Free xbiff software for linux

imapbiff checks IMAP accounts for new mail. It uses images similar to those of the classic xbiff program. The project works similar to xbiff, except it is only used to check for new mail in IMAP accounts.

It is written in perl, and requires the Tk module for perl. It was written spefically to be docked in my fvwm2 button bar, as I could not find a simple xbiff like app that would do IMAP checks.

XLassie is an enhanced version of XBiff. Support for POP3 or IMAP mailservers, ability to run a command when clicked on, written in straight xlib so memory usage is less, and it doesnt just tell you if you have new mail, but how many new messages you have. Extra support for both KDE and WindowMaker.
Main features:
- Counts the number of new messages you have
- Can query remote mail on a POP3 server or on an IMAP server
- Can count local mail with an mbox or a maildir style spool
- Uses less memory than XBiff, and just about every other X mail checker
- Can run a command when clicked on, and/or when new mail arrives
- Supports both the KDE and the WindowMaker applet protocols, in addition to running as a standard X application
- Support for qmail style maildir systems. Should work automatically if you have maildir setup properly. Or point xlassie to a directory instead of a file, and it will keep track of the number of files in it. Thanks to Pitt Murmann for inspiration.
- Backup font selection system. XLassie will try a list of builtin font names if it cant find the default font.

kcheckmail project is a very simple biff utility written in perl. In its intended usage, it forks into the background, connects to an IMAP server and pops up the From and Subject headers whenever it sees an unread email. All user interaction is done through kdialog.

I could not find any tool or script that does this, so I just wrote it. Hope someone finds it useful.

Installation

kcheckmail.pl requires a few Perl modules, which you can simply apt-get, yum or download from CPAN. These are:

Mail::IMAPClient
AppConfig
Array::Compare
IO::Socket::SSL

It also needs the KDE window environment as it makes use of the kdialog utility.

Once installed, simply extract the kcheckmail-< version >.tar.gz into your home directory. Since you are reading this, I assume you have already done so.

Running

Edit the kcheckmail.pl file and change the $file variable to
the path of the config file. Next, tune the kcheckmail.conf file to reflect your servers settings.

kcheckmail.pl takes command line arguments, but the conf file settings will always override them. kcheckmail.pl --help will show you the command line arguments it takes.

To run in biff mode, do, kcheckmail.pl -mode xbiff

It will then run in the background, and by default will check your INBOX every 60 seconds. If you have not entered your password in the conf file or on the command line, it will use the kdialog utility to prompt you for a password. This is a safer option.

kcheckmail.pl -mode display will simply login to your INBOX and tell you the number of messages and new messages, if any, each time it is run. This does not use kdialog (provided you enter the password in the config file or on the command line), and thus is in now way dependent on KDE, or even X-Windows for that matter. This mode could be useful in
a debugging mode, or simply as a quick check to your inbox.

Other than that, the code is quite well commented, and am sure can easily be modified to suit your needs.