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Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.1 Cancelled

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the be-right-back dept.

geekwithsoul writes "mozillaZine is reporting that the Mozilla Thunderbird 1.01 release is cancelled. While they just released 1.01 of Firefox and intended to release an updated Mozilla Suite and 1.01 version of Thunderbird shortly thereafter, they've decided to address some additional issues and release ver. 1.02 of Firefox and Thunderbird 'soon.' The fixes will also be included in the Mozilla Suite 1.7.6 release. Ah, the joy of awkward numbering conventions!"

63 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. Confused by cortana · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Confused...

    Are they just trying to keep the version numbers of Firefox and Thunderbird in lockstep?

    1. Re:Confused by puiahappy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don`t think so, but maybe they have realised that Mozila FireFox is the first real opponent for M$IE, and they are developing it as fast as they can. A very good thing to do.

      --
      Think like a hacker, act like a hacker, but never become a hacker !
    2. Re:Confused by ZephyrXero · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, for one thing, the slashdot article had the numbers listed wrong. It's 1.0.2 not 1.02. As for them skipping 1.0.1 with Thunderbird, since it's just one number off in the third spot, I doubt anyone will really notice except us geeks...

      --
      "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
    3. Re:Confused by littlem · · Score: 3, Insightful
      maybe they have realised that Mozila FireFox is the first real opponent for M$IE, and they are developing it as fast as they can.

      Seems unlikely - surely there are separate teams working on each?

    4. Re:Confused by Phisbut · · Score: 2, Funny
      since it's just one number off in the third spot, I doubt anyone will really notice except us geeks...

      True... My version of Internet Explorer is 6.0.2900... I don't think I've seen all 2900 versions (although with the large amount of Windows updates I've done since I have WinXP, maybe I *did* update it 2900 times...)

      --
      After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
      - The Tao of Programming
  2. numbers by kdark1701 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ah, the joy of awkward numbering conventions!

    I think people will adapt. I never hear anyone complain about Winamp 5.

    1. Re:numbers by El_Servas · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or about the Nvidia drivers' version numbers...
      I think they're going to start using scientific notation for those numbers. :)

    2. Re:numbers by MiKM · · Score: 2, Informative

      Indeed. If you look at the WA Tech support forums, there are hundreds of threads from around the time of the WA5 release demanding to know what happened to V4

    3. Re:numbers by thefogger · · Score: 5, Funny

      Would that be the Fibonacci versioning system?

      --


      Um... I didn't do it!
    4. Re:numbers by kdark1701 · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is a plugin that will allow for Ogg playback, but there is a second delay everytime you play the ogg file. And you can't edit the tags. After a while I decided it wasn't worth it.

    5. Re:numbers by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There was a Netscape 5.0 project, but it was scrapped. You can probably still get the source code somewhere.

      If I remember right, Netscape 5.0 used most of the UI-code base for Netscape 4.x, but used the new 'Gecko' rendering engine.

      I remember soon-to-be Mozilla Developers at Linuxworld and some Bay Area LUGs talking about how 5.0 was so horrible, they basically decided to rewrite the browser from scratch, using a few components from Netscape.

      Check out this Netscape press release from 1998: Netscape 5.0 was going to be released under a 'GPL-like' license.

      Somewhere in there, Mozilla was born. My memory is fuzzy... so people with more knowledge feel free to correct me.

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
    6. Re:numbers by oskard · · Score: 5, Funny

      Especially when they say to themselves "I need a good Winamp Four-Skin"

      --
      Sigs are for Terrorists.
    7. Re:numbers by aichpvee · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, when they have Redhat 8 with Linux kernel 2.6.1 they just say, "I have Linux 8."

      --
      The Farewell Tour II
    8. Re:numbers by edwdig · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Netscape 5 was entirely based off the Netscape 4 code. Gecko was no where near ready for primetime use at the time. It was just an incremental upgrade from Netscape 4. It was scrapped because it wouldn't have been a very big step up from 4.x, and the thinking was that would've just given people an even lesser opinion of Netscape.

      Netscape 6 was always planned to be Gecko + XUL. Unfortunately it took a lot longer to develop than originally expected, so they ended up rushing it out due to how long it had been since there last was a major Netscape update. Of course the rushed 6 was barely usable and just hurt Netscape's reputation more.

      The open source version of the Netscape code was always called Mozilla. The Mozilla website used to always say something like "You probably shouldn't be using this unless you are a developer. Use something built off it such as Netscape instead." Which means the Mozilla Suite was never advertised, but rather they recommended people avoid using it. Hence why the suite never got a huge following. FireFox's success compared to Mozilla's is most due to the fact that that there was actually a lot of effort put into marketing FireFox, opposed to the anti-marketing of the suite.

