CheckGmail, Linux’s Blackberry

CheckGmail is the Blackberry of the Linux world that relatively is still unknown to most Linux users. Basically, CheckGmail is a task bar Gmail notifier primarily developed by Owen Marshall that makes checking email a task that doesn’t even require for you to actually check your mail most of the time. A click within CheckGmail is all that is needed. If for some reason you are wondering, CheckGmail works with the best and biggest email service – Gmail. The great thing about Gmail is that it works with any POP3 server, allowing you to consolidate your email accounts. You can even check your email on Gmail hosted domains and run multiple instances of CheckGmail if you have multiple Gmail accounts. Once you learn about this great application you will have another reason to switch to Linux. If you are already are on the Linux platform, you will probably install it after reading this review.

The Windows based Gmail notifier created by Google only notifies you of the fact that you have new incoming email. CheckGmail on the other hand provides you with email notification, the first few characters of the email and an unprecedented message management system. This message management functionality is what makes CheckGmail a must for me. Instead of opening your mailbox to find Viagra spam, you only have to read the first line of the email in your CheckGmail notification pop-up to see if it is indeed spam and then upon confirmation you simply have to click on Report spam. If you get an email from a site that automatically sends you emails that you do not want to be bothered with, you can click on Delete, mark the email as read or archive the email. Having a conversation with someone? Click on the message title to display the full message within CheckGmail’s pop-up, or click open to display the message in your browser. To view messages within CheckGmail requires for you to install a few dependencies described later on in this review. If you have multiple messages, the notification pop-up box will increase in size to accommodate for the extra messages leaving you with the same message option choices for each email. If you want to access you actual Gmail account, you can at any time by clicking on the on the CheckGmail envelope in the task bar. Right-clicking on the CheckGmail envelope will bring up a menu that let’s you check your email before the preset interval, undo your last CheckGmail action, compose new email, set-up your preferences, restart CheckGmail and of course quit.

Installing CheckGmail is relatively easy, here I will use a Ubuntu install as an example. Depending on what Linux distribution you are using, the following may not apply. In this case different install options are available in the Download section in CheckGmail’s website. For this example I will be using a Debian package that Sandro Tosi maintains which is used by Ubuntu and all other Debian based Linux distributions:

A) To begin, download CheckGmail Debian package from here:
http://packages.debian.org/unstable/mail/checkgmail
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on all in the bottom to download Checkgmail.

B) Double-click on the file that you have just downloaded. Ubuntu will now inform you that there is already an older version of CheckGmail in their repositories, install the new one you downloaded (1.13 at the time of me writing this) anyways.

C) Once you have completed the installation go into the main menu, then System, then Preferences and then Sessions. Once you have the Sessions window open, click on Add, in the Name field write CheckGmail, in the Command field write checkgmail using small caps, click on OK, click on Close and then reboot.

D) Once you have rebooted you will be asked for your username and password, signifying a successful installation. You are finished.

These are all the steps that an average user requires to take to install CheckGmail.

If you are an intermediate Linux user or better, you can take the following steps to enable the viewing of your messages within the CheckGmail notification window and password encryption.

A) You first have to install libsexy and Gtk2-sexy by typing the following in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install libsexymm2

B) Now install the dependency that is required for the encryption of your password by typing the following in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install libcrypt-simple-perl

C) Reboot for the changes to take into effect.

Once your have rebooted, CheckGmail will now ask you for your password again so that it can encrypt it using the new files we have just installed. After completing these steps, you have enabled the full functionality of CheckGmail.

CheckGmail is surprisingly user intuitive for a Linux application that is not mainstream yet, and configuring it is a snap. Once you open your Preferences window you will have 5 panes displayed. The first pane in the top left allows you to change your username and password, the second pane below allows you to change the default language, the third pane below pane below it allows you to manage external commands which further enhance CheckGmail’s functionality, the fourth pane in the top right allows you to check the interval at which your email is checked and the fifth pain below it allows you to manage your system tray icon. The external commands that can be run in conjunction with CheckGmail allow you to use the email LED that is built-in to your computer, play a sound when new email arrives, and have your Num Lock LED flash upon new email arrival; instructions on how to perform these functions can be found in CheckGmail’s FAQ. For those of you who have multiple Labels in Gmail, notification of these emails can now be displayed at your desired notification interval even if you have your filter is set to bypass your inbox. In addition, in the fifth pane you can replace the notification icons in the system tray with any image that you would like, you will be able to set the display interval of your notification pop-up and set the background image of the tray icon.

If you are not impressed with CheckGmail’s functionality by now, put down the keyboard, give-up on email and head down to your local post office. CheckGmail is a testament to the open source community that displays its’ power and innovation that large corporations cannot always accomplish and most dream of. You will see that living without CheckGmail can be a frustrating experience thanks to the constant launching of your browser and the associated lag. That doesn’t sound too bad, but if you try CheckGmail you will see how indispensable and convenient it really is. Am I exaggerating? What other email notifier is as configurable, allows you to run multiple instances of itself, allows you to check email on Gmail hosted domains and provides you with CheckGmail’s message management all in one package?