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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/31/2019 6:19 PM, Jörg Knobloch
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:4b897f58-fec6-a5f8-76db-5b9ca13c697a@jorgk.com">Hi
lovers of Thunderbird and calendaring,
<br>
<br>
have you ever asked yourself where one of the "productivity
components", the Thunderbird Calendar is going?
<br>
<br>
Since TB 38 it's being shipped with Thunderbird on an "opt out"
basis, lately it even changed its version numbering scheme from
(TB version + 2) / 10 to just using the TB version[1].
<br>
<br>
But what's happening otherwise?
<br>
<br>
Long-standing bugs that have been astonishing the community like
the inability to process more than one invitation per message[2]
or the ability to double-click ICS attachments and process them[3]
haven't been addressed for more than a decade now.
<br>
<br>
Most if not all volunteer Calendar contributors have left, unless
Thunderbird hired them[4].
<br>
<br>
The Calendar blog[5] hasn't seen an update in two years.
<br>
<br>
Bug triaging is lagging behind[6].
<br>
<br>
The module page[7] is deserted. I've been on the project since
2015 and from the people listed on the page, I've only met
Philipp, the module owner.
<br>
<br>
And there are administrative delays that affect Thunderbird as a
whole: Slow reviews of patches (including those of potential new
contributors), slow uplift/backport approvals of patches to beta
and ESR versions, slow Bugzilla administration, delay of many
months to provide the Lightning add-on at addons.thunderbird.net
for those using a distribution which doesn't package it[8][9].
<br>
<br>
Apart from the long-standing issues mentioned above, there are
also questions reaching into the future:
<br>
<br>
Why not integrate the calendar functionality completely into
Thunderbird and not ship it as add-on? That would solve endless
incompatibility and up/downgrade woes[10][11].
<br>
<br>
The Calendar code is still using XUL overlays. What's the future
of that[12]?
<br>
<br>
What about the "Provider for Google Calendar" add-on[13]? Can that
be retired in favour of CalDAV? The test to make sure it still
works has been switched off in August 2018[14].
<br>
<br>
And finally: What's happening with ical.js, the JavaScript library
which is meant to replace the C++ library libical?
<br>
<br>
I think the Thunderbird Calendar needs fresh wind and a more
pro-active leadership.
<br>
<br>
Jörg (Thunderbird hacker).
<br>
<br>
[1] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1520365">https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1520365</a>
<br>
[2] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=547754">https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=547754</a> from 2010,
patch reviewed after almost ONE YEAR(!)
<br>
[3] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=357480">https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=357480</a> from 2006,
closed for public comment
<br>
[4] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Core_Team">https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Core_Team</a>
<br>
[5] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://blog.mozilla.org/calendar/">https://blog.mozilla.org/calendar/</a>
<br>
[6] <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mzl.la/2JLwJqX">https://mzl.la/2JLwJqX</a> - bugs of "major" importance <br>
</blockquote>
<p>Worth adding "critical" bugs to the list, as most are of the same
ilk as the "major" <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mzl.la/2SVm6Vq">https://mzl.la/2SVm6Vq</a></p>
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