How and why to migrate your e-mail from KDE KMail to Mozilla Thunderbird
KMail and KDE Development
The KDE suite of tools and desktop environment was first released in July, 1998. I started using it soon afterward, and began using its KMail tool in January, 2001. Yes, once or twice a year I go to my sent messages and delete the gratutiously large ones with little content, such as when I send digital pictures to someone, and make a compressed archive of the rest. So, I can find my first KMail message:
From: Bob Cromwell <bob.cromwell@home.com> Reply-To: bob.cromwell@home.com Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 13:10:13 -0500 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.1.99] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" To: cromwell@ecn.purdue.edu Subject: test MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <01013013101302.01954@ct721463-a.lafayt1.in.home.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Status: RO X-Status: S kmail test
KMail, which led to the Kontact suite, worked great for me. It had a clean interface and integrated nicely with the GnuPG PGP plugin.
But with an upgrade to OpenBSD 5.5 a great many changes were underway. OpenBSD was shifting from KDE 3.5.10 to 4.11.5. Both versions were included, but with KDE 4.0 out since January, 2008, KDE 3.5.10 dating back to August, 2008, and Plasma 2 Workspaces scheduled to release in a couple of months, it seemed like time to move ahead before 3.5 disappeared in a coming version.
Besides, the 5.5 upgrade guide warned that the next upgrade, to 5.6, would have plenty of other big changes: BIND would be replaced by NSD and OpenBSD's modified Apache web server would be pulled from the base system as they complete the transition to nginx.
Moving to KDE 4.11.5 made things messy and complicated enough, as it brings in NEPOMUK and Akonadi.
NEPOMUK stands for Networked Environment for Personal, Ontology-based Management of Unified Knowledge and is a project to develop what they call a social semantic desktop that "enriches and interconnects data from different desktop applications using semantic metadata stored as RDF". It was an EU-funded research project in 2006 through 2008. The Nepomuk-KDE page provides the following example, pasted in here with errors intact:
Now Semantic Search aims to help you. You know this file came from that friend of yours, your computer does not. Search, however, can remember this relationship. Searching on the name of your friend will therefor pop up the photo!
Well, yes, that could help, but it would only work if I had done all the needed ontological labeling of the file when I received it. It's from that specific friend, who belongs to a specific category or group of my friends, it shows specific things, it is a specific type of JPEG file (digital photograph from a smart phone, versus from a traditional digital camera, versus a scan of a photograph, and so on), and could need who knows how many ontological details received. Who know what I will be searching for in two weeks — pictures from that friend, or pictures of newly purchased automobiles, or pictures taken on certain ranges of dates, or taken at certain times of day, or ...
Akonadi, meanwhile, is a storage service for PIM (or personal information management) data and metadata, and it does desktop object identification and retrieval.
Yes, there are some very interesting problems in philosophy (ontology) as well as cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence, and projects like Nepomuk and Akonadi support the development of practical solutions.
But, I'm just not interested in using that technology right now on my personal desktop or notebook computer.
