Total erasing of Evolution = return to terminal

[merinos]

Since I have been using this software for a good number of years, I have had time to form an opinion.

[joahnmark1122]

Wow, that’s quite a surprise! It’s a good reminder of how careful you need to be when removing packages with Synaptic, especially something as integrated as Evolution. Breaking a dependency can sometimes take out essential components, like your graphical interface, leaving you in the terminal. Always worth double-checking what other packages might be affected before confirming the removal or testing in a virtual environment first if possible!

[swarfendor437]

Just looked at Stacer on my Q4OS install. Notice if I mark just 'Evolution' for removal, that is all Stacer will remove - not the other dependencies below it.

[sglbl]

I had the same issue today.
I wanted to remove evolution since I use Thunderbird which is more modern.
But using sudo apt remove evolution** broke all the desktop components.

I fixed it by:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall zorin-os-desktop gnome-shell zorin-desktop-session gdm3

sudo systemctl enable gdm3
sudo systemctl start gdm3

Unfortunately removing evolution-data-server removes everything about zorin desktop, customizations etc.

[zabadabadoo]

@sglbl

Unfortunately removing evolution-data-server removes everything about zorin desktop, customizations etc.

Yes I'm afraid it does that and it has been mentioned in the past.

Thunderbird 32bit and add-ons

Yes, the evolution-data-server is used by the Online Accounts feature which is a part of the desktop. Despite sharing a name with the Evolution app, it acts more like a library and can function independently of the mail/groupware app. It's not recommended to remove the evolution-data-server packages from the system in order to keep this functionality and maintain system stability, as it's a dependency of the desktop.

[swarfendor437]

Whilst Thunderbird is more modern, you don't need to pay for an add-on to access work emails that are stored on an MS Mail Server, Evolution works really well for me, and there are no Google backends buried in it, unlike Thunderbird.

[Thunder]

@swarfendor437

Evolution works really well for me, and there are no Google backends buried in it, unlike Thunderbird.

I've used Gmail every since M$ trashed the email client. Too late now, that ship has sailed. No backend, it's in my face. Every mobile phone I've owned has been Googled. They already own everything there is to know about me.

[sglbl]

@swarfendor437

Whilst Thunderbird is more modern, you don't need to pay for an add-on to access work emails that are stored on an MS Mail Server, Evolution works really well for me, and there are no Google backends buried in it, unlike Thunderbird.

Interesting, I've never had this problem with my work emails and every feature ı wanted was always there.

[zabadabadoo]

I have been using TB on different platforms for MS outlook email and calendar, using 2 extensions:

1. Provider for Exchange Active Sync
2. TbSync

[swarfendor437]

It is such a long time since I used it I don't want to go back to it. When I was working from home I initially had to use Outlook 365 which led to me buying a second monitor because '365 did not have a notification sound. At least I get that in Evolution.

[merinos]

Talking about Microsoft Exchange (EWS), new stuff on Thunderbird side: blog.thunderbird.net/2025/11/thunderbird-adds-native-microsoft-exchange-email-support

[swarfendor437]

Even so, I would not go back.