    9. Re:numbers by Simon+Garlick · · Score: 4, Funny

      MS Word 6
      MS Word 7
      MS Word 97
      MS Word 2000
      MS Word XP
      MS Word 2003

      --

      -----
      PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
    10. Re:numbers by spectre_240sx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't even try to figure out what Java versions are supposed to mean. I just check now and then to see what the current latest version is and make sure I've got it.

    11. Re:numbers by edwdig · · Score: 2, Informative

      I remember nightly builds would recommend you upgrading once they got to be a month or so old, and I also remember pre 1.0 releases doing that, but it's been years since I've seen Mozilla recommend me upgrade.

      Looking at the Wayback Machine, here's the Mozilla.org Releases page from June 2003. Even then, the page clearly said in bold print that the releases were for testing purposes only. The page also has other warnings about not using it.

      http://web.archive.org/web/20030627112551/mozilla. org/releases/

  3. That big of a deal? by ziggamon2.0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, they want the Firefox and Thunderbird versions be in sync, is that so unreasonable?
    What's the big news here?

    1. Re:That big of a deal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      As far as I can tell, it isn't meant to be big news, just simply a notification to the community that we'll have to wait a little longer for Thunderbird updates.

      I'm currently thoroughly enjoying Tbird 1.0, so I have no problems waiting.

  4. Actually, a good idea by suso · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would rather that they don't release something if they think there are issues or security problems with it. Mainly because people are still adopting these pieces of software. So there will be some people who will only download the latest version and may wait years before upgrading. Its better if they get stuck with what is considered to be the current best version.

    The rest of you that are aware and capabile of making upgrades, should do so of course.

    1. Re:Actually, a good idea by Ogerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The rest of you that are aware and capable of making upgrades, should do so of course.

      Of course, the problem is that the FF/TB upgrade mechanism is absolutely awful. There's no easy way to roll out the FF/TB duo on a Windows network. Worse, even for stand-alone use, the upgrade process just installs a new copy over top of the old. (redundant add/remove program item, desktop icons, and all!) As a reluctant part-time Windows admin, I can say with pretty good confidence that this is the one thing holding Firefox back from widespread use in businesses.

      Firefox team, please wake up and listen! An official method for centralized roll-out on Windows networks is an absolute must if you want to make a dent in IE usage in the business / corporate world.

      Thank goodness the other half of my work is Linux, where FF upgrades are as simple as "apt-get install mozilla-firefox"

    2. Re:Actually, a good idea by EvilStein · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Another absolute must is a triumphant calendar. :P

      Although, I suspect that you can just get users to upgrade by doing some Windows logon script voodoo. It works most of the time. :)

    3. Re:Actually, a good idea by hattmoward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Make that "file://///ourserver/ourshare/our directory/our idiot doc file.doc" and you've got a deal! Works on Firefox and IE.

    4. Re:Actually, a good idea by drewness · · Score: 4, Informative

      Firefox team, please wake up and listen! An official method for centralized roll-out on Windows networks is an absolute must if you want to make a dent in IE usage in the business / corporate world.

      Planned for 1.1. Scroll down the article a way and you will see that one of the things planned for 1.1 is an MSI installer so it plays better with corporate deployments.

    5. Re:Actually, a good idea by JeremyALogan · · Score: 3, Informative

      another problem with the current install method is that if you install on top of a current install (so as not to lose themes and such) it adds a new item in your "add/remove programs" list. I currently have 7 installs of Firefox and 5 of Thunderbord (according to the list).

      --
      Jeremy Logan's Website.
    6. Re:Actually, a good idea by Myen · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hmm, so they're doing a proper MSI now?

      Last I checked - it was a MSI file that launched the normal installer. Yeah, real useful. I'm hoping that's been changed; havn't been tracking the installer issues.

    7. Re:Actually, a good idea by novakreo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Of course, the problem is that the FF/TB upgrade mechanism is absolutely awful. There's no easy way to roll out the FF/TB duo on a Windows network. Worse, even for stand-alone use, the upgrade process just installs a new copy over top of the old. (redundant add/remove program item, desktop icons, and all!) As a reluctant part-time Windows admin, I can say with pretty good confidence that this is the one thing holding Firefox back from widespread use in businesses.

      I should also point out that during the install process, if you choose not to add icons to the Desktop, Start Menu, and/or Quick Launch bar, Firefox setup goes ahead and installs them anyway.

      Not a favourable first impression for a project trying to present itself as a better alternative to Internet Explorer.

