Thunderbird 57+ support

[salaros]

This message is for contributors (people who fork this repo): please implement mozilla57+ migrations in order to make this addon compatible with TB 57+

[UksusoFF]

@salaros https://foudil.fr/blog/209/the-web-is-not-the-platform/

[yannours]

@salaros You can still use the actual firetray for thunderbird 50+ by force download the addon & install it manually in the option, I did it for 52.6.0 (64-bit) and it works properly.

[salaros]

@yannours yeah, it worked on versions <= 52, but as you can see I opened this ticker for versions >= 57
If you don't believe me, just try upgrading to Thunderbird 57/58 👍

[yannours]

@salaros Ofc I believe you :) My bad wasn't wondering a 57+ disrupting, no way for me to upgrade so :D

[salaros]

@yannours some massive API changes took place in 52 -> 57/58 transition, with many breaking changes
That's why I wanted some to take a look at it, before I got with a rewrite (probably I will have to, right after TB 57/58 goes stable)

[ghost]

Is someone planning to fork this project?

[salaros]

@jonlandrum I'm planning to do it if I fail to find a new maintainer for TB 57+ version here, I already maintain tons of open-source projects (some of them are mine, some were adopted), that's why I'm hesitating and trying to find some help before attempting a rewrite by myself

[kelvinau]

It will be great for 60+ version too :)

[s-m-e]

In case anyone is considering a fork or devoting some time into making just any tray add-on for Thunderbird 60+ work again, I am hereby cross-referencing MinTrayR issue 238.

[CubicF]

I forked FireTray yesterday (because it seems to be the only minimize-to-tray extension that shows the number of currently unread messages) to see how far I can get (I had no experience with JS yet).

I did some minor updates according to the Thunderbird/Add-ons Guide 57 but ran into the problem that the .xpi file was not unpacked during installation (addon.pack in XPIInstall.jsm in line 1858 is not set).

I managed to install the extension using a text file to reference the unpacked extension files as described here. But after the installation of the extension Thunderbird crashes within seconds after every application start.

I was not able to figure out how to properly debug the extension on startup. So my next approach would be to turn the extension into a bootstrapped extension to make debugging easier. I already began the work in the bootstrap branch, but step 6 seems to be a bit more work that I won't have time for in the next few weeks.

[rodricels]

@CubicF FYI, I tried your fork (bootstrap and thunderbird_quantion branches), thanks!

I found:

• installation works (without restart in bootstrap branch)
• configuration window doesn't save
• on bootstrap branch, the "start minimized" doesn't work, maybe because the configuration windows doesn't have icon names (quantion branch have it and works fine)

Thunderbird 60, Ubuntu 18.04 with Cinnamon 3.8

[jamesrobb]

@CubicF I also tried your fork. It installed, but it didn't seem to do anything.

There didn't appear to be any configuration menu available from the add-ons menu, and I didn't see any icons in my system tray. I'm not sure what exactly the expected behaviour should be.

Thunderbird 60, Manjaro Linux 17.1.12 with Gnome 3.28.2

[CubicF]

@jamesrobb If you tried to install the .xpi file it was presumably not unpacked during installation (at least this was the case for me). Therefore some icons can not be found (as you can see in the error console, which can be found in the "Tools -> developer tools" menu).

As I already mentioned, I tried to circumvent that problem by install the extension via referencing the unpacked sources. But if I do this, Thunderbird crashes at start-up before I can open the error console to see what went wrong.

Despite converting to a boot-strapped extension for better debugging (which would need some time because I have virtually no knowledge of the subject) I'm pretty clueless.

[kolinger]

Support for unpacked extension was removed (https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2018/02/22/removing-support-unpacked-extensions/). This is why "unpack true" will not work anymore. I tried to load native libraries via ctypes from packed xpi file but this always fails (ctypes.open, error 126/file not found).

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/js-ctypes/Using_js-ctypes/ctypes.open
This page is saying that ctypes.open() will load from xpi/jar but it doesn't work. I checked everything. Packed xpi file is okay, libraries are in there, in correct folder. Path is generated exactly as said in documentiation. But it fails. With "jar:" without "jar:". Any combination. Always fails with "not found" error.

Ugly hack can be implemented (like placing native libraries outside xpi, in some predefined path). This will break instalation process and extra steps will be needed. This solution will be unusable for less experienced users. Using unpacked extension in dev mode (via proxy file) is also ugly/not portable hack.