Goodbye KMail
KMail starts with its screen greyed out and this message overlaid on the main window:
The Akonadi personal information management service is not running. This application cannot be used without it. Start |
Starting it spawns the following list of processes. I have removed the xterm in which I started KMail, along with its shell and SSH agent:
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND cromwell 6341 9.3 0.9 7720 28300 ?? I 12:13PM 0:35.27 kded4 cromwell 2237 0.0 0.1 1532 2136 ?? Is 12:13PM 0:00.68 /usr/local/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session cromwell 6467 0.0 0.2 2676 7544 ?? S 12:13PM 0:00.79 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_control cromwell 31304 0.0 0.6 21980 18400 ?? S 12:13PM 0:01.97 akonadiserver cromwell 12782 0.0 0.4 1768 11568 ?? Is 12:13PM 0:00.05 kdeinit4: kdeinit4: kdeinit4 Running... (kdeinit4) cromwell 20183 0.0 0.7 2548 21772 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.33 klauncher --fd=8 cromwell 4778 0.0 0.9 4520 27500 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.64 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_0 (akonadi_agent_la) cromwell 19613 0.0 0.9 4528 27464 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.60 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_2 (akonadi_agent_la) cromwell 27949 0.0 0.9 4516 27480 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.61 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_1 (akonadi_agent_la) cromwell 14334 0.0 2.2 8740 67996 ?? I 12:13PM 0:04.33 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_archivemail_agent --identifier akonadi_archivemail_agent (akonadi_archivem) cromwell 10646 0.0 1.3 6392 40264 ?? I 12:13PM 0:01.30 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_maildispatcher_agent --identifier akonadi_maildispatcher_agent (akonadi_maildisp) cromwell 27844 0.0 2.2 8852 68092 ?? I 12:13PM 0:04.36 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_mailfilter_agent --identifier akonadi_mailfilter_agent (akonadi_mailfilt) cromwell 2995 0.0 1.4 13256 41564 ?? I 12:13PM 0:01.21 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_mixedmaildir_resource --identifier akonadi_mixedmaildir_resource_0 (akonadi_mixedmai) cromwell 5836 0.0 1.1 6352 32956 ?? I 12:13PM 0:02.59 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_feeder --identifier akonadi_nepomuk_feeder (akonadi_nepomuk_) cromwell 27190 0.0 1.4 6360 41512 ?? I 12:13PM 0:01.45 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent --identifier akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent (akonadi_newmailn) cromwell 6921 0.0 1.1 5820 32964 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.77 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_0 (akonadi_pop3_res) cromwell 2799 0.0 1.1 5768 32964 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.77 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_1 (akonadi_pop3_res) cromwell 24945 0.0 2.1 7656 63096 ?? I 12:13PM 0:03.66 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_sendlater_agent --identifier akonadi_sendlater_agent (akonadi_sendlate) cromwell 26486 0.0 0.9 4264 26976 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.50 /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_0 (akonadi_agent_la) cromwell 12454 0.0 0.1 540 1920 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.01 /usr/local/libexec/gam_server cromwell 9190 0.0 1.0 7140 30972 ?? I 12:13PM 0:00.58 /usr/local/bin/kwalletd cromwell 4136 0.0 1.0 7292 31860 ?? I 12:14PM 0:00.76 /usr/local/bin/kwalletmanager --kwalletd cromwell 31871 0.0 0.1 612 1624 p0 I 12:13PM 0:00.00 /usr/local/bin/dbus-launch --autolaunch 7c0ca4fe052589165cd10001537512b6 --binary-syntax --close-stderr cromwell 29859 0.0 3.4 86208 105352 p0 S 12:13PM 0:09.96 kmail
The relevant parts of the process tree look like this:
|--= 02237 cromwell /usr/local/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session |-+- 06467 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_control | |--- 31304 cromwell akonadiserver | |--- 04778 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_0 (akonadi_agent_la) | |--- 27949 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_1 (akonadi_agent_la) | |--- 19613 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_2 (akonadi_agent_la) | |--- 14334 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_archivemail_agent --identifier akonadi_archivemail_agent (akonadi_archivem) | |--- 10646 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_maildispatcher_agent --identifier akonadi_maildispatcher_agent (akonadi_maildisp) | |--- 27844 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_mailfilter_agent --identifier akonadi_mailfilter_agent (akonadi_mailfilt) | |--- 02995 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_mixedmaildir_resource --identifier akonadi_mixedmaildir_resource_0 (akonadi_mixedmai) | |--- 05836 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_feeder --identifier akonadi_nepomuk_feeder (akonadi_nepomuk_) | |--- 06921 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_0 (akonadi_pop3_res) | |--- 27190 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent --identifier akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent (akonadi_newmailn) | |--- 24945 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_sendlater_agent --identifier akonadi_sendlater_agent (akonadi_sendlate) | |--- 02799 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_1 (akonadi_pop3_res) | \--- 26486 cromwell /usr/local/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_0 (akonadi_agent_la) |-+= 12782 cromwell kdeinit4: kdeinit4: kdeinit4 Running... (kdeinit4) | \--- 20183 cromwell klauncher --fd=8 |--- 06341 cromwell kded4 |--- 12454 cromwell /usr/local/libexec/gam_server |--- 09190 cromwell /usr/local/bin/kwalletd |--- 04136 cromwell /usr/local/bin/kwalletmanager --kwalletd |--- 31871 cromwell /usr/local/bin/dbus-launch --autolaunch 7c0ca4fe052589165cd10001537512b6 --binary-syntax --close-stderr |--- 29859 cromwell kmail
Running Thunderbird instead, things are much quieter. It was time to transition from KMail to Thunderbird.
