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Pine (e-mail client)
Encyclopedia
Pine is a freeware
, text-based
email client developed at the University of Washington
. The first version of this client was written in 1989. Source code was available for only the Unix
version under a license written by the University of Washington
. Pine is no longer under development, and has been replaced by the new Alpine client, which is licensed as free software
.
and Windows
versions of Pine. The Unix version is text user interface
based—its message editor inspired the text editor Pico
. The Windows (and formerly DOS) version is called PC-Pine. WebPine is available to individuals associated with the University of Washington (students, faculty, etc.)—a version of Pine implemented as a web
application.
is Not Unix", i.e. a recursive acronym
. However, one of its original authors, Laurence Lundblade, insists this was never the case and that it started off simply as a word and not an acronym, and that his first choice of a backronym
for pine would be "Pine Is Nearly Elm". Over time it was changed by the university to mean Program for Internet News and E-mail.
The University did, however, register a trademark
for the name Pine.
From version 3.9.2, the holder of the copyright, the University of Washington, changed the license so that even if the source code was still available, they did not allow modifications and changes to Pine to be distributed by anyone other than themselves. They also claimed that even the old license never allowed distribution of modified versions.
The trademark for the Pine name was part of their position in this matter.
In reaction, some developers forked
version 3.9.1 under the name MANA (for Mail And News Agent) to avoid the trademark issue and the GNU project
adopted it as GNU Mana. Richard Stallman
claims that the University of Washington threatened to sue the Free Software Foundation for distributing the modified Pine program, resulting in the development of MANA ceasing and no versions being released.
The University of Washington later modified their license somewhat to allow unmodified distribution of Pine alongside collections of free software
, but the license still does not conform to the Open Source and the Free Software Guidelines so it is semi-free software.
In its place is a new family of email tools based upon Pine, called Alpine and licensed under the Apache License
, version 2. November 29, 2006 saw the first public alpha release, which forms a new approach since the alpha test of Pine was always non-public.
Alpine 1.0 was publicly released on December 20, 2007. Version 2.0 was released in 26 August, 2008.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, text-based
Text-based
Usually used in reference to a computer application, a text-based application is one whose primary input and output are based on text rather than graphics or sound. This does not mean that text-based applications do not have graphics or sound, just that the graphics or sound are secondary to the...
email client developed at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. The first version of this client was written in 1989. Source code was available for only the Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
version under a license written by the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. Pine is no longer under development, and has been replaced by the new Alpine client, which is licensed as free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
Supported platforms
There are both UnixUnix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
versions of Pine. The Unix version is text user interface
Text user interface
TUI short for: Text User Interface or Textual User Interface , is a retronym that was coined sometime after the invention of graphical user interfaces, to distinguish them from text-based user interfaces...
based—its message editor inspired the text editor Pico
Pico (text editor)
Pico is a text editor for Unix and Unix-based computer systems. It is integrated with the Pine e-mail client, which was designed by the Office of Computing and Communications at the University of Washington....
. The Windows (and formerly DOS) version is called PC-Pine. WebPine is available to individuals associated with the University of Washington (students, faculty, etc.)—a version of Pine implemented as a web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
application.
Etymology
Many people believe that Pine stands for "Pine Is Not Elm", in the manner of "GNUGNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
is Not Unix", i.e. a recursive acronym
Recursive acronym
A recursive acronym is an acronym or initialism that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands...
. However, one of its original authors, Laurence Lundblade, insists this was never the case and that it started off simply as a word and not an acronym, and that his first choice of a backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
for pine would be "Pine Is Nearly Elm". Over time it was changed by the university to mean Program for Internet News and E-mail.
Licensing and clones
Up to version 3.9.1, the Pine license was similar to BSD, and it stated that- Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee to the University of Washington is hereby granted …
The University did, however, register a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
for the name Pine.
From version 3.9.2, the holder of the copyright, the University of Washington, changed the license so that even if the source code was still available, they did not allow modifications and changes to Pine to be distributed by anyone other than themselves. They also claimed that even the old license never allowed distribution of modified versions.
The trademark for the Pine name was part of their position in this matter.
In reaction, some developers forked
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
version 3.9.1 under the name MANA (for Mail And News Agent) to avoid the trademark issue and the GNU project
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated GNU operating system development in January, 1984...
adopted it as GNU Mana. Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
claims that the University of Washington threatened to sue the Free Software Foundation for distributing the modified Pine program, resulting in the development of MANA ceasing and no versions being released.
The University of Washington later modified their license somewhat to allow unmodified distribution of Pine alongside collections of free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
, but the license still does not conform to the Open Source and the Free Software Guidelines so it is semi-free software.
Alpine
In 2006, the University of Washington announced that it stopped development of Pine with Pine 4.64, although Pine continues to be supported.In its place is a new family of email tools based upon Pine, called Alpine and licensed under the Apache License
Apache License
The Apache License is a copyfree free software license authored by the Apache Software Foundation . The Apache License requires preservation of the copyright notice and disclaimer....
, version 2. November 29, 2006 saw the first public alpha release, which forms a new approach since the alpha test of Pine was always non-public.
Alpine 1.0 was publicly released on December 20, 2007. Version 2.0 was released in 26 August, 2008.
External links
- Alpine's official homepage
- Pine User statistics (Not updated since April 2007)
- FAQ for comp.mail.pine
- All about pine
- WebPine FAQ
- Pine and PGPPretty Good PrivacyPretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
- Win32 client - The Windows version is usable as a portable applicationPortable applicationA portable application , sometimes also called standalone, is a computer software program designed to run independently from an operating system...
. - Linux client
- Win32 client - The Windows version is usable as a portable application