I upgraded from 17.3 Pro to 18 Pro and all my Thunderbird email accounts were deleted. I know that this upgrade is not officially released and it wasn't my productive maschine. So not a big problem. Just wanted to let you know so that you can fix it.
Was Thunderbird installed as .deb, Snap or Flatpak?
I don't know what it was before the update, but afterwards it says ZorinOS, so I guess .deb. I wasn't Snap before, that I can tell.
Unfortunately that doesn't have to mean that it is the .deb Package because Ubuntu (the Base of Zorin) tricks here and installs the Snap Package. Please go in Gnome Software and there to the Thunderbird Software Page. Under the Install Button, You see ''Zorin OS'' but a bit down for the actual Version, you see that the Snap Package is mentioned:
It currently says 1snap1, so you might be right. But I cannot tell what it was before the upgrade.
We have heard multiple reports, at this point... That the Ubuntu base has been replacing APT installed FireFox and Thunderbird with Snap versions, without consent or notification.
The problem seems to be that during the upgrade to 18 Pro Thunderbird was replaced by the Snap package. The profile data was located in ~/.thunderbird before (and still is) but the new Snap version is looking in ~/snap/thunderbird/common/.thunderbird for the profiles. I heard that copying the folder to the new location would fix the problem, but I chose another way. I removed the Snap package and installed the .deb version instead and all my data is back again.
-
Remove the Snap Version
sudo snap remove --purge thunderbird -
Add Mozilla PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa -
Define APT priority
echo 'Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam
Pin-Priority: 1001
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla-firefox
- Install Thunderbird as deb:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install thunderbird
2 Likes
Well, the Problem is, that on Zorin 17 (Ubuntu 22 LTS Base) thunderbird was still available as .deb Package. So, I would guess that it has changed the Package with the Upgrade to Zorin 18 (Ubuntu 24 LTS Base) because in Ubuntu 24 LTS, Thunderbird is no lnger available as .deb Package in the Repo's, only as Snap.
And how You can still get the .deb Package, You already have done:
The only Alternatives would be to use the Flatpak Version or download the tar File from Thunderbird's Website.
With the new official update Zorin installed the Flatpak version. But this does not start. So I uninstalled it and repeated the steps I mentioned above to install the .deb version. Works fine.
2 Likes
As this thread is dedicated to Thunderbird issue arising from upgrade. I have added the word "Thunderbird" to the title and moved from Feedback to General Help. Also marked your last post as 
Solution. (can't mark solution in the Feedback section).
1 Like
Is this still the case? I run Thunderbird (via Zorin OS APT version) and am about to update to 18 but really concerned if it's going to upset the emails! May hold off for a bit. Any further details appreciated.
Saving Your Mails would definetely a good Idea. The Problem is: In Ubuntu 24 Thunderbird isn't longer available as .deb. So, it could be transformed into the Snap Version.
The Alternatives, You can see here already in this Thread: Using the Flatpak, adding the PPA or downloading the tar File from Thunderbird.
1 Like
Just to add I have been doing work on the Unofficial Manual for Zorin 18 Core r.3. In it I include Krusader (file browser) which looks at what tools are available prior to first run and includes Thunderbird. I installed Thunderbird via Synaptic Package Manager which avoids Flatpak and Snap altogether.
But when You use Synaptic on Zorin 18, You get this:
It seems that the Zorin Dev's have made a Transitional Package to install instead of the Snap Package from Ubuntu the official Flatpak. They should've announce that with a Blog Post.
3 Likes
That isn't what I got but will need to check again later. Will provide screenshot.
Snap or Flatpak packages can be installed through Synaptic or through terminal using apt if there is a MetaPackage that redirects to it.
That is a metapackage, not he package for the software itself.
Indeed, this is the very sneaky way that Canonical replaced Firefox with Snap in APT.
If you do not have Flatpak installed and do not have the gnome-software flatpak plugin installed - this will still happen in apt or Synaptic, due to the metapackage placed in APT.
Mozilla produces FireFox and Thunderbird and most likely, this is Mozilla's doing, not the ZorinGroup's doing.
This here actually comes from the Zorin Dev's. You can see the zorin Addition in the Version Name/Number and when You type in the Terminal apt show thunderbird You can see how the Maintainer is:
My Interpretation of this would be that the Dev's have with this adressed the Thunderbird Snap Thing what we have here already discussed. But I don't know how long this is available.
I would repeat my Sentence:
Or at least write a Comment in the Forum.
Sigh
So... the ZorinGroup is repeating Canonical's mistake.
Silently replacing an apt with a metapackage that redirects to an alternate software source.
2 Likes
Oops! I was half awake. What I noticed is that bizarrely the app is Flatpak and the locale is Snap! D'OH!