Even if hacked then this may not work for long. Firefox did kill ctypes already (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1444502). Also firefox will soon (or already did) drop support for "legacy" extensions. WebExtensions is the future. WebExtensions will not support ctypes either https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/ctypes-possible-in-webextensions/12490. Thunderbird slowly follows this path.

I don't see any way how to fix this issue properly. There is no long term solution.

---

This issues is hard to fix and fix may not work for long. Firefox/Thunderbird is killing powerful utilities for extensions (because of security). And tray extensions need these powerful utilities to work.

This should by implemented in firefox/thunderbird natively. Great solution for everyone. But it won't happen https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?format=default&id=208923.

So Firefox/Thunderbird will not implement this but they remove support for extensions. Yea... We can't do much. This is about direction what Firefox and Thunderbird is heading...

I hope they will change their mind about native implementation. There is no other way.

Prove me wrong. Please.

[firetray-updates]

I continued what CubicF started and got FireTray up and running. The addon seems to work fine, but I barely used it and didn't try everything.

The changes I made are here: https://github.com/firetray-updates/FireTray/tree/thunderbird-57

[kilobyte]

@firetray-updates: your version does show an icon with new mail count, but closing the window kills Thunderbird, and minimizing it keeps it on the task bar. (Debian, xfce)

[YamashitaRen]

@kilobyte Not having theses issues on Plasma5/SystemTray. Didn't try appindicator.
Using it without appindicator prevents you from getting the new mail count though...

[firetray-updates]

@kilobyte FireTray is disabling the chat plugin here because it's not supported, so I missed the firetray.Messaging.Accounts() there. I updated the code (force-pushed), try it now.

[kilobyte]

@firetray-updates: yay it works!

[jamesrobb]

@firetray-updates Can confirm! I don't seem to have a way to configure it yet, but the tray icon is indeed back. Thanks!

[ZTHawk]

Tried it on windows 10. Minimizing TB will keep it in taskbar.
SysTray icon is visible but I cannot interact with that icon.

[Thrilleratplay]

@firetray-updates Also can confirm with using XFCE. Thank you for fixing this. Mind publishing this as an official add on?

[firetray-updates]

@ZTHawk I'm sorry, I didn't try this on Windows. I suspect your problem is related to the unpacking issue that CubicF mentioned. I assume it's a Windows specific problem, because I didn't have to do anything special to install the addon.

@Thrilleratplay I'm not planning on supporting this ATM, I just fixed it because I like it and apparently it still needs some changes.

[leledumbo]

Nice! At least tray icon appears and close to tray works, clicking it also brings back the app which is all I need for this addon.

[AdmiralAsshat]

@firetray-updates, working well on Cinnamon. Thanks!

[ghost]

I wonder if Thunderbird contributors ever use Thunderbird themselves, since apparently this has been a feature request since 2003 and nobody in 15 years got uncomfortable enough to implement this core functionality in the application (I have never seen any other application that has "minimize to tray" functionality implemented as an addon, this is hilarious and absurd). Unfortunately, I am useless here, so, please, if you consider developing a new extension like FireTray, instead consider first implementing this in Thunderbird itself, be it AppIndicator, GtkTrayIcon -- basically, whatever at this point, since it will never be accepted upstream (ticket about this was marked as RESOLVED WONTFIX, also absurd), and we can just compile it ourselves.

[kilobyte]

@light2yellow: I for one use Thunderbird because of this functionality, and will look for another mail client the moment it stops working (in Debian, TB52 is still in stable and testing, only unstable has 60). The fix by @CubicF and @firetray-updates is great. My use case for Thunderbird is twofold: 1. glorified biff, 2. something to read that HTML mail from a business critter; for anything else I use mutt. No close-to-tray means the first — my main — use is out. And I receive ~1000 text mails per day (LKML is spammy...) vs maybe 12 HTMLs I elect to even open per year.

The only reason for WONTFIX was that "operating systems deprecate system tray". Except that Windows 10 recommendations explicitly list new mail notifications as valid use of the tray, and the only Linux environment that hypocritically deprecates tray despite using it itself is GNOME.

[ZTHawk]

@kilobyte If you found evidence that win10 recommends systray then you should post it on mozilla bug tracker to state the old reason as invalid.

