[Documentation Release] FAQ updated for Debian Thunderbird 0.9-8 & 1.0.x

Questions

1. How to install mozilla-thunderbird on my debian sarge/sid box? [answer]
2. Where are the woody packages? [answer]
3. Why install the unofficial packages? [answer]
4. Why is the mozilla-thunderbird package not yet officially available for woody(stable)? [answer]
5. After upgrading thunderbird I get strange errors (e.g. no startup, broken chrome, etc.). What should I do? [answer]
6. I installed extensions using official .xpi packages. Last time I started
   mozilla-thunderbird they worked, but now they suddenly stopped working. What is wrong? [answer]
7. What extensions are currently available for Debian Thunderbird? [answer]
8. Does Thunderbird support other languages than english? [answer]
9. How can I set the drag treshold preventing unwanted folder moves &
   what other gtk settings are currently available as mozilla prefs? [answer]
10. Thunderbird does not properly handle http & https links. What to do? [answer]
11. How can I make firefox open links in a new tab or some other convenient way? [answer]
12. Which file to use for global configurations? [answer]
13. I want a tray notification when new mail arrives. How can I do it? [answer]
14. I installed the typeaheadfind extension. But how to use it? [answer]
15. Where to get more help on thunderbird? [answer]

Answers

HOWTO install mozilla-thunderbird on my debian sarge/sid box?

There are two resources from where to get the thunderbird mail client for debian:

1. From the official mirrors:

   Simply install the mozilla-thunderbird package from the official debian apt repositories. If you are a sarge/sid user, simply use:

         # apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird

2. From the unofficial repository:

   If you always want to get the latest you can give a try to the releases install in the apt repository at mentors. See the INSTALL on howto install the latest thunderbird in order to get my latest builds.

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Where are the woody packages?

I do not maintain the thunderbird packages for woody. Nevertheless backports for thunderbird and enigmail are available from backports.org. Usually you need to add the following line in your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

  deb http://www.backports.org/debian stable mozilla-thunderbird

This line is sufficient to install the debian thunderbird with:

  # apt-get update<br />  # apt-get install mozilla-thunderbird

Note: You do not need to fear that you will get other backported packages during a regular update if you keep the backports line in your sources.list. In this way you will get updates for mozilla-thunderbird as soon as they get backported.

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Why install the unofficial packages?

I do provide those unofficial packages for two major reasons:

1. To get feedback on new features & versions before sending them to the official archives.
2. To allow sarge users to always go with the latest version.
3. To get feedback on nightly builds & to do some experimental stuff in my snapshot packages.

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Why is no official debian mozilla-thunderbird package

available for woody?

Woody is the last stable release of the Debian GNU/Linux Distribution. Since Debians policy tries to provide
a really stable Distribution, usually no new packages enter the
stable Distribution once it was released. Therefore Thunderbird is
not in woody & will likely never be.

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After upgrading thunderbird I get strange errors (e.g. no startup,
broken chrome, etc.). What should I do?

Strange error after upgrading thunderbird for versions >= 0.9-7 should be considered a bug and be reported to me. If this problem is reproducible for the version in the official debian archive too, please report a bug to the Debian Bug Tracking System too. Use reportbug(1) for this and remember to be responsive to the follow-ups that I will send you.

Note: The counter measures are almost similar to the ones known for older versions:

Start: Always backup your .mozilla-thunderbird directory (e.g. cp -rf /home/username/.mozilla-thunderbird /home/username/.mozilla-thunderbird.sav)!

Then:

1. stop your mozilla-thunderbird
2. Go to your users profile directory (e.g. cd /home/username/.mozilla-thunderbird/default/xzqwe2a.slt/)
3. rm compreg.dat xpti.dat XUL.mfasl
4. rm chrome/chrome.rdf
5. start mozilla-thunderbird

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I
installed extensions using official .xpi packages. Last time I started
mozilla-thunderbird they worked, but now they suddenly stopped working.
What is wrong?

This Problem should not exist anymore. Consider a problem resulting from installing an .xpi a bug. Report it to me and if it applies to the official debian packages, report this to the Debian Bug Tracking System too. Anyway, please be sure that this bug is not caused by the extension itself. Maybe contact the extension developer first.

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What extensions packages are currently available
for Debian Thunderbird?

