OK, Rephrasing the Questions - Something New

[John Drabik]

Well, here I am sitting back and noticing how much we resemble a
bunch 'o Sad Sacks, lamenting our fate at having nothing less than
the best E-mail client available, on at least one of our platforms of
choice (OK, so there's no Linux version yet.  But "Real Soon Now"
there will be, and Life Will Be GOOD Again!  You'll see).

So, rather than looking back, maybe we should look forward.  I'll
start the ball rolling.

What I need (besides all the cool features in PMMail), is
cross-platform options, a reasonable chance at support (and feedback
from the owner of the product), and configurable options that let me,
for example, reject HTML e-mail.  Multiple users, of course.  POP3
and IMAP, to be sure.  Ya know, all the "stuff" that PMMail has got. 
If BSW doesn't even want to talk to us, OK.  I've given them my
money, would gladly do it again (but fairly, not the abortive:
"You're an OS/2 user.  Pay up!  But nobody else has to!" model that I
see creeping in).  I will be disappointed, but I **CAN** move on.

Only BSW doesn't want us anymore.  Don't ask why, and don't complain
about it (ask, sure.  Just don't whine anymore, OK?  My ears and eyes
can't take it, and I'm getting dozens of "whines" a day from the
list).  Thomas, if you're reading a copy of this, handed to you by
Jimmy, recognize this: Jimmy has at least tried to help us.  I'm
disappointed that you haven't, at least not so it's noticeable from
here.  No updates, no words, no participation, nada.  Yep, I'm
disappointed.  You *could* recover me and other customers, if you
want.  'Nuff said..

So, my questions are as follows:

	The best bet for cross-platform appears to be Java (Rexx is
an option though).  There have been a few Java mail clients.  Does
anybody know of one that comes close to PMMail (it won't match, but
it would be nice if it was close).  Of course, it should use Java
instead of Rexx, and have all the other basic features.  Ideally, it
should be Open Source (although I'd gladly pay for it), so that I and
others can at least have a chance of helping to improve it. 
Certainly faster (and with more openness) than BSW.

	Now I've purchased one in the past (J-Street), only to watch
it fade away (despite some REAL promise!).  I applied for a copy of
the source code, but never got it.  I looked at a couple of others,
and tried a few.  They were interesting, but not very workable (and
no source, so no chance to make them better).  Ditto for a few
PalmPilot utilities, but that's a story for another day.  I've looked
at Open Source e-mailers, but have been left with the impression that
they were written for Linux, not particularly well done, and not
particularly usable.  In short, they suck.

	So, does anybody know of such a product?  Can you aim me at a
web site with source to get me started?  I've just purchased
Simplicity for Java, and would love to try it out on a project of
some magnitude and importance as I build up some other (commercial)
programs too.  I'm not afraid to pay, but I want source and don't
want to be held hostage again either.  There's a balance to be found.
 If there isn't anything out there to start with (in code form), does
anybody have an idea of how we can get this rolling, from scratch, on
our own?  Perhaps that is the destiny of this list now that Steve is
feeling burned out (which is too bad: THANK YOU for your work,
Steve!).  Maybe a new project, and some new life, and some new IDEAS
are what we need.

	This CAN'T be that hard!  Any ideas?  Anybody want to give it
a try?  Can you even point me to a "Basics of all E-mail Clients" web
site that explains how to get started?

	I went to Warpstock this year (GREAT STUFF!).  One of the
best presentations was on Odin, but that's not what I'm looking for,
because frankly, the Dozer clients I've seen suck too.  But the
message that came through was that WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  The
Netlabs site may be able to offer guidance.  I'm going there next. 
In the meantime, I offer each of you a chance to help me get started.
 Feature lists.  Flow charts.  Web resources.  Coding support. 
Documentation.  Pretty icons.  Hey, whatever!  Let's go!  Don't look
back!  There's a whole big world out there.  Time to get going!

John