### 3.5 `mail` — Send and Receive Mail ¶

Editor’s note: The information in this node may be obsolete or otherwise inaccurate. This message will disappear, once this node revised.

`Mail` is an enhanced version of POSIX `mailx` program. The program operates in two modes: read and send.

`Mail` enters send mode when at least one email address was specified in its command line. In this mode the program waits until user finishes composing the message, then attempts to send it to the specified addresses and exits. See Composing Mail, for a detailed description of this behavior.

If the command line contained no email addresses, `mail` switches to reading mode. In this mode it allows the user to read and manipulate the contents of the user system mailbox. Use the `--file` (`-f`) option to specify another mailbox name. For more detail, see Reading Mail.

In addition to the Mailutils configuration file, `mail` reads the traditional ‘`mailrc`’-style configuration files. See Personal and System-wide Configuration Files, for a detailed description of their format.