Thunderbird 3.1.6 Ubuntu PPA Repository [Maverick, Lucid, Karmic, Jaunty and Hardy]

You could easily install Thunderbird 3.1.x in Ubuntu using Ubuntuzilla, but that was only available for 32bit users.

A PPA repository is now available which provides the latest Thunderbird 3.1.6 (final, not daily builds) for Ubuntu Lucid - both 32bit and 64bit.

To add the PPA and install Thunderbird 3.1.6 in Ubuntu, simply paste the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/ppa && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install thunderbird

Update: I've replaced the original PPA in this post with a new PPA which provides Thunderbird 3.1.6 packages for Ubuntu Maverick (10.10), Lucid (10.04), Karmic (9.10), Jaunty (9.04) and Hardy (8.04)!

Download Thunderbird 3.1 Ubuntu .DEB

If you found the Ubuntuzilla way of installing Thunderbird 3.1 in Ubuntu a bit too hard, here is a .deb file you can download and install Thunderbird 3.1 in Ubuntu.

Note: this is the unmodified Mozilla release binary of Thunderbird, packaged into a .deb by the Ubuntuzilla project. This means they were only able to package it for 32bit since Mozilla does not provide 64bit binaries.

Download Thunderbird 3.1 Ubuntu .deb (32bit)

Many thanks to WebUpd8 reader eMcE for the tip!

How To Install Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1 (Final) In Ubuntu

Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1 was just released featuring faster search, quick filter toolbar, better migration assistant and many other improvements. A complete list of what's new can be found @ Mozilla's website.

There is no PPA for Ubuntu providing the latest Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1 for now and there are no plans to push an update in the existing Ubuntu versions (that means Lucid too) like it happened with Firefox so the only way to install it is manually, or by using Ubuntuzilla (it works with any Ubuntu version).

So to install Thunderbird 3.1 in Ubuntu, firstly install Ubuntuzilla. You can download a .deb file from HERE.

Once Ubuntuzilla is installed successfully, to install Thunderbird 3.1, all you have to do is run the following command in a terminal:

ubuntuzilla.py -a install -p thunderbird

During the installation, Ubuntuzilla will ask you to choose the localization you want to install, so it will install Thunderbird 3.1 in your language!

If you used the manual method to install Thunderbird 3.1 we were telling you about not so long ago, then all you have to do is select "Check for updates" from the Thunderbird About menu.

Update: you can also download a Thunderbird 3.1 Ubuntu .DEB file!

Update 2: There is now a PPA repository for Thunderbird 3.1 available for Ubuntu (both 32bit and 64bit) users.

Thanks to Linux Freedom For Live

Poll Results: Best Linux Email Client

Although many users asked us to post a "best Linux email client" poll, it took us quite a long time to actually have the poll on WebUpd8. The reason? Predictable results.

But in case you still need a confirmation, here are the poll results for the best Linux email client:

Many thanks to everyone who voted in our weekly poll!

Browse all our weekly polls.

Install Thunderbird 3.1 RC 2 In Ubuntu And Other Linux Distributions

Thunderbird 3.1 release candidate 2 is out - you can read the full release notes HERE.

Unfortunately for Ubuntu users, this version is not available in the Ubuntu Mozilla Daily PPA but if you're using the version from Mozilla's website, you should receive an update today. If not, you can install Thunderbird 3.1 RC2 from Mozilla by using these commands (for any Linux distribution):

wget -O - http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/3.1rc2/linux-i686/en-US/thunderbird-3.1rc2.tar.bz2 | tar xj -C ~

The above command is for EN-US language. For other languages, edit the link above with the download link for your language which you can find HERE.

If you used the package from the Ubuntu repositories, this step is not required, but if you've installed Thunderbird 3.0 or 3.1 from a PPA, you can migrate all your profiles to the new Thunderbird installation using the following command (make a backup first!):

mkdir ~/.thunderbird
cp -r ~/.thunderbird-3.*/* ~/.thunderbird/

Then to run it, simply double click the "thunderbird" (not "thunderbird-bin"!) file from the "thunderbird" folder in your home directory.

