1.  On what kind of systems can knm be installed?

!   You need at least Java 1.1.5 and Swing 1.1. Java 1.2 should also work.
    The final version will require Java 1.2.

    knm has been tested with the following Java Virtual Machines (JVMs):

      Java 1.1.6 for OS/2 with Swing 1.1 Beta 3
      Java 1.1.7 Preview for OS/2 with Swing 1.1 Beta 3
      Java 1.1.7A for OS/2 with Swing 1.1

    Please tell me about problems you have with specific JVMs, so that
    I can investigate whether you've found a bug in your JVM or in knm.
    I will usually not build workarounds for platform dependent JVM bugs.


2.  I don't have Java, and I don't have Swing. Where can I get it?

!   Java is available freely for all important operating systems. Have a
    look at www.javasoft.com to get the software itself or at least a
    pointer to where to get it (depending on your operating system).

    At the same places, you will find information on swing and the software
    itself.


3.  knm never asks me for a superuser password. Is this safe?

!   No, it isn't. knm is intended for home users who don't grant anybody
    they don't trust access to their machine. Current (1.1.x) Java versions
    do not provide sufficient means to encrypt informations, so anyone who
    can access the data directory can manipulate the data at will anyway.
    If future Java versions provide convenient encryption mechanisms or
    if sufficient demand shows up, I might reconsider this.


4.  knm issues warnings about possible deadlocks. What should I do?

!   knm is very careful and will (at least until GA is reached) issue these
    warnings very soon, even if the reason still might be a slow internet
    connection. If you've run into a real deadlock, you will see these
    messages repeating with at least two different stack traces. If this
    occurs, send me *all* these stack traces. If a real deadlock has occurred,
    you should kill (not: quit) knm and extract the last messages from the
    files mdrX yourself.


5.  knm hangs or traps. What should I do?

!   If you think that the database in the memory might be corrupt, act
    as if it were a deadlock. In other cases, try the quit button.


6.  knm is *slow*! Isn't there anything I can do?

!   The beta code contains some debugging capabilities which will be removed
    in the final version. Without them, the code will be both smaller and
    faster.

    Nevertheless, you might want to try another (better) Java Runtime or to
    upgrade your memory. Complains about slow Java software usually origins
    from one of these sources.


7.  What is that "configuration file" mentioned in the startup files?

!   This file is created by knm. Its original name is <home>/.knewsmail. You
    can change name and position in the "Options dialog". If you do that,
    however, you'll have to feed the name and position to knm next times you
    start it.


8.  How do I update to a new version of knm?

!   Unless stated otherwise in the history file, just copy the files from the
    new version over the files from the old version.


9.  knm runs but behaves a little bit stangely. Will it help to reinstall it?

!   No. knm installation does not make any changes to your system, so this
    won't have any effect.

    If knm worked well before but shows problems now, you might try doing a
    CleanUp with a complete reorganization. If that doesn't help, try renaming
    the directory <home>/.knewsmaildata. The renaming will delete all your data
    and lets you start from scratch; if that doesn't help, you can always
    give the directory its old name back, and all your old data will be there.


10. When downloading email from the POP server, knm always downloads the old
    messages again. Why?

!   You've configured knm not to delete your email from the POP server. When knm
    connects to the server again, it doesn't know whether it already received
    any of the emails offered bei the POP server. This is a limitation of the
    POP protocol, and there's no hope to change it.

    You should either
    (a) configure knm to remove any downloaded email from the server  or
    (b) download your email and delete it from the server by some other means
        before again downloading using knm.

    Note: some software (e.g. Netscape Communicator) uses the ID information
    provided by the POP server to identify already downloaded email. However,
    this is not what the ID information is intended to be used for, and it
    could happen to netscape that it won't download new email because it thinks
    that it's old. For knm, it's more important to be safe than to be convenient.