[kilobyte]

" You are not allowed to make an additional comment on this bug. "

Here's Microsoft docs about notifications and systray icons. It lists Outlook as an example of "Correct" purpose of tray icon, and provides a long list of conditions that are required for a permanent icon to be acceptable, Thunderbird matching them all.

As for Linux: GNOME is a lost cause, and I have nothing but pity for its users. People who use any other environment can, and often want to, use systray.

[ghost]

@zorzibaffo: can you check the version of your installed firetray and thunderbird? The new version is compatible only with TB60 (package dependencies should ensure that, but per a comment above, there might be something wrong).

Also, please check if you have a locally installed (ie, in Thunderbird's profile) copy? This one may override the system-installed package.

Hello, and thanks for answering. I installed Thunderbird 60 from Debian repos, and Firetray 0.6.1 from Debian repos, too. Where should I check for locally installed copy ?

Edit: I'm sure I had removed previously manually installed firetray 0.6.1

[kilobyte]

0.6.1+dfsg-1 or 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1? The former is for TB52 (and lower) only, the latter for TB60.

A localled installed copy can be removed via the "addons" page, a system-wide only disabled.

[ghost]

0.6.1+dfsg-1 or 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1? The former is for TB52 (and lower) only, the latter for TB60.

A localled installed copy can be removed via the "addons" page, a system-wide only disabled.

You're right. I installed 0.6.1+dfsg-1. It could not work. Maybe we can hope 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1 to be pushed in stable repos soon.
Thanks.

[OmegaPhil]

Devuan Ascii user here with Thunderbird 1:60.0-3~deb9u1 and xul-ext-firetray 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1 installed. Just reporting successful workingness of the 'display new message count' functionality now - the startup after the initial install was lacking icons so no systray appearance (even the Preferences page icon was missing), but disabling restarting and reenabling the addon worked. Thanks for your work kilobyte and firetray-updates.

[ghost]

Yes. it works perfectly. Thanks to firetray-updates and kilobyte.

[sunandmoonandus]

I also can confirm it works perfectly. There was also the " the startup after the initial install was lacking icons so no systray appearance (even the Preferences page icon was missing), but disabling restarting and reenabling the addon worked. " like OmegaPhil noted it. Disabling restarting and reenabling the addon worked.Thanks so much for your work firetray-updates and kilobyte!
Thunderbird 1:60.0-3~deb9u1 and xul-ext-firetray 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1 , Debian Stretch 9.5, 64Bit

[Chealer]

Thank you @kilobyte, I confirm Debian unstable's 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1 works on Debian 9 (with KDE) just like FireTray used to work with Thunderbird 52 and can be installed without any new dependency ( # dpkg -i xul-ext-firetray_0.6.1+dfsg-1.1_all.deb ).

In the long term, I'd agree a solution should be submitted to distributors such as Debian, as Mozilla itself appears hopeless at solving this.

[YogSottot]

There is released a new standalone system tray new mail notification for Thunderbird.
https://github.com/gyunaev/birdtray - it uses Thunderbird email search database directly, and does not require extensions. Thus it will work even when Thunderbird will drop ctypes support.

[vayulove]

@vayulove: how come xul-ext-firetray 0.6.1+dfsg-1.1 got upgraded if you had thunderbird held? Its deps are:

Depends: thunderbird (>= 1:57.0) | icedove (>= 1:57.0)
Breaks: icedove (<< 1:57.0), thunderbird (<< 1:57.0)

Because those aren't the dependencies of the firetray I have installed:
Package: xul-ext-firetray Version: 0.6.1+dfsg-1 Depends: iceweasel (>= 7.0) | firefox (>= 7.0) | firefox-esr (>= 7.0) | thunderbird (>= 7.0) | icedove (>= 7.0)

I also use a non standard Thunderbird. I use one from Plasmazilla on Launchpad. They have it patched to use KDE dialogs. I've been using their Firefox and Thunderbird on debian for years. They're not up to Thunderbird 60 yet. Keep up the good work on firetray, I'll use your version when Plasmazilla gets up to Thunderbird 60. I can't imagine not having taskbar functionality for email and I really don't want kmail and don't see any other alternatives I like.

YogSottot just posted an interesting and hopeful solution.

