whatever for?"
"Olives."
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