Claws Mail for Default EMail client in Xubuntu

[Ed Hewitt]

Binary package hint: claws-mail

I believe Xubuntu should use Claws Mail as the default email client instead of Thunderbird. Below a list of reasons why.

- Its GTK, better integration into Xubuntu
- It supports themes, so we can use the Tango theme by default
- Its faster and more lightweight than Thunderbird, keeping with Xubuntu guidelines
- Supports plugins, like Thunderbird
- Very similar functionality and features. List of features: http://www.claws-mail.org/features.php?section=general (quite alot)
- Has a tray icon!
- Its stable, no crashes yet.

Please consider Claws Mail to replace Thunderbird for Karmic. Thunderbird is too slow and heavy for Xubuntu, it doesn't integrate very well either. Its not GTK or use Tango.

[Philip Muškovac (yofel)]

Thank you for taking the time to make Ubuntu better. Since what you submitted is a Feature Request to improve Ubuntu, you are invited to post your idea in Ubuntu Brainstorm at [WWW] https://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/ where it can be discussed, voted by the community and reviewed by developers. Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion!

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

@Philip: Please don't send this to brainstorm, Brainstorm is to discuss the idea further, this is a request for a specific package to be changed in Xubuntu.

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here. Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

[Vincent (vinnl)]

I believe this has been discussed extensively in the past, off the top of my head some of the arguments against were that there wasn't a package (which appears to have been fixed) and that it wasn't being developed (not sure about this, but at least it is in active development now), so I suppose that pretty much makes this a no-brainer. I would bring it up at the xubuntu-devel mailinglist again though, just to make sure.

[Vincent (vinnl)]

Hmm, I've been looking a bit through the emails then, problems apparently were stability (which you say is good now), the package wasn't maintained (seems to be done), it had to be promoted to main (no longer the case as Xubuntu itself is in universe), and you couldn't let it import Thunderbird mailboxes. That last one would be a blocker because it's a pain for existing users - is that still the case?

[Vincent (vinnl)]

(Heh, and you already mailed the xubuntu-devel list, nvm that comment then ;-)

[Ed Hewitt (edhewitt-deactivatedaccount)]

Vincent, It is in active dev now. Currently, in 8.10, its Claw Mail 3.5, the latest is 3.71.

[Vincent (vinnl)]

And can it import Thunderbird mailboxes?

[Ed Hewitt (edhewitt-deactivatedaccount)]

It can import and export mbox files.

[Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)]

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Specifications/Karmic/DefaultMailClient

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Reviewed for Natty; claws-mail just does not have as easy to use interface yet. Thunderbird is much simpler for the users to set up.

[Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)]

Changes on default applications should really be proposed on the roadmap, with application comparisons and so on, see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Roadmap.

[Sean Davis (bluesabre)]

Closing this one out. If Claws is still desired, please bring it up for discussion on the Xubuntu mailing list or IRC. Links to all communication channels can be found here:

https://xubuntu.org/dev/