      --
      O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
    8. Re:Actually, a good idea by N7DR · · Score: 2, Informative
      Worse, even for stand-alone use, the upgrade process just installs a new copy over top of the old. (redundant add/remove program item, desktop icons, and all!)

      Yes, I couldn't believe it when I was noodling around Add/Remove Programs on a Windows systems recently and saw a slew of FF/TB entries. I removed an old one, and promptly discovered that the current installation stopped working. I shifted the disk back five minutes with GoBack so no harm was done, but it did strike me as something that surely should have been fixed before releasing these programs to the general public.

  5. Numbering error in story by akeyes · · Score: 4, Informative

    You got the title right, the rest you forgot the second dot '1.0.1' not '1.01'

  6. There is no 1.01 by Guspaz · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Ah, the joy of awkward numbering conventions!"

    You're telling me! So awkward that apparently the fact that it's 1.0.1 and not 1.01 went completely unnoticed. They are two VERY different numbering conventions.

    For example, 1.10 would indicate the 10th release of version 1, whereas 1.1.0 would indicate the magnitude of the changes in the release, not the number of releases.

  7. Version Numbering... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm holding our for Mozilla V 3. 1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Version Numbering... by rainwalker · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Pi is exactly equal to 3!"
      (gasps of horror)
      "Sorry I had to do that, but now that I have your attention..."

  8. Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.2 out next week by viscount · · Score: 5, Informative

    Release Candidates out now

    http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/007759 .html

    Damn, those guys are quick.

    1. Re:Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.2 out next week by aerthling · · Score: 4, Informative

      or even 007759.

  9. "Want pi now!" as he shot Knuth by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, you're thinking of TeX, whose version number approaches Pi.

    Mmmmm... pi.

    1. Re:"Want pi now!" as he shot Knuth by JimmehAH · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They had to change it because Hasbro/Mattel have a line of toys called Weebles that look a little like Weebl.

      weebls-stuff forum post

    2. Re:"Want pi now!" as he shot Knuth by interiot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And much later, Pugs the Perl6 emulator, whose version number is supposed to approach 2*Pi (Pugs 6.2, Pugs 6.28, ...).

  10. Don't rush it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful


    now the codebase is reasonably stable, i'd rather they be fixing bugs and perfecting the code than rushing it out the door like beancounter run jobs to meet a contract deadline
    obviously security patches are different but for general releases, make it right, keep it polished rather than looking like the software equivalent of a RiceBoy racer with a million things bolted on but none of them make it a better car

  11. Seems odd to me by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought one of the advantages to decoupling the various Mozilla components would be that they could develop on timeframes that made sense individually.

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    1. Re:Seems odd to me by Lehk228 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      yes, but keeping the numbers in synch makes it easier to tell that you are up to date with all of them

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    2. Re:Seems odd to me by edwdig · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, these releases are about security fixes to the shared core of the seperate apps, not about features, so it does make sense to syncronize the updates.

      If the Gecko core was used as a shared library, you'd be able to just download an update to that and fix both apps at once. But since the core wasn't designed for seperate apps, you have to download updates for each individually instead.

  12. Firefox really DOES need help! by templest · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think FF is in desperate need of soome tweak'uns... Pop-ups are comming back with a force to be wreckoned with. Some sites (Won't mention what ones ;-) upload worms to my box through java, with nothing but Norton warning my that it was even being loaded. I even compared the sites with IE and FF; and IEs popup-blocker stops all while FF stops some. Alas.. popularity sucks. But it's still safer and more competent than IE. :-)

    --
    I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    1. Re:Firefox really DOES need help! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Pop-ups are comming back with a force to be wreckoned with. Some sites (Won't mention what ones ;-) upload worms to my box through java, with nothing but Norton warning my that it was even being loaded. I even compared the sites with IE and FF; and IEs popup-blocker stops all while FF stops some.

      Please mention which ones, as an AC if you don't want people to know where you went. You see, if you don't mention which ones, it looks like you're spreading FUD. You see, I'VE never had that happen to me (even browsing dodgy pr0n sites), and I'VE not seen a popup since I switched to Firefox.

      So right now, we have your anecdotes disagreeing with my experience, and I'm calling you a liar.

      If you'd care to link to one of these sites where IE allegedly blocks popups better than Firefox, or where Firefox allegedly allows your computer to be infected with a worm without so much as a warning, then maybe people would have some incentive to believe you, sort of thing?

    2. Re:Firefox really DOES need help! by wanker256 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'VE not seen a popup since I switched to Firefox.

      Visit my favorite Urban Legends Debunking site http://www.snopes.com/. About a month ago, I noticed that pop ups began reappearing on this site, diminishing the enjoyment I derive from visiting it.

