(New to Kubuntu/ Linux) Update/ upgrade difficulties Thunderbird.

[Jensen Somers]

Hello,

On Nov 20, 2007 2:08 PM, Bas Roufs <basroufs at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear everybody
>
> Here is Bas, completely new to Linux and Kubuntu.
> Recently, Kubuntu 7.10 has been installed on my laptop by a friend who
> is kindly helping me to find my way into Linux in general and Kubuntu in
> particular.
> So far,  nearly everything seems to run smoothly,  except two major issues:
> * the e-mail client 'Thunderbird'.
> * the sound input functions of this laptop in combination with Kubuntu 7.10.
> For the sake of brevity and clearness, I dedicate this message to one
> issue only: the upgrade difficulties with Thunderbird. To the second
> issue,  the sound input, I will dedicate a separate message.
>
> Seemingly, the Kubuntu 7.10 Linux distribution still has an old version
> of Thunderbird: 2.0.0.6. This is the version that has been installed on
> my laptop. The newest version is 2.0.0.9. Several spell-check
> dictionaries (.xpi files/ add-ons) are not compatible with version
> 2.0.0.6. This became clear when I tried to install them. That's why this
> problem became relevant for me.
>
> I could have solved this problem if the update function would work
> smoothly: Thunderbird > HELP > check for updates. However, for some
> reason this update option is not accessible; the light gray colour of
> the text 'check for updates' underline that nothing happens if one
> clicks on it. So far, I did not manage to change the settings in such a
> way that the update function can work.
>
> A related problem might be the difficulties I have to access the on line
> 'release notes' and help pages from Thunderbird by directly clicking on
> the appropriate options of the HELP menu. When trying to click there, I
> landed on the 'launchpad' website:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/thunderbird/+bug/148487
> There, I am the 2nd person who mentions this problem. The first person
> has had  a similar problem with Ubuntu 7.10 in combination with
> Thunderbird  2.0.0.6. That's why, I CC this mail also to the Ubuntu list.
>
> Thanks for your possible comments. Respectfully Yours,
>
> Bas Roufs.
>
>
> II--
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You must understand that Ubuntu (and most Linux distributions) don't
work like Windows. They have repositories containing thousands of
applications which makes it easy for you to install them and let some
application running in the background check for updates. It's like
Windows update only with all applications on your system. The downside
of this is that these applications might get out of date.

If you want the easy solution, you can remove Thunderbird from your
system and install the Thunderbird package from the website directly.
Doing this ensures that you are up-to-date but this might also have
downsides. (Integration with other parts of the OS, dependencies that
are wrong... These things are taken care of by the maintainers of the
Thunderbird package in the Ubuntu repositories. For this reason
updating Thunderbird from the application itself might also be
disabled because configuration files might be handled differently in
Ubuntu opposed to the way Thunderbird does it.)

You can also try to look in the massive repository and see if any
Thunderbird dictionaries are provided there.

- Jensen