# Pantomime

> Mail/MIME handling library for GNUstep

**Wikidata**: [Q118611197](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q118611197)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/pantomime

## Summary
Pantomime is a free software library and framework designed for the GNUstep platform, specifically built to handle Mail and MIME protocols. It serves as a critical backend component for email clients, most notably GNUMail, and is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.

## Key Facts
- **License**: GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later.
- **Latest Stable Version**: 1.4.0 (released February 10, 2023).
- **Platform**: GNUstep (software framework).
- **Instance Of**: Free software, Software library.
- **Maintainer**: Riccardo Mottola (Copyright holder since 2011).
- **Operating Systems**: BSD, macOS.
- **Used By**: GNUMail.
- **Source Code Repository**: https://svn.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/gnustep-nonfsf/frameworks/pantomime/
- **Debian Package Availability**: libpantomime-dev, libpantomime1.3.

## FAQs
### Q: What is Pantomime used for?
A: Pantomime is a software library used for handling Mail and MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) protocols within the GNUstep development environment. It allows developers to integrate email creation, parsing, and sending capabilities into their applications.

### Q: Is Pantomime free to use?
A: Yes, Pantomime is free software distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1 or later. This allows users and developers to freely run, study, modify, and distribute the software.

### Q: Who maintains Pantomime?
A: Pantomime is maintained by Riccardo Mottola, who has also been the copyright holder since 2011. The project is hosted on Savannah (nongnu.org).

## Why It Matters
Pantomime plays a specific and vital role in the free software ecosystem by providing a robust, standardized library for email handling within the GNUstep framework. By abstracting the complexities of MIME parsing and mail protocol interactions, it enables the development of sophisticated email clients like GNUMail without requiring developers to rebuild core mail handling logic from scratch. Its wide availability across major open-source operating systems— including ports for Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD—demonstrates its utility and relevance in the Unix-like OS community. Its continued maintenance and recent stable release in 2023 signify an active, reliable project that continues to support legacy and modern GNUstep applications.

## Notable For
- **Specialized Library**: Functions exclusively as a Mail/MIME handling library for the GNUstep ecosystem.
- **Cross-Platform Availability**: Offers extensive package support across Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo) and BSD variants (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD).
- **Integration**: Acts as the core mail handling engine for the GNUMail client.
- **Licensing**: Uses the LGPL 2.1+, permitting linking by both free and proprietary software.
- **Recent Activity**: Maintained actively with a stable release (v1.4.0) as recent as February 2023.

## Body

### Overview
Pantomime is a free software library classified as a software framework for GNUstep. Its primary function is to provide tools and APIs for handling email (Mail) and Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).

### Version History and Development
The most recent stable version of Pantomime is **1.4.0**, released on **February 10, 2023**. The source code is available for download at `https://download.savannah.nongnu.org/releases/gnustep-nonfsf/Pantomime-1.4.0.tar.gz`.

Development is managed by **Riccardo Mottola**, who has served as the maintainer and copyright holder since 2011. The project utilizes an Apache Subversion (SVN) repository for version control, which can be accessed via ViewVC.

### Platform and OS Compatibility
Pantomime is built for the **GNUstep** platform. It is compatible with operating systems that support this environment, specifically cited as **BSD** and **macOS**.

### Distribution and Packaging
Pantomime is widely distributed across several major open-source software repositories:
- **Debian**: Available as the source package `pantomime` (since Jan 19, 2002). Stable binary packages include `libpantomime-dev` (development files) and `libpantomime1.3` (runtime library).
- **Ubuntu**: Packages `libpantomime-dev` and `libpantomime1.3`.
- **Gentoo**: Ebuild available as `gnustep-libs/pantomime`.
- **BSD Ports**:
  - FreeBSD: `mail/pantomime`
  - OpenBSD: `x11/gnustep/pantomime`
  - NetBSD: `mail/Pantomime`

### Usage and Support
Pantomime is notably used by **GNUMail**, an email client for GNUstep. For support and issue tracking, the project uses the Savannah bug tracker at `https://savannah.nongnu.org/bugs/?group=gnustep-nonfsf`. Additionally, mailing list archives for software bugs are available at `https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnustep-nonfsf-bugs/`.

### Licensing and Legal
The software is **copyrighted** by Riccardo Mottola but is freely distributable under the **GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1 or later**. It is listed in the Free Software Directory.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.nongnu.org/gnustep-nonfsf/gnumail/)
2. [GNUMail & Pantomime 1.4.0. 2023](https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnustep/2023-02/msg00001.html)
3. [Source](https://packages.debian.org/source/bullseye/pantomime)
4. [Source](https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//main/p/pantomime/pantomime_1.3.0+dfsg1-3_copyright)
5. [Source](https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustep-nonfsf-bugs)