The advantage of using Thunderbird directly from Mozilla's website is that you'll receive the updates directly from Mozilla - so you'll get them a lot sooner. This means that next week when Thunderbird 3.1 final will be released, you'll receive an update in Thunderbird and you'll no longer need to wait for a PPA to get Thunderbird 3.1 for your Ubuntu version.

Also, the package from Mozilla is built for i686, not 386 so it should be better optimized for newer processors.

Best Linux Email Client

So what's the best Linux email client? The 5 contenders are: Mutt, Evolution, KMail, Thunderbird and Claws Mail. Vote below:






Many people asked for this poll so there you have it.


If you use Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, you may want to give Evolution 2.30 a try before voting.

Install Evolution 2.30 In Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx To Escape The 2.28 Crashes

Evolution is an application for the GNOME desktop which provides integrated mail, addressbook and calendaring functionality.

For some reason, even though Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx comes with GNOME 2.30, Evolution is still version 2.28. Furthermore, it seems Evolution is crashing for a lot of people, leaving them with a major bug for which there no fix for now.

The only 'fix' I came across (thanks to WebUpd8 reader Linards Liepiņš - who also translated our Ubuntu Start script into Latvian) was from a post on Ubuntuforums which points out that well, there is no fix for Evolution 2.28, but you can upgrade to Evolution 2.30 in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx by using a PPA which should practically 'fix' this.

Please note that Evolution 2.30 is still unstable. However, that's definitely better than a constantly crashing Evolution 2.28.

To add the Evolution 2.30 PPA and install Evolution 2.30 (Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx only!), use the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jacob/evo230 && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install evolution

If you are in a corporate environment that uses Microsoft Exchange 2007 for its email server you can install the evolution-mapi package to allow Evolution to communicate with the server:

sudo apt-get install evolution-mapi

Want to try out Evolution Express, the new Evolution interface for netbooks? That's easy, all you have to do is run this:

evolution --express

Please note that Evolution Express is not finished yet!

Thanks to Linards Liepiņš for the tip!

Install Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 Final In Ubuntu [From A PPA]

Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 was released 2 days ago and it includes a lot of improvements, such as:

• New Search with Advanced Filtering Tools
• New Global Search Field with Autocomplete
• New Mail Account Setup Wizard
• Redesigned Mail Toolbar
• Tabbed Email Messages
• Smart Folders
• New Message Summary View
• New Add-ons Manager
• Performance improvements
• and many more

You are probably used to the fact that Mozilla doesn't yet release Ubuntu .deb packages yet, but there are still quite a few ways of installing Thunderbird in Ubuntu. I am going to tell you how to install it from the Mozilla Daily PPA.

Open a terminal and paste the following commands (depending on your Ubuntu version):

-For Ubuntu Karmic and Lucid:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa

-For Ubuntu Jaunty:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 247510BE

-For Ubuntu Intrepid:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 247510BE

-For Ubuntu Hardy:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 247510BE

Then, Install Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 (a.k.a. Shredder):

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install thunderbird-3.0

You will then find Thunderbird 3.0 under Applications > Internet > Shredder 3 Mail/News

This will install a Thunderbird branded as "Shredder". If you really want Mozilla Thunderbird branded version, you can download Thunderbird from HERE, extract it and run the "thunderbird" file inside the folder where you extracted it.


Note: the PPA in this post also has some Firefox daily builds (and further "Shredder" daily builds) so if you don't wish to use these, simply remove the ubuntu-mozilla-daily PPA after installing Thunderbird. To do this, go to System > Administration > Software Sources, on the second tab called "Other software", look for "http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/..." and uncheck it.

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 Beta 4 Released

Mozilla has released a new preview version of their desktop email application in the form of Thunderbird 3 Beta 4, adding a new email search, smart folders, and more.

Most notable improvements:

New Search with Advanced Filtering Tools: Search results now include advanced filtering tools. You have the option to filter your results by sender, tag, attachments, people, folder, and mailing list. You can also filter your email using the timeline tool.

Smart Folders: The folder pane offers a Smart Folders mode which combines special mailboxes, like Inbox, from multiple accounts. Smart Folders is now on by default.

Improved Gmail Integration: Better recognition and integration of Gmail's special folders such as Sent and Trash including non-English versions of Gmail. Thunderbird also uses All Mail as the Archives folder.

Complete release notes | Download Mozilla Thunderbird Beta 4