[NoXPhasma]

For Debian, you can take it from the official archive: http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/firetray/xul-ext-firetray_0.6.1+dfsg-1.1_all.deb — for now unstable only, but I asked for inclusion in stable updates.

Thank you very much, this works like a charm on Linux Mint 19!

[logix2]

If anyone here is looking for a Birdtray PPA, I created one for easy installation: https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/10/birdtray-thunderbird-tray-icon-with-new.html

[vlatkoB]

@YogSottot Thanks for the info. Firetray, although working, didn't show an icon in the tray, but birdtray works like a charm. Had to switch to mork parser, though.
I'm on Arch, Cinnamon, TB 60.2.1.

[bryanmc57]

Seems today's update to TB 60.2.1 in Debian stable has broken firetray again.

[ghost]

Seems today's update to TB 60.2.1 in Debian stable has broken firetray again.

It works for me, even after update to TB 60.2.1-2.

[ghost]

Seems today's update to TB 60.2.1 in Debian stable has broken firetray again.

Sorry, I made a thread mistake.

You may try this one:

#242 (comment)

[bryanmc57]

Interesting. I checked synaptic and todays update was to 1:60.2.1-2 and the add-ons section shows firetray as disabled.

[lbratch]

Seems today's update to TB 60.2.1 in Debian stable has broken firetray again.

I had the same problem with TB 60.2.1 but solved it by updating FireTray from Git. I was using de3145c:

commit de3145c233bb0d57ccbe268bf5d685e4523645d5
Author: Gabriele <[email protected]>
Date:   Sun Sep 9 20:09:28 2018 +0200

    Do not rely on StopIteration for the fade animation

    We now use a standard generator, which never throws StopIteration.

And updating to acbfa29 fixed it:

commit acbfa295d9d90d1a6e5f3472e4e02cb5f3441dad (HEAD -> thunderbird-57, origin/thunderbird-57, origin/HEAD)
Author: Gabriele <[email protected]>
Date:   Sat Oct 13 12:07:57 2018 +0200

    Make it compatible with 60.*

(This is on the thunderbird-57 branch of https://github.com/firetray-updates/FireTray/commits/thunderbird-57)

[bryanmc57]

I'll give it a try, once I figure out how to do the update. Help?

[Chealer]

Seems today's update to TB 60.2.1 in Debian stable has broken firetray again.

I confirm. The extension is disabled again.

[ghost]

Solution here:

#242 (comment)

[Chealer]

Actually, it was already broken. I had fixed my Firetray by upgrading it to unstable's version, but that won't work this time for now (there is no newer Firetray version to fix again).

The issue is reported in ticket #910973.

[ghost]

You have to remove firetray if you installed it from debian repos, or via a deb.file.

Just download it from the following link, and install it from Thunderbird extensions page with "install from a file"

#242 (comment)

[ZTHawk]

Solution here:

#242 (comment)

I can confirm that the version by @Ximi1970 (https://github.com/Ximi1970/FireTray/releases/tag/v0.6.1) is working very good with Win 10 x64 (to tray on minimize or on close).
Works with TB 60 and 60.2.1.

[kilobyte]

The Debian maintainer is not responding; I've put a NMU into DELAYED/2 — if no one does anything, the fix will be available in unstable in two days.

[Chealer]

Thanks to kilobyte, Debian unstable now contains xul-ext-firetray 0.6.1+dfsg-1.2: https://packages.debian.org/sid/all/xul-ext-firetray/download
This package can be installed on Debian 9 without bringing in any new dependency, and solves this. It may be necessary to restart Thunderbird twice though.

[jamesrobb]

I seem to be running into an issue with KDE (latest as of writing this). Everything works as expected except the icon is very blury in the system tray. I've read things here and there about this having something to do with AppIndicators, though I can't reason why an SVG icon would become blurry because this add-on doesn't expose an AppIndicator (my guess is that the icon is GtkStatusIcon).

Any idea on how to tackle this?

[firetray-updates]

@jamesrobb you need Appindicator if you want a high res icon. I mentioned that here not long ago: firetray-updates#3

[bryanmc57]

Version 68.2.2 has broken firetray again in Debian

[vayulove]

I gave up on firetray. Birdtray has been working great. I think I got it somewhere from a link on this thread. Now I'm using Thunderbird 70b straight from Mozilla, you can have it with KDE dialogs.