Installing a mail app on the Pi 2.

[One Brain Cell]

Hello, this is my first post. I've just purchased a Raspberry Pi 2 to replace my Dad's ageing WinXP machine (which has just bitten the dust). All he needs is to be able to access his e-mails, and use the internet in a very basic way (eBay, News).

I'm typing this on the Pi, which I set up yesterday. Its running Raspian (off a 32Gb microSD) and I've installed Libre Office so he can open, edit & save word docs and the like.

I'd like to install a mail client because Yahoo mail on the Ephiphany web browser is pretty awful. I have found one called 'Evolution', which by all accounts looks like Outlook Express/Thunderbird. I'd like to install this, if its the right thing for the job, and then he's pretty much set.

My question is how do I install it? I've poked around the website, and it mentions being a part of Gnome, but this is my first time with a Pi/Linux. I've installed a few bits and pieces from the Pi Store, but Evolution is not there, neither is Claws, which is an alternative to Evolution & Thunderbird (which I understand is no longer being updated).

Thanks very much for any help.

[One Brain Cell]

As a quick update, I found a site discussing whether a Pi 2 could work as a reasonable replacement for a desktop (which is my intention for my Dad), and it talked about the LX Terminal as a way (THE way?) to install programs.

Using this site I have installed GIMP, Inkscape and Audacity. I use Audacity all the time and I am astounded at how well it handles files on the Pi. This machine is pretty fantastic, I used to use an old Powermac G4 Dual 1Ghz G4 (circa 2002, but it was a top end machine), and the Pi is faster at handling audio than this.

One additional question, my Dad often gets sent links to old car videos on Youtube. Using Epiphany, I have set youtube so it plays HTML5 files by priority. However, when I play a video the 'play' icon remains fixed in the middle of the video. Additionally I cannot pause, rewind, jump ahead, go full screen or anything. The video just plays until it ends or I shut down the tab. Any way I can get the normal functionality?

[DougieLawson]

Just install icedove and you'll get something that looks 100% like Thunderbird because it is Thunderbird with a new name.

[gkreidl]

One additional question, my Dad often gets sent links to old car videos on Youtube. Using Epiphany, I have set youtube so it plays HTML5 files by priority. However, when I play a video the 'play' icon remains fixed in the middle of the video. Additionally I cannot pause, rewind, jump ahead, go full screen or anything. The video just plays until it ends or I shut down the tab. Any way I can get the normal functionality?

This is a bug in the current epiphany version caused by a change in the youtube-API. There's a fix somewhere on the forum or you can install kweb (Minimal Kiosk Browser); kweb3 uses the same engine as epiphany but doesn't have that bug.

[One Brain Cell]

Many thanks Dougie and gkreidl for your advice. I shall install both