MHonArc FAQ: General Information

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## General

- What is MHonArc?
- What's the latest version of MhonArc?
- Where can I get MHonArc?
- How much does MHonArc cost?
- Where can I get help on MHonArc?
- How does MHonArc compare to other e-mail converters, like Hypermail?
- Are their "real-world" examples of MHonArc usage?

| ### What is MHonArc?

MHonArc is a Perl program for converting e-mail messages as specified in RFC 822 and the MIME standard to HTML. MHonArc can perform the following tasks:

- Convert MH mail folders or UUCP/Unix style mailboxes into an HTML mail archive.
- Add or remove messages to an existing HTML mail archive generated by MHonArc.
- Convert a single message to HTML.

Along with these tasks, MHonArc provides the following:

- A main customizable index for mail messages archived.
- A customizable thread index listing messages by thread.
- Control over message formatting.
- The ability to hook in your own custom message filters.
- And other things to numerous to mention here.

| ### What's the latest version of MhonArc?

2.2.0

| ### Where can I get MHonArc?

The latest information on MHonArc, and its availability, may be obtained at (http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/mhonarc.html).

| ### How much does MHonArc cost?

Its FREE! MHonArc is distributed under the GNU General Public License. A copy of the license is included in the distribution. Please read it for more information.

NOTE | Although MHonArc is freely available, it is NOT in the public domain. Applicable copyrights still apply.

Of course, the author of MHonArc will not decline any donations from appreciative users.

| ### Where can I get help on MHonArc?

The first place to try is the documentation that comes with MHonArc. The documentation is quite extensive, and may provide answers to most of your questions.

Second, you can read this FAQ.

Third, a mailing list, mhonarc@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de, is available to provide a discussion forum on the usage and development of MHonArc. Appropriate topics for the list include: usage questions, bug reports, behavioral enhancements, documentation bugs, and general help.

To subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to mhonarc-request@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de with the command,

    subscribe

as the message body.

If you send mail mhonarc@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de, your message will be distributed to all subscribers on the list.

The mailing list is archived by Majordomo. You can also use the WWW to access the archive (with full text search using Glimpse) at (http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/mhonarc/)

| ### How does MHonArc compare to other e-mail converters, like Hypermail?

Hypermail is probably the only other major free program for archiving e-mail on the Web. There are other free programs available, but Hypermail and MHonArc appear to be the two major programs in use.

Although Hypermail is a good product, MHonArc has the following advanatages:

NOTE | If you notice any errors regarding the information related to Hypermail, please contact the FAQ maintainer.

- MHonArc is still being developed and supported (a mailing list exists for MHonArc users). I believe Hypermail is no longer developed, or supported, by EIT. Development of Hypermail is isolated among individual users and no new home for Hypermail is known (to my knowledge).

- Support variant mail folders types. Hypermail supports only UUCP style mailboxes.

- Support for MIME. Hypermail does not support MIME. With the MIME model, you can extend MHonArc to handle content-types that it does not support by default. Also, with MIME, non-textual data like images will be handled properly.

- Page customization. MHonArc gives you complete control on how pages are formatted. This allows you to tailor your archives to fit the style of your Web site. Hypermail has a predefined style for pages generated. Note, Hypermail does support some simple options that effect how data is converted to HTML.

- Multi-platform support. MHonArc basically runs on any system that Perl runs. Hypermail is only known to run on Unix systems, however, there may be a WinNT port.

The other major difference is that MHonArc is written in Perl, and Hypermail is written in C (there is also a Lisp version). There are pros and cons of both languages. In sum, Perl allows for easier modification, portability, and extensiblility. C provides better execution speed.

There are other differences, so consult the documentation of both programs to get a more complete list. Your needs willl ultimately decide which program is best for you.

| ### Are their "real-world" examples of MHonArc usage?

Take your pick:

- WWW Mailing List Archives & References:
  (http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/)
- Spring 1997 UCI EEE Course Mailing List Archives:
  (http://eee.uci.edu/97s/w3m3/)
- Majordomo Users Mailing List Interface:
  (http://www.hpc.uh.edu/majordomo-users)
- Liblicense-L List Archives:
  (http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/ListArchives/)

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