[ale] Best method of madness for maintaining IMAP email

[skotchman at gmail.com (Scott Castaline)]

Possibly a dumb question but I'm going to take a stab at it. What is the 
best method of working with IMAP email like gmail within a client like 
Thunderbird? Primarily do I want to use local folders or just folders 
based on gmails labeling? Also, am I better off using gmail's filtering 
exclusively, or Thunderbird's or a combination of both? Any input would 
be appreciated.