Okay, I was just thinking out loud. As I mentioned, despite being familiar with a particular tool, occasionally I have overlooked obvious settings like that.

I did not share in my previous post, but yes, I finally figured out those knee-bone to thigh-bone relationships. Thanks for sharing anyway. As I mentioned, I think having two sections is more complicated than necessary. One dialog box with two tabs would serve the same purpose.

I understand. Anybody who reads my online journal learns I have stubbed my toes many times the past 6 years trying to migrate fully. As much as I enjoy the philosophy and flexibility of free/libre software, I share some of your feelings that you posted previously. Some things in the free/libre software are not ready for prime time. The same is true with some proprietary software too. Most people want to treat their computers as an appliance and I have no argument against that. When those of us who are more experienced with computers struggle, I can empathize with those who want to treat computers as an appliance.

Hopefully one day you resolve this KMail problem. I am meticulous about my own computer and I understand the frustration when something can't be configured to taste --- or at all.

Well, the printer problems seems to have solved itself. When I booted up this morning the printer started spitting out what was left in the spool when it was shut down last night.

KMail is still not retrieving mail and at this point I've switched to Thunderbird and getting use to it.
It does have some nice features.

Went to scan a 14 page document at only 75 dpi and Xsane said each page was 1.5 megs in size. I stopped the scan, booted to XP and did it with HP's software and the entire 14 page .pdf file was only 2.8 megs in size.

As much as I hate to admit it, it would appear that for most of my purposes, especially business related, XP is really does the job better than Linux/KDE....
Not happy to say that, but.... there is no way around it....

At least you can scan. My old Visioneer 3300 is a parallel port scanner and is not supported by SANE. I have to boot my NT4 box for scanning. My scanning needs are modest and I don't bother buying a new scanner. I likely will never be able to scan with SANE unless I buy a new scanner. However, the thought of yet another piece of otherwise useful electronic equipment sitting on the shelf troubles me.

I use Slackware 12.1 daily as my primary box, but there is some humble reality to your statement. For good reason.

Many of the free/libre software contributors, even when they are subsidized by a corporate payroll, are not being driven or guided by business decision-makers. They tend, and expectfully so, to contribute code only from their own perspective. They tend to scratch their own itch and often little more.

The Windows world is driven by bottom-line mentality. I don't like that philosophy, but that is how the business world functions. Therefore if software can't sell then the software is not written. Business software sells only when the tools provide useful solutions.

Although changing, the free/libre software world is maintained significantly by hobbyists and home users. There are specialty areas where business decisions prevail, but not yet overwhelmingly. I suspect in a few years when more people in the business sector are using free/libre software these kind of problems will disappear like the dew on a hot sunny morning.

These frustrations are real. People in the drafting business have waited for years for an Autocad replacement. The arguments about Photoshop rage every day. As do the arguments about Flash and Gnash. I have worked as a professional technical writer for years and I still wait for OpenOffice Writer to provide a no-brainer, simple draft page mode (called Normal View in Word). I haven't found a replacement for WinMerge --- Kompare does not provide inline editing, KDiff3 does not allow partial merges, and I have a low tolerance for GTK file picker dialog boxes so I tend not to look in that area for solutions. Related to this thread, KMail does not fully support HTML mail. What the hobbyists and home users think about HTML mail is immaterial because such a feature is expected in the business world.

I have to maintain virtual machines to run certain software tools, such as FrameMaker. The issue is not what is available in free/libre software as a replacement software, but what my contract requires when I provide deliverables for other people. These kinds of issues seem irrelevant to many hobbyists and home users but are deal breakers for people who must survive in the business world.

Of course, the entire discussion is complicated. I am not declaring the business model of thinking correct or even preferred --- I think mostly the opposite. Yet living in the reality of the business world is challenging for people who must use business-specific software but prefer the design and philosophy of free/libre software.

I need to step off the soap box!

Very well stated!
You should get on the soap box more often.

Update.
A kind individual suggested disabling the network manager and that did the trick. KMail will now retrieve e-mail.

Why that works I don't know.

It also brings up the question of how would someone connect to their DSL or Cable ISP without the network manager?

Regardless, KMail is now "working" once again.

Huh.

Woohoo!

If I understand correctly, the network manager is only a graphical front-end. Therefore if you are using a non-wireless system, then the standard stock Slackware setup should work just fine. Start with the netconfig utility. That utility (script) will configure (and overwrite --- you've been forewarned ) your etc/hosts, resolv.conf, and rc.d/rc.inet1.conf files.

If you are discussing wireless, then there are oodles of threads discussing that issue.