The UNIX operating system was originally written on a small PDP machine, to work with teletypewriters. Consequently, all the original software for the operating system was written with a `tty' in mind; with line oriented interfaces, rather than screen oriented.
Gradually this began to change, and, with the addition of the Berkeley vi visual shell to the ed line editor, the trend began to be brought to the attention of Unix systems designers. And yet, this transition has seemed too subtle for many software engineers, and so precious few Unix programs are available designed to exploit the entire CRT screen.
Consequently, after becoming more and more disenchanted with the existing electronic mail facilities (binmail and Berkeley Mail) I decided to undertake creating my own system. Once the ball was rolling it became quite difficult not to keep enhancing it, especially as I became more and more familiar with various different mail systems, but the result, I hope, is a solid, unified interface to electronic mail suitable for almost any environment.
One thing that sets The Elm Mail System off from other packages is that it comes with an extensive documentation set, including; The Elm Users Guide, which you're reading, The Elm Reference Guide, The Elm Alias Users Guide, The Elm Filter System Users Guide, The Elm Forms Mode Guide, and The Elm Configuration Guide. The names of each indicate what they discuss (not unreasonably).
This particular document contains; this introduction, a tutorial session with the mailer, a discussion of non-interactive uses of Elm, a brief foray into the Elm utilities, and finally, credits and references.
The Elm Reference Guide contains a much more indepth discussion of all the possible options available within the Elm environment, including the ``.elm/elmrc'' file, the available outbound mail processing features, a section for expert users, suggestions on debugging strange installations, and many other useful topics.
The Elm Alias Users Guide is the place to go to learn about the format of the ``.elm/aliases.text'' file and the associated data files, to learn how to create and use path route aliases and domain based alias routing, system aliases, and other related topics.
One of the more innovative features of Elm is the ability to transmit and receive ``forms'' (as defined by the AT&T Mail system). To learn about how to create and reply to forms you should refer to The Elm Forms Mode Guide.
If you find yourself getting too much mail delivered in your mailbox, you might be a good candidate for the filter program. To learn more about what this program is and how to use it please consult The Elm Filter System Users Guide.
Finally, if you're working with the actual source code and are interested in what all the locally configured options are and mean, please see The Elm Configuration Guide (not on-line). It is strongly suggested that all system administrators and people installing the system print out the local ``sysdefs.h'' file and have it handy while reading the configuration guide.
The recommended order of learning the Elm system is to skim this guide until you feel confident enough to start up the program. Once that's reached, use it! Soon you'll find areas that you need to expand into, and you can achieve that by going into the o)ptions screen within elm and changing your user level accordingly. After a while, sit down again and read through this guide. You should have a couple of ``aha!'' intuitive flashes. After another period of time, you're ready to delve into the real power of the system and read the reference guide. The other manuals should be read as the need arises.
In any case, the system should be useable without reading any of the documentation!
Any comments or problems with any of the documentation or the program itself are welcome; if you can't get electronic mail to me, please feel free instead to drop me a note via the overland mail address in the title page.