  gnus , or gnus network user services, is a message reader which is part of gnu emacs. (it also works in xemacs.) it supports reading and composing both e-mail and news and can also act as an rss reader, web processor, and directory browser for both local and remote filesystems. gnus blurs the distinction between news and e-mail, treating them both as "articles" that come from different sources. news articles are kept separate by group, and e-mail can be split into arbitrary groups, similar to folders in other mail readers. in addition, gnus is able to use a number of web-based sources as inputs for its groups. note that, as with gnu, the g in gnus is always pronounced. == features == some gnus features: * a range of backends that support any or all of: ** reading email from the local filesystem, or over a network via imap or pop3 ** reading web pages via an rss or atom feed ** treating a directory of files, either local or remote (via ftp or other method) as articles to browse ** reading usenet news, including the gmane and gwene mail-to-news archives of mailing lists * simple or advanced mail splitting (automatic sorting of incoming mail to user-defined groups) * incoming mail can be set to expire instead of just plain deletion * custom posting styles (e.g. a different from address, .signature etc.) for each group * virtual groups (e.g., directory on the computer can be read as a group) * an advanced message scoring system * user-defined hooks for almost any method (in emacs lisp) * many of the parameters (e.g., expiration, posting style) can be specified individually for all of the groups * integration with the insidious big brother database (bbdb) to handle contacts in a highly automated fashion. * integration with other emacs packages, such as the w3 web browser, ldap lookup code, etc. as part of emacs, gnus' features can be extended indefinitely through emacs lisp. to quote the gnus manual: :"you know that gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for shooting yourself in the foot. some people call it flexibility. gnus is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a say on how gnus behaves. other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot you in your foot, but with gnus, you have a choice!"  note that the composition of html email messages (as users of more wysiwyg ed
Cross-platform_free_software Emacs Email_client_software_for_Linux Free_email_software Free_software_programmed_in_Lisp OS_X_email_clients Usenet_clients