[Alpine-info] PINERC file for accessing Gmail

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

I'm not using Gsuit, I'm just a regular user who attempts to help blind
users have a simple way to access their email.

It's frustrating getting people to appreciate how difficult it is for most
blind computer users to use the Graphical User Interface. Also speech
dispatcher under the command line text interface is flawlessly excellent,
and being keyboard command driven, it's a wonderful match for blind users.

I have tried in the past to get the developer of the excellent lynx command
Internet browser to include in his release an alternative lynx.cfg
confusion file which eliminates the constant need to override objections of
lynx to access websites. I cannot say that he is unaware of blind users
difficulties, but I can say that he probably is unaware of just how
difficult and impossible for nearly all blind users - the ones not trained
in computers to read lynx.cfg which is over 153k in size with a screen
reader that speaks to you and often reads what in the file are strings as
"words" which the blind user has to scroll through letter by letter using
his cursor keys.

I've asked the developer of Alpine to provide a version of Alpine that has
none of the added security and need for a password for alpine itself, and
he has generously provided me with instructions on how to remove this need
for a password, but it must be done on each users installation of Alpine.

Frankly, and without judgement in any negative way, most blind users are
unable to follow these clear but multiple step instructions.

Back to a pinerc file that blind users can use to access Gmail and download
their email.

The file we are using now only shows the INBOX, and one user I am helping
has 10,000 emails in "ALL MAIL".

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Years ago we had such a file that worked and showed all the folders and it
was hosted on the now defunct but excellent Vinux  based on Ubuntu for the
blind website.  It seems no one has a copy of that pinerc file.

Thanks,

David

On Sat, Jan 14, 2023, 15:35 Lucio Chiappetti <lucio at lambrate.inaf.it> wrote:


> On Sat, 14 Jan 2023, D.J.J. Ring, Jr. wrote:

>

> > Does anyone have an example of a .pinerc file that can directly download

> > imap mail from Gmail using an application specific password?

>

> I use these two for my institutional account managed by Gsuite (so domain

> in name at domain is NOT gmail.com)

>

> The first entry is one incoming folder. It sees the content of the Gsuite

> INBOX (and only that) for the 5 minutes when an incoming message stays

> there.

>

> My default arrangement is to move all valid mail locally to my machine

> with a crontab-operated fetchmail every 5 min

>

> The second is a folder collection. I use it to access any other Gsuite

> folder but inbox. Since I do not keep any serious message on gmail for

> more than 24 hours, this is used: (a) to check the Spam folder; (b) to

> expunge the Bin folder, where message retrieved by fetchmail are

> temporarily "deleted"

>

> Gsuite

> {imap.gmail.com:993/ssl/novalidate-cert/notls/user=name at domain}

>

> "All Gsuite"

> {imap.gmail.com:993/ssl/notls/user=name at domain}[[Gmail]]/[]

> <http://imap.gmail.com:993/ssl/notls/user=name@domain%7D%5B%5BGmail%5D%5D/%5B%5D>

>

>

> details on my useage of fetchmail are in here

> http://sax.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~lucio/WWW/WhereManWins/gs.html

>

> --

> Lucio Chiappetti - INAF/IASF - via Corti 12 - I-20133 Milano (Italy)

> For more info : http://www.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~lucio/personal.html

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A middle rank researcher at end career is not rich but is in the top 5%

> of the Italian income tax taxpayers. Does it not sound strange ?

>

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