To get a list of available extension packages see the EXTENSIONS section.

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What extensions packages are currently available
for Debian Thunderbird?

Yes. Go to the EXTENSIONS section to see what languages are already available as debian packages & how to install them. If there is any language you would like to be packaged, please leave tell me where to get the .xpi package. I will try to add it ASAP!

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How can I set the drag treshold preventing unwanted folder moves & what other gtk settings are currently available as mozilla prefs?

Simply add the following line to your prefs.js file inside the $HOME/.mozilla-thunderbird/default/lk123.123/ folder:

    user_pref("widget.gtk2.dnd.threshold", 15);

The treshold is the number of pixel a mouse must move before
a drag starts.

Examples of additional available settings are listed below:

    user_pref("widget.gtk2.double_click_timeout", 100); 

in the double_click_timeout example, the 100
specifies the maximum time-gap for a double click in milliseconds.

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Thunderbird does not properly handle http & https links. What to do?

For versions >= 0.9-7 you will be ask during configure what kind of browser integration you want. Choose Debian to ensure that the default debian browser is used, or choose GNOME if you want the browser configuration be done by gnome. If you have done so you can set the you want in Applications -> Desktop Preferences -> Advanced -> Preferred Applications and set your preferred browser to whatever you want (e.g. ‘mozilla-firefox %s’).

if you have choosen Debian as your preferred way of browser integration, you can select your preferred browser by means of the standard debian update-alternatives(8) command. To change this setting per user, add a preference to your profile:

[$HOME/.mozilla-thunderbird/defaults/xxxxx/prefs.js]:

    user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.http',"mozilla-firefox");  
    user_pref("network.protocol-handler.app.https","mozilla-firefox");

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How can I make firefox open links in a new tab or some other convenient way?

You can set this in firefox. Look around in
Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Tabbed Browsing->Open links.

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Which file to use for global configurations?

Since mozilla-thunderbird 0.6 there is a single global configuration file available:

 /etc/mozilla-thunderbird/global-config.js

There are some sample configurations available in this file.

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I want a tray notification when new mail arrives. How can I do it?

A working extensions can be found at http://moztraybiff.mozdev.org. Keep your eyes open and use the correct Thunderbird version. The version you have installed can be found in the ‘Help->About Mozilla Thunderbird’ dialog.

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I installed the typeaheadfind extension. But how to use it?

The following section is copied from the mozilla documentation page for your convenience. Remember that for thunderbird it works only for all message views (e.g. message-preview, message-full) and the source view:

• Type several characters into the active browser window to navigate to any link with that text in it


• If you repeat the same character, it will start to cycle through all the links that begin with that character. However, if it can find a match with the exact string you’ve typed, such as "oo" in "woods" it will go there first. Typing "o" more times will then cycle through the links that start with "o".


• Use the backspace key to undo the last character typed


• Type a ’ before your string to search only links. Type / before your string to search all text.
• You
  can use the text search field to get to buttons, text boxes and other
  form controls. Just search for the text right before it, and then press
  Tab when to move from there.
• To cancel a find, change focus or scroll, press Escape, or wait for the timeout
• Press
  Accel+G or F3 to use "find next". Press Accel+Shift+G or Shift+F3 to
  find previous, with the current string you’ve typed. This respects the
  current "linksonly" setting. Note: ‘accel’ means Ctrl on Windows, and
  Cmd on Mac. On Unix, ‘accel’ usually means Ctrl, but it can be set to
  Alt.
• Works with any Gecko HTML content window – embedded clients, IM conversation window, help, etc.
• works with IME for input of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.
• When focused on a link, the following keys will work:
  • Enter – activate the link
  • Shift+Enter – save the page that the link points to
  • Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on Mac) – open the link in a new window
  • Insert – open the link in a new foreground or background tab, depending on the
    "Load links in the background" pref. under Preferences – Navigator – Tabbed Browsing.
  • Shift+Insert – same as Insert, but does the opposite of the foreground/background pref

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Where to get more help on thunderbird?

Help on Debian unspecific issues of the thunderbird mail client is available on the Thunderbird Help Page. The official forum is hosted by mozillazine forums.

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FAQ Interactive

Have more Questions? Simply drop a comment! I will try my best to answer your question and add it to the FAQ if it is indeed frequently asked.