Since this afternoon Thunderbird attempts to start, then fails before opening a window. I’m on Fedora-43beta and the latest Thunderbird Flatpak version.
Everything is up-to-date.
We have had a couple of threads about the latest Thunderbird failing, you should downgade or roll back and try the new version again in a week or two.
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If you’re using regular Fedora with rpm packages you can use the following command.
sudo dnf downgrade thunderbird
When it comes to atomic distros like Fedora Silverblue and Kinotie, you can do as @theprogram mentioned and roll back everything, or you can also downgrade like you do on regular Fedora, but it’s a lot more involved.
First you need to get the application ID. The below will list all installed flatpaks.
sudo flatpak list --app
In this case the application ID for Thunderbird would be org.mozilla.Thunderbird
Now you have to look for previous release commits.
sudo flatpak remote-info --log flathub org.mozilla.Thunderbird
What you’re looking for in the output from the above command is the commit string. The top entry and commit string will be the newest version you have installed. Every commit after that will be older. They’re dated, so it’s easy to read and downgrade to a specific commit from a specific date. You copy the commit string and issue the following command…
sudo flatpak update --commit=$commit_string org.mozilla.Thunderbird
Now when you run flatpak update, it’ll tell you there is a newer version of Thunderbird available. If you want to prevent that package from being upgraded you can use the mask function (this is pretty much the same as versionlock on dnf).
sudo flatpak mask org.mozilla.Thunderbird
When the time comes that you want to update it, just remove the mask.
sudo flatpak mask --remove org.mozilla.Thunderbird
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Great, thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I’ll try that 
Just to say, the problematic Flatpak is the Fedora Thunderbird Flatpak. (The Flathub version of Thunderbird doesn’t seem to have this issue.)
So instead of org.mozilla.Thunderbird you’ll want net.thunderbird.Thunderbird as the application name.
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Good point. I forget about the Fedora flatpak repo because it’s one of the first things I uninstall on a fresh install.
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i just tested this on latest Kinoite build F43 and at first it didint start using on shortcut icon, but running from terminal it runs and then i can again run it from shortcut icon tho there are some minor issues when comes to gmail but it works
phatle@kinoite:/var/home/phatle$ flatpak run org.mozilla.Thunderbird
[2] Sandbox: CanCreateUserNamespace() clone() failure: EPERM
[Parent 2, Main Thread] WARNING: Running in confined mode, using Portal notifications. Some features and hints won't be supported: 'glib warning', file /builds/worker/checkouts/gecko/toolkit/xre/nsSigHandlers.cpp:201
(org.mozilla.Thunderbird:2): libnotify-WARNING **: 13:47:32.687: Running in confined mode, using Portal notifications. Some features and hints won't be supported
How about with the Fedora Flatpak?
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i stopped using fedora flatpaks since always some small issues and codecs etc so i use only now flathub ones… So no idea about fedora flatpaks
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Right. All the reports of this problem come from the Fedora Flatpak (app.thunderbird.Thunderbird). There doesn’t seem to be any problem with the Flathub Thunderbird.
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yes thats why i posted that from flathub it seems to be running. Just need to be runned first from terminal and then it just works again on flathub one
I am getting very fed-up with Thunderbird, this is the second time this has happened recently. After installation it used to find accounts automatically. No longer, I’ve now got to re-connect my email accounts and then search for my address book.
I’m not impressed that it is the Fedora version of the Flatpak either - what is the point of another version unless it gets extra checks?
Thunderbird support on their forum is terrible, the response to my query (the same as in my original post here) from a “Moderator” who one might have expected to know better, was “Please explain how you know that?”
Can anyone recommend a reliable email client with good support?
Thunderbird. I wish I was joking. Unless you’re using Windows or MacOS and as such Outlook and Apple Mail, the best Linux client is Thunderbird. I used to use Evolution on GNOME (I’m on KDE now), but as far as I can see it’s only getting minor updates and bug fixes. The last I looked a GTK4 port was a no go because of how much work would need to be done and they don’t have the resources / programmers interested in doing it.
I’ve used everything from Alpine to Trojita and everything inbetween to try and find a better email client and I always end up back with Thunderbird. Time, webmail and mobile app use has pretty much decimated dedicated desktop email clients and Thunderbird is the only thing hanging on with a large and active development community (in comparison to its peers).
The LTS version as RPM is probably the best bet, or a LTS flatpak direct from Mozilla
Correction: Milan just said that its not on his immediate priority list, not that it will never happen.
Just saying, but without knowing the context, it’s impossible for us to be able to form any kind of opinion. Can you create new post titled something like “better email clients than Thunderbird”? To keep this thread on-topic.
The original ESR tar archives run w/o any problems on my f43 system.
You can also download and run the non-ESR version, but I prefer a more conservative approach when it comes to email. And I don’t really see the point in a monthly release for an email program.
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Bad actors are working every day to find exploitable bugs in email and browser software (and now with the help of AI). Unfortunately, there is often more support (from governments friendly and hostile) for finding exploits than for improving open source software. Monthly releases are a compromise between timely updates and the period when users are left exposed to newly discovered bugs/exploits.
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ESR gets regular security updates and bug fixes too. The difference between ESR and “latest” is really how regularly “enhancements” are rolled out.
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Sorry, poor wording. Of course, security and bug fixes are still necessary, but I can get by just fine w/o monthly “new features” or “improvements” . I understand the developers’ POV , who want to get more attention and feedback from users for new features.