The information on this page applies whether you are using the Math Department computers in person or from a remote computer.
Type pine at the command prompt ($ or %) in a Command tool Command Tool window. You will get the main menu.
![[picture of pine main menu]](pine_main.gif)
(remote) If the pine screen is scrambled looking, quit by typing q and check that your terminal type is set correctly (usually vt100).
Your mouse will not work in pine. Move around the menus using the arrow keys and/or typing.
A line near the bottom of the screen often has messages from the pine program that you must deal with before it will let you move on. If pine won't respond to your commands, check this first. It asks you things like "Really quit pine?" "Create folder sent-mail?"
The bottom lines of the screen have letters for common commands, such as s for save, m for return to main menu, ? for help, o for other commands not shown. If you don't see the command you want, try o or ?. Run the command by typing the letter.
Mail, new and old, is kept in "folders". Pine creates folders in your account. You can tell it to create other ones, too, if you want a filing system for your old mail. New mail is in the inbox. When you start pine, you are put in the inbox.
To see what you have, type i for index (if you forget, this is listed on the menus).
![[picture of pine index screen]](pine_index.gif)
To read a particular message, use the arrow keys until it's highlighted, then hit return.
After reading, delete it (d) or save it (s) to a folder. The default folder is saved-messages, or you can tell pine to make another folder to keep it in. Messages are not actually deleted until you quit pine, so you can undelete something (u) if necessary. Saving your messages in a folder other than the inbox helps save space on the mail server computer.
To read mail in other folders, type l (letter L) for the list of mail folders you have. Use the arrow keys to move to the appropriate one, then return.
To compose a new message, type c. This will put you into a rudimentary text editor. Note that this editor has a different command style: all commands are control something; control is denoted by a ^ on the menus. For example, to type control x, hold down the control key and type x (like the shift key for getting capital letters). Available commands are listed at the bottom of the screen.
![[picture of pine compose screen]](pine_compose.gif)
Type the person's e-mail address in the "To:" field. This is not the same as their real name. If the person has an account on the Math network, all you have to include is their login name. (Example: Jennifer Rodriguez may have jrodrigu as her login name.) If the person has an account on another system, use the full internet address, such as sillyname@math.harvard.edu or president@whitehouse.gov (Bill Clinton's address) or georgia6@hr.house.gov (Newt Gingrich's address) or Somebody@aol.com (a typical America Online address).
To send the same message to more than one person, separate the e-mail addresses with commas. You can also send a "carbon copy" by typing an address in the "Cc:" field.
Type your message, then control-x to exit the editor and send the message.
To reply to someone who has sent you e-mail, type r after reading their message. This will fill in their e-mail address in the "To:" field, and put "Re:" [previous subject] in the subject field. Type the rest of your message as if you were composing a new message and send with control-x.
To avoid embarrassment: Often a message has been sent to more than one person, or an entire mailing list. If you don't want your reply to go to everyone who received the original message, type no when asked "Reply to all recipients?" If the original message came from a mailing list server, you may have to retype (or cut and paste) the address of the one person you want to reply to.
Pine will also ask you "Include original message in reply?" If you type yes, pine will copy the message you just received, set off with greater than signs (>), in your reply. (See Netiquette) at the end of this page.
To send a copy of a message on to a third party, type f. Fill in the new recipient's e-mail address, edit the subject line and forwarded message as necessary, add your comments; send with control-x.
Type q and answer the questions. If you are in the editor (typing a message) get out first, with control-x for send, control-c for cancel.
You can maintain a collection of e-mail address for individuals and groups, so you don't need to keep retyping the full address. Details are explained in pine. Read the menus and help.
You can create a file that is appended to every message you send. Typically this includes your real name, e-mail address, and optionally mailing address, phone number, mottos, jokes, funny little pictures made of characters, etc. To do this, edit (use Text Editor or vi) a file in your home directory named .signature (the initial dot is important). Put in it exactly what you want to appear.
Read the information provided by pine.
E-mail correspondence is not as formal as paper correspondence. In fact, sending a sincere request for information to a famous and busy person often results in a speedy reply. But make it short and polite, and try to use correct spelling and grammar.
A disadvantage of the speed and informality of e-mail is that sometimes you send off a scathing reply without thinking it over. Nasty messages like this are called "flames". Don't flame people, even if they deserve it. Reread your message before you deliver it, or you may regret it.
One way to emphasize that you were joking (and not flaming) is to include a smiley like this one :-) (Tilt your head to the left and you'll see a face.) Here's a winking one ;-). There's even an index of smilies on the Web somewhere.
Including the original message when replying is a good idea since busy people often have many correspondents, and may have forgotten what you were discussing. You can also fill in responses to questions right after the questions. But do delete (control k for line, control d for character) irrelevant parts of a long message. Help save disk space and your recipient's time.