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Comment by ancarda | Hacker News Reader

One reason I switched to Fastmail is it's just folders, not labels. I HATED labels in Gmail. It never works right with external clients, even if you use plugins in Thunderbird or try to use labels like they are folders.

I gave up and basically used the web interface until I switched to FastMail.

Will folders ever become mandatory? If so, maybe I should finally give in and host emails myself. It can't be more painful than being forced to use labels.

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Labels will probably remain optional, since folders are better supported by IMAP clients and they've been in the standard forever.

The only service that does not support folders properly is Gmail and the actual problem with Gmail is that they're abusing IMAP folders for emulating their labels. Fastmail has always been very standards compliant and I don't see them abusing the standard without a way to turn the behavior off.

So I don't really understand the drama. Also note that a lot of users, including myself, are craving for labels ;-)

I can't find the blog post, but I read one once that said, basically: you don't need labels or folders. You need your inbox, the archive, and trash. Once you've tended to an email, either archive it (and just use your search function later), or delete it.

I've tried unsuccessfully to maintain folder/label systems over the years, and I always end up having to search my emails anyway. So why bother with trying to make a consistent folder/label structure? I'm much more likely to remember some key words from an invoice than remember which labels I would've applied.

Folders aren't for filing emails after you've read them. Used well, they're for filing incoming messages automatically. I have a heavily email-driven workflow, and I am active on dozens of mailing lists. My email servers filter incoming messages and deliver them directly into folders based on which list they're coming into. Another filter has a list of commerce-associated domains that get filed into folders based on which accounts they're associated with. As a result, the only mail that hits my inbox proper is mail from friends and family (plus the occasional not-filtered-yet work/list mail). Everything else lands in folders, and I prioritize opening those folders and dealing with those messages.

As you mentioned, once a message is 'consumed,' it just gets archived. But the folder system (combined with sieve filters) is what makes dealing with a ton of incoming email extremely pleasant.

Folder structure (whether email or filesystem) give context. In the same folder may be related emails from other people or with different subjects. Search works for finding a specific email, and folders help finding related emails once you have the first one.

In addition, folders have better discoverability, whereas I find search to be finicky (looking for exact words when I only remember a synonym)

I have a similar problem with google drive. Oftentimes I will find a file that I was looking for, but I know there are related files in the same folder (maybe a spreadsheet used to generate the other document). But I can't get to the folder from the file (as far as I know). If I don't remember some keywords from the other file, I may be SOL.

I can't see why they would ever be mandatory, but Fastmail is a big player when it comes to email standards, so if they're bringing in label support I expect that it's becoming a part of standard emailing and proper support will appear in external clients soon.

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