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND cromwell 10383 0.0 0.0 788 1464 ?? Is 12:30PM 0:00.00 /usr/local/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session cromwell 32115 0.0 0.1 788 3432 ?? S 12:30PM 0:00.01 /usr/local/libexec/gconfd-2 cromwell 12647 0.0 4.3 96408 130192 p0 S 12:30PM 0:29.02 thunderbird cromwell 3091 0.0 0.1 780 1624 p0 I 12:30PM 0:00.00 /usr/local/bin/dbus-launch --autolaunch 7c0ca4fe052589165cd10001537512b6 --binary-syntax --close-stderr
management
Let's see which package contains KMail.
Looks like it's kdepim.
OpenBSD:~ % which kmail /usr/local/bin/kmail OpenBSD:~ % pkg_info -E /usr/local/bin/kmail /usr/local/bin/kmail: kdepim-4.11.5p0 kdepim-4.11.5p0 KDE personal information management
What related packages have been installed —
kdepim and related plus NEPOMUK and
Akonadi?
OpenBSD:~ % pkg_info | egrep 'kdepim|nepomuk|akonadi' akonadi-1.11.0p0 PIM cache and access services kdepim-4.11.5p0 KDE personal information management kdepim-runtime-4.11.5p2 KDE PIM runtime support kdepimlibs-4.11.5p0 libraries for KDE PIM services nepomuk-core-4.11.5 KDE Nepomuk core libraries nepomuk-widgets-4.11.5 Nepomuk-based KDE Plasma widgets
Could I live without kdepim?
Easily:
OpenBSD:~ % pkg_info -L kdepim | grep 'bin/' /usr/local/bin/akonadi_archivemail_agent /usr/local/bin/akonadi_mailfilter_agent /usr/local/bin/akonadi_sendlater_agent /usr/local/bin/akonadiconsole /usr/local/bin/akregator /usr/local/bin/akregatorstorageexporter /usr/local/bin/blogilo /usr/local/bin/headerthemeeditor /usr/local/bin/ical2vcal /usr/local/bin/importwizard /usr/local/bin/kabc2mutt /usr/local/bin/kabcclient /usr/local/bin/kaddressbook /usr/local/bin/kalarm /usr/local/bin/kalarmautostart /usr/local/bin/karm /usr/local/bin/kgpgconf /usr/local/bin/kincidenceeditor /usr/local/bin/kjots /usr/local/bin/kleopatra /usr/local/bin/kmail /usr/local/bin/kmail_antivir.sh /usr/local/bin/kmail_clamav.sh /usr/local/bin/kmail_fprot.sh /usr/local/bin/kmail_sav.sh /usr/local/bin/kmailcvt /usr/local/bin/knode /usr/local/bin/knotes /usr/local/bin/konsolekalendar /usr/local/bin/kontact /usr/local/bin/korgac /usr/local/bin/korganizer /usr/local/bin/ksendemail /usr/local/bin/ktimetracker /usr/local/bin/ktnef /usr/local/bin/kwatchgnupg /usr/local/bin/pimsettingexporte
Right away I find that kdepim
is in the list of packages
not required by others, so it could be removed:
OpenBSD:~ # pkg_info -t | egrep 'kdepim|nepomuk|akonadi' kdepim-4.11.5p0 KDE personal information management OpenBSD:~ # pkg_delete kdepim kdepim-4.11.5p0: ok Read shared items: ok
I can't get rid of the others as they
are required by KDE components I must keep.
kde-workspace includes the Plasma desktop
itself,
and kde-baseapps includes the Konqueror
file and web browser.
