GNU bug report logs - #79370
[PATCH] Do not quote "^From " when fetching from IMAP

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: [PATCH] Do not quote "^From " when fetching from IMAP
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:26:11 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Tags: patch

Hi,

I'm using mail-source in Gnus to fetch mail from IMAP.  Whenever I get a
message with a line that start with "From " this line is quoted.

This patch removes this quirk… but maybe it was there for a reason.  We
don't have the history for this modification since it is present in the
code of "mail-source.el" since its import into Emacs (in 2000).  FWIW,
'mail-source-fetch-maildir' have this part commented since 2000 also.



In GNU Emacs 31.0.50 (build 31, x86_64-unknown-openbsd7.7) of 2025-09-01
 built on computer
Repository revision: b52ccb997d598caa321141c0abb553d3b3803eee
Repository branch: master
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12101018
System Description: OpenBSD computer 7.7 GENERIC.MP#10 amd64

Configured using:
 'configure CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/lib
 MAKEINFO=gmakeinfo --prefix=/home/manuel/emacs
 --bindir=/home/manuel/bin --with-x-toolkit=no
 --with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no --without-cairo --without-dbus
 --without-gconf --without-gsettings --without-compress-install'

[0001-Do-not-quote-From-when-fetching-from-IMAP.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

[Message part 3 (text/plain, inline)]

-- 
Manuel Giraud

Message #8 received at 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
To: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
Cc: 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Subject: Re: bug#79370: [PATCH] Do not quote "^From " when fetching from IMAP
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:33:49 +0200

>>>>> On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:26:11 +0200, Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr> said:

    Manuel> Tags: patch
    Manuel> Hi,

    Manuel> I'm using mail-source in Gnus to fetch mail from IMAP.  Whenever I get a
    Manuel> message with a line that start with "From " this line is quoted.

    Manuel> This patch removes this quirk… but maybe it was there for a reason.  We
    Manuel> don't have the history for this modification since it is present in the
    Manuel> code of "mail-source.el" since its import into Emacs (in 2000).  FWIW,
    Manuel> 'mail-source-fetch-maildir' have this part commented since 2000 also.

mbox uses "From" at the start of a line as a separator between
messages. If youʼre certain that the destination is not an mbox file,
then not prepending '>' is ok.

Robert
-- 

Message #11 received at 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, larsi <at> gnus.org, manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr
Subject: Re: bug#79370: [PATCH] Do not quote "^From " when fetching from IMAP
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 19:15:14 +0300

> Cc: 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
> From: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:33:49 +0200
> 
> >>>>> On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:26:11 +0200, Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr> said:
> 
>     Manuel> Tags: patch
>     Manuel> Hi,
> 
>     Manuel> I'm using mail-source in Gnus to fetch mail from IMAP.  Whenever I get a
>     Manuel> message with a line that start with "From " this line is quoted.
> 
>     Manuel> This patch removes this quirk… but maybe it was there for a reason.  We
>     Manuel> don't have the history for this modification since it is present in the
>     Manuel> code of "mail-source.el" since its import into Emacs (in 2000).  FWIW,
>     Manuel> 'mail-source-fetch-maildir' have this part commented since 2000 also.
> 
> mbox uses "From" at the start of a line as a separator between
> messages.

Right, so this quoting is a must to keep the result in a valid mbox
format.  We have this quoting in several other places in Emacs.

Message #14 received at 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr>
To: Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 79370 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Subject: Re: bug#79370: [PATCH] Do not quote "^From " when fetching from IMAP
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2025 19:24:11 +0200

Robert Pluim <rpluim <at> gmail.com> writes:

>>>>>> On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:26:11 +0200, Manuel Giraud <manuel <at> ledu-giraud.fr> said:
>
>     Manuel> Tags: patch
>     Manuel> Hi,
>
>     Manuel> I'm using mail-source in Gnus to fetch mail from IMAP.  Whenever I get a
>     Manuel> message with a line that start with "From " this line is quoted.
>
>     Manuel> This patch removes this quirk… but maybe it was there for a reason.  We
>     Manuel> don't have the history for this modification since it is present in the
>     Manuel> code of "mail-source.el" since its import into Emacs (in 2000).  FWIW,
>     Manuel> 'mail-source-fetch-maildir' have this part commented since 2000 also.
>
> mbox uses "From" at the start of a line as a separator between
> messages. If youʼre certain that the destination is not an mbox file,
> then not prepending '>' is ok.

Ok so we'd have to add a test on the storage backend (I use nnml
myself).  Then maybe it is safer to keep this is as is for a relatively
minor annoyance.
-- 
Manuel Giraud

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