4 ms·

Thunderbird is still being actively developed by the community. I'm on version 42 beta and it's looking good. This is what open source is about. It doesn't mat

Thunderbird is still being actively developed by the community. I'm on version 42 beta and it's looking good. This is what open source is about. It doesn't matter if the parent no longer wants to maintain it. As long as there is interest, the product survives.

astrodust 11y ago
What are the compile times on that code-base like? I remember Firefox being so bad it was measured in eons.
crististm 11y ago
You've been brainwashed about the "community" stuff. Mozilla _is_ a corporation. Linux is built by a corporation. Last time I checked, less than 18% of Linux patches were from independent contributors. Everything big enough to be known by Joe average hobbyist is built by a corporation. Let's see the community in action taking the lead when Mozilla drops the ball.
- bad_user 11y ago
  Not sure what you're implying. Mozilla stopped developing Thunderbird since 2012. I would also be curios in what corporation (singular) is developing Linux.
  - crististm 11y ago
    I'm implying that "open source-ness" is not necessarily _the_ ingredient that will save a massive abandoned project. You need also 'drive' - and good hackers are put of by massive corporate projects. They have better things to do than clean up corporate mess.
    - bad_user 11y ago
      Open source, mostly defined by the right to fork, is a prerequisite for the survival of abandoned projects. You can say that abandoned open-source projects don't necessarily survive, but for proprietary projects abandonment is a guaranteed death sentence. I've also started to resent the word "hacker", because it sounds as some kind of social class made up of special snowflakes. If the project has value and users, then interested programmers will find a way to keep the project going and there are hundreds of projects in the Linux ecosystem that survive because of volunteers or companies scratching an itch. If there isn't interest, then surely the project might as well die. But that's a tautology.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  What features are you missing from Thunderbird?
  - crististm 11y ago
    I use TB daily - I did not ask a for a feature that did not find. But for several years it has been neglected. And the "open source community" did not step up to the plate and fix the problem. I argue that there is no such a community that will save TB after Mozilla drops it. Edit: Yes, the "search mail" feature that wasn't
    - ZenoArrow 11y ago
      > "I argue that there is no such a community that will save TB after Mozilla drops it." Yes, I realise that was your point, but my point is what work is required? If there's no work required, then there's no need for the community to save it. It's an email client. So long as it sends and receives email, and can be compiled for the latest OS versions, what work is needed?
      - facetube 11y ago
        Security updates, for one.
  - hannob 11y ago
    Usable encryption.
  - stronglikedan 11y ago
    The ability to show all events for the current day in the Today Pane. It only shows events at or past the current time. I've looked everywhere for an option.
  - jimktrains2 11y ago
    Not becoming horribly slow when mailboxes get large? Better and faster search? (Both are issues with needing to compact the mailboxes by hand.)
puppetmaster3 11y ago
Remember when Adobe abandoned Flash? Apache: http://flex.apache.org http://flex.apache.org
- meshko 11y ago
  Flex is not Flash and Apache Flex distribution is not exactly a poster child of abandoneware surviving as an OSS project. Apache Flex releases are infrequent, not bug free and generally smell of death.
  - reboog711 11y ago
    Apache Flex has seen more success than I expected it too. The Mailing list traffic makes it one of the busiest projects in the Apache Foundation and it has had 7 major releases [if I'm counting right] since it got donated. I wasn't aware of any bugs in new releases; but I know lots of legacy bugs have been fixed; plus lots of new components and other code has been donated. Its ties to Adobe Flash Player may be an albatross, but the FlexJS project has done impressive things. [Disclaimer: I am an Apache Flex PMC Member and all this is my opinion/perception; I do not speak on behalf of the Apache Foundation or the Apache Flex PMC]
    - meshko 11y ago
      To be clear -- it is in fact much better than I expected as well and we all appreciate the work that you are doing on it.
nashashmi 11y ago
Reaching number 42 is not a sign of stopped development. I checked out TB once again. And it looks a lot nicer. I was surprised to see updates for windows 10 too!

astrodust 11y ago

What are the compile times on that code-base like? I remember Firefox being so bad it was measured in eons.

crististm 11y ago

You've been brainwashed about the "community" stuff. Mozilla _is_ a corporation. Linux is built by a corporation. Last time I checked, less than 18% of Linux patches were from independent contributors. Everything big enough to be known by Joe average hobbyist is built by a corporation. Let's see the community in action taking the lead when Mozilla drops the ball.

bad_user 11y ago
Not sure what you're implying. Mozilla stopped developing Thunderbird since 2012. I would also be curios in what corporation (singular) is developing Linux.
- crististm 11y ago
  I'm implying that "open source-ness" is not necessarily _the_ ingredient that will save a massive abandoned project. You need also 'drive' - and good hackers are put of by massive corporate projects. They have better things to do than clean up corporate mess.
  - bad_user 11y ago
    Open source, mostly defined by the right to fork, is a prerequisite for the survival of abandoned projects. You can say that abandoned open-source projects don't necessarily survive, but for proprietary projects abandonment is a guaranteed death sentence. I've also started to resent the word "hacker", because it sounds as some kind of social class made up of special snowflakes. If the project has value and users, then interested programmers will find a way to keep the project going and there are hundreds of projects in the Linux ecosystem that survive because of volunteers or companies scratching an itch. If there isn't interest, then surely the project might as well die. But that's a tautology.
ZenoArrow 11y ago
What features are you missing from Thunderbird?
- crististm 11y ago
  I use TB daily - I did not ask a for a feature that did not find. But for several years it has been neglected. And the "open source community" did not step up to the plate and fix the problem. I argue that there is no such a community that will save TB after Mozilla drops it. Edit: Yes, the "search mail" feature that wasn't
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    > "I argue that there is no such a community that will save TB after Mozilla drops it." Yes, I realise that was your point, but my point is what work is required? If there's no work required, then there's no need for the community to save it. It's an email client. So long as it sends and receives email, and can be compiled for the latest OS versions, what work is needed?
    - facetube 11y ago
      Security updates, for one.
- hannob 11y ago
  Usable encryption.
- stronglikedan 11y ago
  The ability to show all events for the current day in the Today Pane. It only shows events at or past the current time. I've looked everywhere for an option.
- jimktrains2 11y ago
  Not becoming horribly slow when mailboxes get large? Better and faster search? (Both are issues with needing to compact the mailboxes by hand.)

puppetmaster3 11y ago

Remember when Adobe abandoned Flash? Apache: http://flex.apache.org http://flex.apache.org

meshko 11y ago
Flex is not Flash and Apache Flex distribution is not exactly a poster child of abandoneware surviving as an OSS project. Apache Flex releases are infrequent, not bug free and generally smell of death.
- reboog711 11y ago
  Apache Flex has seen more success than I expected it too. The Mailing list traffic makes it one of the busiest projects in the Apache Foundation and it has had 7 major releases [if I'm counting right] since it got donated. I wasn't aware of any bugs in new releases; but I know lots of legacy bugs have been fixed; plus lots of new components and other code has been donated. Its ties to Adobe Flash Player may be an albatross, but the FlexJS project has done impressive things. [Disclaimer: I am an Apache Flex PMC Member and all this is my opinion/perception; I do not speak on behalf of the Apache Foundation or the Apache Flex PMC]
  - meshko 11y ago
    To be clear -- it is in fact much better than I expected as well and we all appreciate the work that you are doing on it.

nashashmi 11y ago

Reaching number 42 is not a sign of stopped development. I checked out TB once again. And it looks a lot nicer. I was surprised to see updates for windows 10 too!