#2 offline/synced IMAP

[ceebeelee]

I would very much like to use alpine on more than one computer to
access my mail, but I need to be able to work on it when offline as
well. Thunderbird now has a wonderful ability to use IMAP with a fully-
synced copy of mail on the local machine as an option -- ie one can
access full versions of all one's email while offline.
I understand offline abilities have been a feature request for 15 years?! but maybe now this is more feasible. And likely ever more valuable / in demand.

[Andraž Levstik]

I would say it's less valuable/in demand with more or less a lot of flat rate broadband offerings.

If you can find a non-messy and reliable way to do the syncing(which tends to be a problem even with the better sync tools) and make it optional I'm all for it though.

[Fabian Schilling]

I had a lot of spare time while looking for a new job and after a few weeks of occasional tinkering I had an alpine-based mail-setup that works completely offline using this components:

• offlineIMAP to do the syncing
• dovecot for storing the mails
• alpine for reading and composing
  and
• msmtp for (queuing messages before) sending

The installation procedure is fully documented on my blog:
http://blog.spiegeldinge.de/mail-setup/

I know this is not really an integrated solution but I had the same requirements (offline and optional) as you Chris and it is the best I could come up with. I use this setup productively for a few months now and never had a major issue.