1w ago

Thunderbird plans on expanding offerings with additional services

thunderbird.topicbox.com

Topicbox

It is our goal to eventually have a similar offering so that a 100% open source, freedom-respecting alternative ecosystem is available for those who want it.

Thunderbird Appointment
Appointment is a scheduling tool that allows you to send a link to someone, allowing them to pick a time on your calendar to meet

Thunderbird Send
Send is the rebirth of Firefox Send

Thunderbird Assist
Assist is an experiment that, through a partnership with Flower AI will allow users to take advantage of AI features. The hope is that processing can be done on devices that can support the models

Thundermail
Thundermail is an email service. We want to provide email accounts to those that love Thunderbird, and we believe that we are capable of providing a better service than the other providers out there, that aligns with our values

17 comments

They already have matrix (chat protocol) embedded too, nobody seems to notice it

I love TB, but I also love simplicity. I just configured mutt (which I haven't used in 20 years) and love how fast and easy it is. Of course, it took me days to get it where I needed it, but using it reminded me of how bloated these other apps can get after years of additions.
Glad to hear about the mail service.

I wonder if an Android calendar would be considered. Google's calendar seems to dominate since the AOSP was dropped (it's kinda maintained under the "Etar" brand now). Thunderbird desktop has a calendar.

Seems right on to me
The only problem with turning to a profit model is the potential for enshitification.
- I feel this might stop enshittification. Look at Firefox, enshittification stems from a need to turn a profit and how difficult it is to do that in a decent way for a web browser. A privacy-centered email service on the other hand is an attractive product, and probably enough(?) to keep the email client running.
  Unfortunate though that Mozilla is a US company.

These guys are good. Have they thought about working on a browser with no AI bullshit? It seems like there may be a market for that

The hope is that processing can be done on devices that can support the models
No, the hope is they don't cram a model in and it can be NOT TURNED ON at all, never downloading a gb of data I won't use. If it's opt out, downloaded with the software, I'm jumping on a fork.
- So much needless negativity. Not all features need to be for you.
  But, given some users' sensitivity to this, these types of features will always be optional for use by people who want them.
  I would welcome a local model with good integration, I have use for it.
  
  Not all features need to be for you.
  The only thing I'm asking is not to have to download them since they're not for me. Just don't bundle it and I'm happy.
  
  Yeah, but I shouldn't need to make rooms for that if I don't want it. It should only be downloaded once I have activated in settings.

The thundermail domains are thundermail.com and tb.pro. I'm curious to see how they will compare to the top privacy-respecting email providers today, and how they think they will "provid[e] a better service than the other providers out there," which would include Protonmail, Tutanota, etc.
- Proton mail
  Maybe they won't actively support fascists🥲
  
  I swear to fuck, you guys take a single thing and just run the absolute shit out of it.
  Proton is run by the Proton Foundation. Andy Yen is only one of FIVE members of that board (including the literal father of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, who is a well-known proponent of internet privacy and who's voice likely holds a lot more weight than Andy). Andy fucked up by using the official Proton account to post a personal opinion about ONE person that was NOT trump. He overexplained it later on trying (and failing horribly) to do damage control, after which the rest of the board likely told him to just shut the fuck up.
  THAT'S ALL THAT HAPPENED. Proton itself is a perfectly fine service.
  
  supporting internet freedom involves that, unfortunately. Tor has a good stance, w/e happens, happens, we're here to make it anonymous.
  
  They may not, but the company is physically in the USA and their servers are physically in the USA... So... We'll see I guess.
- Having consistent uptime and not locking broken IMAP behind a paywall would beat Tuta.
  I have a proton subscription (although I am in the process of switching to fastmail since that better suits my needs) but I think "privacy respecting email" is a fool's errand and increasingly a red flag. In a lot of ways, it is no different than a VPN: They can say whatever the hell they want. If you are in a situation where you are trusting them then you have already made a mistake.
  Proton et al ARE awesome because you can get a mostly functional email for free without any other identification (mostly functional in that a lot of services put the proton domains on a spam list... because anyone can get a burner). But if you are sending ANYTHING sensitive, you want to be encrypting that. And you want to do that in a way that is not asking the company to do it for you.
  So as long as thundermail doesn't require a phone number or some other form of personal ID to make an account: f'ing A. After that it is just a question of their support for IMAP et al (highly probable considering... Thunderbird) and what it costs to use your own domains.

17 comments