Thunderbird ceasing support?

[golson765]

Howdy,

I read somewhere that Mozilla is ceasing support or something like that
for Thunderbird soon, and will be handing it over to the open source
community? Anyone know any details on that and how it will affect those
of us who use Thunderbird?

I use Thunderbird and Kmail, going back and forth between the 2 from
time to time.

--
G.O.
Box #1: 12.2 | KDE 4.9.2 | AMD Phenom IIX4 | 64 | ATI Radeon HD 3300 |
16GB
Box #2: 12.2 | KDE 4.9.1 | AMD Athlon X3 | 64 | nVidia C61 GeForce
7025 | 4GB
Laptop: 12.2 | KDE 4.9.2 | Core i7-2620M | 64 | Intel HD Graphics
3000 | 8GB
learning openSUSE and loving it

[dd]

On 11/03/2012 01:34 AM, golson765 wrote:
> Anyone know any details on that and how it will affect those
> of us who use Thunderbird?

"how will it affect us" is a question requiring a prediction of the
future...my crystal ball is cloudy..

as for the known details, you can read all about those, here
http://tinyurl.com/ccasrh3

--
dd

[rafter22]

Howdy,
Anyone know any details on that and how it will affect those
of us who use Thunderbird?

Thunderbird 17.0 which is currently in beta will be both a mainstream, and ESR release, both receiving security and stability releases, until version 24.0, which will be the next mainstream and ESR release, but the mainstream version may get feature updates if warranted, is the way I understand it.

More information

Adjusting the way Thunderbird is managed | The Mozilla Thunderbird Blog

You can read the tb-planning mailing list archives here.

https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/tb-planning/

Get a better summary (rather than plodding through the mailing list) here.

https://etherpad.mozilla.org/tb-releases

Happy reading!

[chief_sealth]

Mozilla has been talking about this for a few years now. There aren't really any features to add to an email client anymore, and TB has only been producing maintenance updates for quite a while. That plus most people use the web for their email anymore, and many have abandoned email altogether in favor of social media. Email clients aren't as important as they used to be. TB still is popular among clients, enough that there's a pretty strong community and somebody will surely take the task.

[rafter22]

Mozilla has been talking about this for a few years now. There aren't really any features to add to an email client anymore, and TB has only been producing maintenance updates for quite a while. That plus most people use the web for their email anymore, and many have abandoned email altogether in favor of social media. Email clients aren't as important as they used to be. TB still is popular among clients, enough that there's a pretty strong community and somebody will surely take the task.

I don't know what version of Thunderbird (if any) you are using, but they have been doing more than producing maintenance updates.

Starting with Thunderbird 3.0 - New Features and Changes - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Changes in Thunderbird 3.1 - New Features and Changes - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Then the first rapid release version 5.0 introduced a new Account Manager, Add-ons Manager and the Troubleshooting Information page.

Version 6.0 - Default mail client check now works with newer Linux distributions

Version 7.0

• Several fixes to attachment handling
• Ability to print a summary of selected email messages

Version 8.0

• Add-ons installed by third party programs are now disabled by default
• New Search and Find Shortcuts

Version 9.0

• New opt-in system for users to send performance and usability data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Thunderbird
• Additional support for Personas in the compose and address book windows
• Better keyboard handling for attachments

Version 10.0

• New opt-in system for users to send performance and usability data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Thunderbird
• Additional support for Personas in the compose and address book windows
• Better keyboard handling for attachments

Version 11.0 Makes it look nice.

• New user interface with Tabs above the main menu bar to facilitate navigation and make it more contextual

Version 12.0

• Global Search results now include message extracts in the results

Version 13.0

• Filelink: Upload your files to an online storage service and send links to your friends, avoiding bounce back due to large attachments. We have partnered with YouSendIt to bring this feature, but additional partners will be added in the near future.

• In partnership with Gandi and Hover, you can now sign up for a personalized email address from within Thunderbird. Along with your new email address, Thunderbird will be automatically set up and ready to send and receive messages. We are working with additional suppliers to cover more areas of the world and to provide more options in the future.

Version 14.0 No New Features

Version 15.0 The one I really like and use, Multi-Channel Chat (love lurking in the channels on irc.mozilla.org)

• Multi-Channel Chat: You now can enjoy real time conversation with your contacts, right from your favorite messaging application. (Supports Facebook Chat, Google Talk, IRC, Twitter, XMPP, and 10 more can be added with an extension that includes ICQ, Groupwise, AIM, and Yahoo)

• Do Not Track: This option has been implemented as an addition to Search the Web.
• Ubuntu One is now supported in Filelink - the option to upload large attachments to online storage services.
• New User Interface: Thunderbird is replicating the new look and feel of Mozilla Firefox in an effort to provide a similar user experience across all Mozilla software desktop or mobile and all platforms. (More like pioneering than replicating)

Finally Version 16.0

• We have now added box.com to the list of online storage services that are available for use with Thunderbird Filelink
• Silent, background updates. Thunderbird will now download and apply updates in the background allowing you to start quickly the next time Thunderbird starts up.

Version 17.0 will have the new AppMenu button, and then we wait until a new mainstream or the next ESR, for the new address book, and maildir support. Maybe.

[chief_sealth]

That's good to see, although few of these actually look like new "features." I'll admit, I haven't used TB in a while (not since TB 3 or so) and only know what I've read about it. It's always been an excellent mail client, and it will still have life no matter what the Mozilla team decides.

[john_hudson]

. . . many have abandoned email altogether in favor of social media. Email clients aren't as important as they used to be

Perhaps but social media is like email in the 1980s - you can only send messages to people on the same system; only when social media do what email did twenty years ago will email cease to be important. Also I don't see any evidence that its use to communicate about business is declining. Indeed, I am increasingly getting tickets directly by email rather than by post.

[chief_sealth]

Perhaps but social media is like email in the 1980s - you can only send messages to people on the same system; only when social media do what email did twenty years ago will email cease to be important. Also I don't see any evidence that its use to communicate about business is declining. Indeed, I am increasingly getting tickets directly by email rather than by post.

Where I work, email is becoming less and less important. Tickets are being submitted primarily by the web or by phone. We still get email requests, but not as many as we once did. In fact, the help desk mailbox gets filled mainly by all-campus communications and FYIs. IM and social network communication are preferred. Email still has a role, and it won't go away soon. But it isn't as critical as it once was.