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On 9/17/2015 4:06 PM, Axel Grude wrote:<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:55FB4767.5080104@gmail.com" type="cite">
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<br>
We will have to convince Addon authors to convert away from XUL,
so there needs to be documentation or workshops helping to get
away from this. And obviously we need a transition time where
"both" technologies can be used concurrently to find out about
performance / compatibility issues. According to the timeline you
give below, there is not much wiggle room there.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Compare the schedule I have proposed to Firefox. They care claiming
"12 - 18 months" as their timetable for getting rid of XUL (which
schedule I think is crazy talk, but that is another discussion.) If
you look at the rough schedule that I have proposed, it is almost
three years before we ship Thunderbird in a non-XUL version,
including a full cycle of forked m-c if needed to keep XUL going.
That is 2-3 times the wiggle that Firefox has proposed.<br>
<br>
Part of the hope here is that Thunderbird addon developers will have
a lot of time to see how Firefox addon developers reacts to the
whole deXULification of Firefox, and develop mitigation strategies.
I wish that Firefox had a better mitigation strategy for addons in
place before they announced these changes as a done deal, but we
have to adapt. It is really, really hard for us to say much more
until the Firefox situation gets clearer. But as you know several of
the core Thunderbird team (myself and Fallen) come from the addon
world, so we are quite committed to maintaining powerful addons as a
possibility for Thunderbird.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:55FB4767.5080104@gmail.com" type="cite">
<blockquote class=" cite" id="mid_55FB38C2_1090404_caspia_com"
cite="mid:55FB38C2.1090404@caspia.com" type="cite"> I'm using
Android Gmail App to access my email in parallel with the more
comfortable Thenderbird on my desktop when I actually try to get
some work done. Most email providers already allow web access to
their emails. But a unified Thunderbird frontend on Android and
Firefox OS would sure be nice.<br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br>
Right. The problem with the current status quo is that you are
forced to minimize your use of advanced Thunderbird features
(including filters, tags, etc.) because they do not adapt to Android
or webmail apps. If we are going to provide advanced strategies for
managing and categorizing email, which I think we should, those
strategies also need to work in at least an Android environment, and
preferable also in a browser or iOS app.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:55FB4767.5080104@gmail.com" type="cite">
<blockquote class=" cite" id="mid_55FB38C2_1090404_caspia_com"
cite="mid:55FB38C2.1090404@caspia.com" type="cite"> 59 (09/2017
Dunlin?) Last and traditional XUL/C++ release. By this date, a
reasonable possibility is that the Mozilla platform will no
longer be usable for non-browser XUL-based development. This
version of Thunderbird, in that case, would need to ship on a
fork of Mozilla from the point where XUL-based development
becomes untenable. </blockquote>
can you elaborate what you mean? Forking would make XUL-based
development impossible? Or XUL based development necessitates
forking?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Forking for Dunlin means that, per the announced Firefox timing, in
that time period Firefox will have converted to a non-XUL
environment. What I am proposing is that, if needed, Thunderbird
continue availability of a XUL-based environment, even if it means
forking mozilla-central as a means of extending that time period.
(Personally I doubt if Firefox can abandon XUL in their announced
timeframe, but we can't plan on that basis.)<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:55FB4767.5080104@gmail.com" type="cite">
<blockquote class=" cite" id="mid_55FB38C2_1090404_caspia_com"
cite="mid:55FB38C2.1090404@caspia.com" type="cite">This will
also be our last major XUL-based release, and we will not
attempt to keep current with the new non-XUL Mozilla platform.
It would also be useful to ship a stripped-down version of
Thunderbird as a web app with this release. <br>
</blockquote>
for the web app, will there be local storage? a "gloda-like"
repository that can be stored on the hard drive? will the data be
cross compatible with any other desktop email clients? <br>
</blockquote>
<br>
We need to maintain at least the choice of keeping a full local copy
of email, as we do now. That includes a local database that
summarizes the data in some way. Cross-compatible data is not a
current goal, nor is it likely to be in the future.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:55FB4767.5080104@gmail.com" type="cite">Any
plans on who from the Thunderbird team could / would lead
development. Are we going to get some help from the Firefox team?
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Who: I would hope that people currently involved in Thunderbird
development would contribute toward this new strategy. But if we
manage to hit the funding targets that I have discussed, we will
also clearly be looking to add some additional people. If you have
people in mind, please point them out to me privately.<br>
<br>
:rkent<br>
<br>
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