Rocky Linux 8.6
used DNF to add the EPEL8 Repository
used DNF to install Alpine From EPEL8
Alpine starts and runs however I have been unable to locate the pine.conf or pine.conf.fixed files for Computer / system wide configurations. Alpine docs say the file will be installed to /usr/local/lib in my rocky linux install; that folder was empty. the documentation on pkgs.org says that alpine installed from the EPEL8 on Centos8 will add the config to /etc but the pine.conf file is missing from there as well.
Searched using:
ls -a -R | grep pine.conf
and didn’t get anything back so I tried
ls -a -R | grep pine
and got a list of results back including the pinerc per use config file but not the pine.conf file.
Anyone know where this file is being installed or if it’s just missing from my system?
(( lacking permission to make the file properly from the package? ))
Note: For clarity, I am looking for the config file to see what I can do with it and try to use alpine to sign into office365 email account for sending automated emails from NUT (( network UPS Tools )) or a script that NUT will use.
Just did a quick test install on an Alma9 VM, then did rpm -ql alpine. Doing rpm -ql alpine shows /etc/pine.conf, but it doesn’t actually exist. I haven’t used alpine in 20 years, I don’t know if that’s considered a bug or not.
I don’t think this really helps, but it seems to indicate you’re not missing the obvious.
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I do appreciate this, thanks.
I think that means I need to create a Bugzilla account and report it to EPEL. That would be the procedure here right?
I’m not positive, but that certainly seems a logical next step. It’s possible they left it out for reasons, but also quite possible it’s an error. Also, as rpm -ql shows that it should exist, that seems worht mentioning.
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@Zelphir Like @scottro, I haven’t used pine (alpine) in years. BUT, I can verify on a Rocky Linux 8.6 machine, with the EPEL enabled and alpine installed it shows that the config should be there in /etc as you have reported. This does look like a bug in the package provided by EPEL, so going with the bug report is a good idea. I’m sure it is still possible to manually setup config file. I know that executing alpine does bring up the interface. Good Luck!
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what’s a real bugger about this is that it seems alpine doesn’t support scripting a sent email like Mutt or Sendmail. So even though I have it working now, the bug still exists and it doesn’t do what I want. So now I have to go report a bug for software I’m not going to end up using.
oops.
I have a nice page on mutt. mutt. 
Sorry couldn’t resist. I see, doing a quick web search, that Pine Technical Notes: Configuration and Preferences says, about 5 paragraphs down (search for sample on the page)
You may get a sample/fresh copy of the system configuration file by running Pine -conf. The result will be printed on the standard output with short comments describing each variable. (The online help in the Setup screens provides longer comments.) If you need to fix some of the configuration variables, you would use the same template for the fixed configuration file as for the regular system-wide configuration file. (If it isn’t clear, the purpose of the fixed configuration file is to allow system administrators to restrict the configurability of Pine. It is by no means a bullet-proof method.) Pine will automatically create the personal configuration file the first time it is run, so there is no need to generate a sample. Pine reads and writes the personal configuration file occasionally during normal operation. Users will not normally look at their personal configuration file, but will use the Setup screens from within Pine to set the values in this file. If a user does add additional comments to the personal configuration file they will be retained.
So, that may work. (I already removed the abovementioned vm, so have’t tested it).
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I still had my container image up, so took a look. In the case of alpine, you use alpine -conf rather than pine -conf and it works as you say @scottro . Interesting bits!
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Thanks everyone. Also @scottro I’ll likely end up using that Mutt documentation.
Well, for alpine, @sspencerwire showed that there is a way to get the conf. used pine for years before mutt, and people still love it, or its descendent, alpine. Anyway, glad that there was a solution, though I prefer mutt.