Thunderbird

[Michael Uplawski]

Devilishly clever!!!
I full-heartedly hail the decision and wish you enough time, stamina and courage to sustain as long as possible in the wilderness of the open-source world!

[DavidCo]

Good move. I for one have given up on eM Client.

[camper913]

A very good move. EMClient programers are hard to get anything done. I think you can do a great job with Thunderbird. I have used it put could not get some things fixed by them, maybe we can now.

[camper913]

Also, when you get into Thunderbird programing I hope you can change the part of downloading attachments. Thunderbird developers would not change this to let the user decide to or not, as they put it, not safe for the user. People get a lot of attachments all the time and it should be up to the user. That is why I left Thunderbird.

[codetema]

I agree with the other posters here, this is great news.

I am already a Thunderbird user as well as a SoftMaker-Office user. No mention however in SoftMakers Thunderbird-Q&A's how existing Thunderbird users will be affected. Presumably it will just be a matter of installing any new add-ons published by SoftMaker.

I think I speak for most people who are already Thunderbird users in saying that uptake of any SoftMaker add-ons will depend on their compatibility with existing add-ons that we love and have come to rely upon. There are gazillions of add-ons out there and everyone has their particular favourites. I presume as long as programmers have adhered to Mozilla guidelines all should be OK.

As an example, one functionality which is of paramount importance to me personally is synchronisation of contacts and calendar events between Thunderbird and my Android device. Given SoftMaker's involvement in Android development they might just come out with software to facilitate this. Nevertheless I would like to believe that it will be possible to continue to use the proprietary software I am already using presently, and still benefit from the rest of the wonderful add-ons that SoftMaker will undoubtedly release.

[Michael Uplawski]

in PlanMakers Thunderbird-Q&A's

Non-native English-readers might blame their own lack of language-skill. But this is really just a typo. Make it SoftMaker.

[codetema]

in PlanMakers Thunderbird-Q&A's

this is really just a typo. Make it SoftMaker.

Yes, I do apologise for any confusion caused. Post edited to correct typos.

[martin-k]

I agree with the other posters here, this is great news.

I am already a Thunderbird user as well as a SoftMaker-Office user. No mention however in SoftMakers Thunderbird-Q&A's how existing Thunderbird users will be affected. Presumably it will just be a matter of installing any new add-ons published by SoftMaker.

I think I speak for most people who are already Thunderbird users in saying that uptake of any SoftMaker add-ons will depend on their compatibility with existing add-ons that we love and have come to rely upon. There are gazillions of add-ons out there and everyone has their particular favourites. I presume as long as programmers have adhered to Mozilla guidelines all should be OK.

As an example, one functionality which is of paramount importance to me personally is synchronisation of contacts and calendar events between Thunderbird and my Android device. Given SoftMaker's involvement in Android development they might just come out with software to facilitate this. Nevertheless I would like to believe that it will be possible to continue to use the proprietary software I am already using presently, and still benefit from the rest of the wonderful add-ons that SoftMaker will undoubtedly release.

In the first step, we are limiting ourselves to the eM Client import filter (an add-on that works completely separately from any other add-on), a new icon set, a rearrangement of certain window elements (menu bar and title bar are back, tabs appear below the toolbar etc.), and a clever add-on for filing messages and navigating the folder structure.

These add-ons should all be compatible with other add-ons.

In the future, we try to get new improvements directly into the Thunderbird core code, so that it will be distributed by Mozilla itself. But we are treading carefully.

[camper913]

Please put in an option to receive or not to receive attachments by the user. That is the only downside I had with Thunderbird when I tried it out, and when the persons that has control over the program would not but in this option.

Thanks

[Michael Uplawski]

Please put in an option to receive or not to receive attachments by the user

As a Mail-User Agent, Thunderbird is in charge of the delivery/reception-process only for the very last leg of the transfer, between the receiving instance and your user-interface. As a Mail-Retrieval-Agent, it is not a lot more involved, as it fetches the mail from your smart-host, most of the time the pop- or imap-server of your mail-provider.

Attachments are already delivered, when Thunderbird becomes active. What you talk about is a mechanism which must be installed on some of the servers which handle mail *before* Thunderbird has a chance to intervene. You can have a filter in Thunderbird or other nifty gimmick which will prevent you from seeing, opening or otherwise taking notice of attachments. If you have access to your delivering server, rather try to manipulate on this level or ask your mail-provider about the available options.

Personally, I prefer discipline over procedures which mangle with my mail without me knowing. I even used to talk to the senders of mail to inform them about my decisions and predilections... This always works.

[camper913]

Michael,
There is nothing wrong in what you are saying, safety first.
There is nothing my ISP is doing to stop attachments. I am now receiving attachments with EM Client, which has a block to NOT download attachments if you but a check mark in the box. All I'm asking is do the same with Thunderbird. Let the user decide if he or she does not want to download attachments with their email. As we will be paying to use the program.

[Michael Uplawski]

Camper, your latest message is completely okay, too. I would not even have commented on it, had it been your original response to “The Boss”.

Michael, let the user decide if he or she does not want to download attachments with their email. As we will be paying to use the program.

This is realistic (the other wasn't). Please excuse my sudden popping-up in front of peaceful people with innocent minds, in my usual disguise, blood-smeared and threatening with arrow and bow... but there are too many monsters in my vicinity who do not only threaten but also confuse and diffuse seriously misguided advice.

With the mail-delivery it is like with your postman. You do not have to invite him to your house, he comes anyway. The process to go and fetch your letters from the mailbox, I would not call “reception”. But the difference is clear now. I hope others got it, too,.. else ...

[Edits: conversions Kraut2English - it is always worse than I thought... ]