Thunderbird mail

[Stephen M. Webb]

On 08/18/2013 08:59 AM, raymond wrote:
> Hi all, why use thunderbird mail? It is only duplicating what I get through my gmail account (in my case).And it's 
> slower at start up because it must get the mail info from my other mail accounts.I know that it stores my mail in
> my computer, is that it's sole purpose? It seems like a lot of duplication to me, can anyone clear this up for me,
> Thanks.

First off, that's like asking why drive a Ford when you could drive a Toyota. Different folks choose different
products for different reasons.

Second, even if you choose to have Google read and keep all of your email, the filtering ability of Google's mail
product is very limited and extremely poor (their philosophy is that you have to actively search for specific mail
instead of passively sort -- which means you send them your search keys and they sell your data for their profit -- of
no benefit to you).  If you use a local email client you can use very detailed and powerful filters to sort your
email, just like in the olden days when you owned your own data.  This point may not affect you if you only have a few
messages per day from a few people, but many folks out there get thousands of messages per day from very many sources,
and Google's mail product does not come close to meeting requirements.

Third, you might have multiple email accounts and want to be able to read everything in one place.  Sure, you could
route all your email from all your accounts through Google's mail servers in the US.  Some mail sources, such as many
employers or educational institutions, do not allow you to do that.  Others are private and you don't want Google
reading and selling your private correspondence.

Fourth, you may be disturbed by ongoing US government surveillance, the Canadian government's proposed warrentless
surveillance bills, or industrial espionage and wish to encrypt your correspondence.  Google's mail product does not
support email encryption and decryption.  For that, you need a client-side email program like Thunderbird.

-- 
Stephen M. Webb  <stephen at ubuntu.com>
https://launchpad.net/~bregma