They directly require the packages
kdepim-runtime,
kdepimlibs,
nepomuk-core, and
nepomuk-widgets,
and the first two of those require
akonadi.
OpenBSD:~ $ pkg_info -R akonadi kdepim-runtime kdepimlibs nepomuk-core nepomuk-widgets Information for inst:akonadi-1.11.0p0 Required by: kdepimlibs-4.11.5p0 kdepim-runtime-4.11.5p2 Information for inst:kdepim-runtime-4.11.5p2 Required by: kget-4.11.5 kde-workspace-4.11.6 kopete-4.11.5 kuser-4.11.5 Information for inst:kdepimlibs-4.11.5p0 Required by: kget-4.11.5 py-kde-4.11.5 kopete-4.11.5 libkgapi-2.0.1p2 kdepim-runtime-4.11.5p2 kde-runtime-4.11.5p1 kde-workspace-4.11.6 libkfbapi-1.0p2 kuser-4.11.5 Information for inst:nepomuk-core-4.11.5 Required by: kde-baseapps-4.11.5 kactivities-4.11.5 kget-4.11.5 py-kde-4.11.5 kdepimlibs-4.11.5p0 kdepim-runtime-4.11.5p2 kde-runtime-4.11.5p1 nepomuk-widgets-4.11.5 kde-workspace-4.11.6 Information for inst:nepomuk-widgets-4.11.5 Required by: kde-baseapps-4.11.5 kget-4.11.5
If I Can't Delete NEPOMUK and Akonadi, At Least I'll Disable Them
Further risks of desktop indexingStart the System Settings tool and go to Desktop Search. Disable that to keep NEPOMUK from being started.
Next, do the part that is very easy to overlook. By default there will be a clock widget at the right end of the bottom taskbar, and by default it will try to report events from your personal calendar. And to do that, even if you haven't set up a personal calendar, it will start Akonadi with its many processes.
So, right-click on the taskbar clock, select Digital clock settings, click the Calendar section and de-select Display events.
Hello Thunderbird
Import Messages from KMail
Use Thunderbird's Add-ons Manager (under the Tools menu) to install the ImportExportTools extension.
Recent versions of KMail store messages under
~/.kde/share/apps/kmail
(older versions may use ~/.Mail).
Within that area, the directory mail/inbox/cur
will contain files with your current inbox.
If you have created folders within your inbox,
their messages will be in
mail/.inbox.directory/FolderName/cur/*.
Create new folders as needed. Then for each folder including Inbox, right-click, select ImportExportTools, then Import Messages, and then navigate to the appropriate KMail directory. You will need to click on the pencil-and-paper button to create the Location box where you can type, otherwise the interface will not off you choices with "." as their first character.
Configure GnuPG
However, see why I gave up on routine use of PGP
Install the enigmail package.
Note that if you search for the Enigmail plugin for
Thunderbird, it disable itself.
Use the enigmail package from OpenBSD.
Verify that you have installed the graphical tool for entering your PGP pass phrase:
OpenBSD:~ $ which pinentry-gtk-2
That should return something,
/usr/local/bin/pinentry-gtk-2 on OpenBSD.
If it instead complains "Command not found" then you
need to add a package, probably pinentry-gtk2.
With the code in place, right-click on your address in the upper left Thunderbird pane and select Settings. Then click OpenPGP Security to configure using OpenPGP, specify using your email address to identify your key (or else tell it which PGP key ID to use), and select if you want to sign messages by default.
Allow Longer Lines
Thunderbird imposes a 72-character maximum line length when you are composing a message. You can increase that length.
Go to Edit then Preferences, select the Advanced sub-panel and its General tab, and click Config Editor.
Type wrap in the search box and make your change.
Note that the boolean mail.wrap_long_lines does
not effect mail you are composing to send.
Instead, change mailnews.wraplength to 300
characters or so.
That should be plenty for the longest URL you will need to
paste into place.
Plain Text Only
Right-click the account in the upper-left pane, select Settings, then Composition & Addressing. Uncheck Compose messages in HTML format.
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