[Bug 560720] [NEW] thunderbird won't automatically start web browser when user clicks on http link

[Thorsten]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: thunderbird

Clicking on an http link in an email message in Thunderbird 3.0.4 does
not launch a web browser. Instead, the user has to manually specify the
full path to the web browser app.

(Just entering 'firefox' does not work and fails silently. One has to
enter /usr/bin/firefox, e.g. As the default directory shown is
~/Documents, users unfamiliar with the Linux file system hierarchy have
no reasonable chance of finding the correct path/file name.)

Desired behavior: just launch the system default web browser.
(Alternatively, and esp. given the relationship between TB and FF, TB
could just check if there was an executable app named 'firefox' in the
path and just launch that.)

Failing that, the user should at least be presented with a list of apps
registered to handle the HTTP protocol.

Environment: a freshly installed Kubuntu 10.04 beta 2, with Thunderbird
3.0.4 and Firefox 3.6.3 from the standard repository. Konqueror is the
system browser, but FF is known to KDE, as well.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: thunderbird 3.0.4+nobinonly-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Apr 11 08:54:56 2010
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/thunderbird-3.0.4/thunderbird-bin
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Beta amd64 (20100406.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: thunderbird

** Affects: thunderbird (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug lucid

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thunderbird won't automatically start web browser when user clicks on http link
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/560720
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