Thunderbird 78.x under Ubuntu 20.04

Question

I would like to use Thunderbird 78.x in Ubuntu 20.04. This is the version I use under Windows. When will TB 78 be part of Ubuntu and will be updated automatically? The official version of TB is 68.x right now.

Answer 1

Running rmadison thunderbird we can see that Thunderbird version 78.x is in the -proposed repository for now.

~$ rmadison thunderbird
 thunderbird | 11.0.1+build1-0ubuntu2            | precise          | source, amd64, armel, armhf, i386, powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:24.4.0+build1-0ubuntu1          | trusty           | source, amd64, armhf, i386, powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:38.6.0+build1-0ubuntu1          | xenial           | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, powerpc, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:38.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1  | precise-security | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:38.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1  | precise-updates  | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1  | precise-security | source, amd64, armel, armhf, i386
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1  | precise-updates  | source, amd64, armel, armhf, i386
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1  | trusty-security  | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1  | trusty-updates   | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1  | xenial-security  | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:45.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1  | xenial-updates   | powerpc
 thunderbird | 1:52.7.0+build1-0ubuntu1          | bionic           | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el
 thunderbird | 1:60.6.1+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.1  | trusty-security  | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el
 thunderbird | 1:60.6.1+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.1  | trusty-updates   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el
 thunderbird | 1:68.7.0+build1-0ubuntu2          | focal            | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 | xenial-security  | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 | xenial-updates   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 | bionic-security  | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 | bionic-updates   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 | focal-security   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 | focal-updates    | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.3.2+build1-0ubuntu1          | groovy           | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.5.0+build3-0ubuntu0.20.04.1  | focal-proposed   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.6.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.10.1  | groovy-security  | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.6.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.10.1  | groovy-updates   | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.7.0+build2-0ubuntu1          | hirsute          | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x
 thunderbird | 1:78.7.1+build1-0ubuntu1          | hirsute-proposed | source, amd64, arm64, armhf, ppc64el, s390x

It will be eventually moved to the main repository and upgrade after it passes the 5 criteria from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ProposedMigration

A (particular version of a) package will move into the release pocket when it satisfies all of the following criteria:

1. It must be built and published on all architectures it is currently published for in the release pocket (this applies to each binary, but it is acceptable if other binaries from the same source for the same architecture are up to date in -proposed and the binary in question has been removed);

2. All of its dependencies must either be satisfiable by packages already in the release pocket, or be satisfiable by the group of packages which are going to be installed at the same time;

3. If the package or any of its binary or test reverse-dependencies defines any autopkgtest test suites, they must either pass or never have passed ("Always failed");

4. No bugs with the block-proposed tag are open against the package (this can be used to temporarily block a package on manual testing);

5. The operation of installing the package into the release pocket must not break any packages currently in the release pocket.

A package which satisfies the first three of the above is said to be a "Valid Candidate". A package which does not satisfy the first three of the above is said to be "Not considered".

Unfortunately, there isn't a time frame for when the package will pass and be moved to the main repository for installation. It is possible to enable the -proposed repository and install the newer version that way, but this can break packages by installing a version that hasn't passed all the criteria yet and can cause unpredictable behavior.

Answer 2

Checked today and got this:

curtis@xxxxx:/etc/apt/sources.list.d$ apt list --upgradable Listing... Done thunderbird-gnome-support/focal-updates 1:78.7.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1] thunderbird-locale-en-us/focal-updates,focal-updates 1:78.7.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 all [upgradable from: 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1] thunderbird-locale-en/focal-updates 1:78.7.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1] thunderbird/focal-updates 1:78.7.1+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:68.10.0+build1-0ubuntu0.20.04.1]

Ran update and yep, TB 78.7.1 was installed.

Answer 3

An alternative method to install Thunderbird 78.x following the instruction in the official website. The download directory is here :

• Before you install Thunderbird, make sure that your computer has the required libraries installed. Missing libraries will cause Thunderbird to be inoperable.
• The installation file provided by Mozilla in .tar.bz2 format does not contain sources but pre-compiled binary files, therefore you can simply unpack and run them. There is no need to compile the program from source.
• The following instructions will install Thunderbird into your home directory, and only the current user will be able to run it.

---

1. Download Thunderbird from the Thunderbird download page to your home directory.
2. Open a Terminal and go to your home directory: cd ~
3. Extract the contents of the downloaded file: tar xjf thunderbird-*.tar.bz2
4. Close Thunderbird if it's open.
5. To start Thunderbird, run the thunderbird script in the thunderbird folder: ~/thunderbird/thunderbird

Thunderbird should now start. You can then create a launcher on your desktop to run this command.

Installing Thunderbird on Linux