    3. Re:Firefox really DOES need help! by bunratty · · Score: 3, Informative
      Try this tip shamelessly stolen from adot's notblog (March 4, 2005 entry):

      To block pop-ups from plugins, open your Firefox 1.0 or 1.0.1 browser, type about:config in the address field. Right-click in the resulting config page somewhere and select New -> Interger. Type privacy.popups.disable_from_plugins in the resulting dialog, hit OK, type 2 in the next dialog and you're all set.

      This pref can actually take three values:
      0: open allowed
      1: the opened windows are treated as popups, but they're allowed to open (we limit the number of these types of popups)
      2: the window is a popup, block it

      --
      What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
  13. That's one more, innit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "This release goes up to 1.02. That's one more, innit?"

    "Why don't they just put the newer improvements and call it 1.01?"

    (blank stare) "This release goes up to 1.02."

  14. Version 3.0 by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 2, Funny
    If they want to make it comparable to a genuine, working Microsoft product, they should release the next one as Version 3.0.

    And they can follow that with Version 6.0.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  15. But that's irrational.... by StressGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    (waits for laugh from the math geeks)

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  16. Thunderbird by WaldoXX · · Score: 2, Funny

    Most of us can live with out Thunderbird 1.01 and
    wait for 1.02 but they better not delay on
    FireFox with the new Gecko 1.8 engine!!@!!#@! :P

  17. Wow, Mozilla is having a rough week by menace3society · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It used to be, Mozilla was one of the more "reputable" open source projects. I'm not trying to flame anyone here, but it sounds like they've had a pretty rough week. Coupled with the announcement to cancel future releases of the Mozilla suite and the announcements abotu IE7, this could tarnish Mozilla's reputation. Obviously, normal projects miss deadlines and drop releases with large flaws all the time. But Open Source being what it is, when it has these kinds of problems they tend to be more high-profile. Hopefully everyone will look past this and continue to recognize that the Mozilla tools beat the pants off of Microsoft's.

  18. Version Numbering by standsolid · · Score: 4, Funny

    They can avoid this different-version numbering nonsense if they finally just integrate the FireFox Browser, Thunderbird Mail and Sunbird Calendar into one integrated cohesive suite.

    That would be flippin' sweet!

    --
    WTPOUAWYHTTOTWPA
    What's the point of using acronyms when you have to type out the whole phrase anyways?
  19. Re:Hope it is soon! by shayne321 · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's there (at least in TB 1.0 and up, and Seamonkey 1.7 and up). Just go to your address book, and go to File->New and pick Mailing List. Seamonkey even has an icon at the top of the addressbook for New List.. Not sure if TB has this icon or not, I don't have it in front of me.

    --
    Today I didn't even have to use my AK; I got to say it was a good day -- Icecube
  20. update agent by mslinux · · Score: 2, Insightful

    why the hell can't the update agent handle these fixes? why do user have to manually upgrade when a new security threat is found? IE beats the hell out of FF when it comes to patching.

    1. Re:update agent by MikeBabcock · · Score: 2, Informative

      That would explain why the little green arrow showed up in my browser one day and I clicked it and it upgraded me.

      Jeez, I thought that was awfully difficult compared to the 5 clicks I go through on Windows Update.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  21. vcard? by ErisCalmsme · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm still waiting for thunderbird to support vcard =/ Maybe one day http://vcard.mozdev.org/ will have some better news than " I had made some good progress long ago, but subsequently lost all the code in an accident, before having checked it in. "

    --
    Chaos is Divine *
  22. Re:What am I supposed to use for e-mail? by dn15 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Note that they didn't say the Thunderbird project as a whole has been cancelled, just that the next version will be 1.0.2 instead of 1.0.1.

  23. Read this and shut-up you big-balled fuck by templest · · Score: 5, Informative

    No one calls me a liar and gets away with it (unless I'm actually lying -- but that isn't the case here).
    This is a random site off google that succesfully creates pop-ups in FF 1.0.1 http://www.activewin.com/winxp/tips/index.shtml

    And the number of sites is increasing rapidly. Here's a thread oy people that seem to be experiencing the same thig as me. Not FUD my foe, FF is still better than IE, but it's popularity is starting to attract more ad companies to employ new tactics. You just made your way into my foe list... liar... pshh.

    --
    I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    1. Re:Read this and shut-up you big-balled fuck by templest · · Score: 3, Informative

      And in my spiteful rage I forgot to include the thread, which is here.. http://www.forum4designers.com/message190856.html/

      --
      I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    2. Re:Read this and shut-up you big-balled fuck by artson · · Score: 5, Informative

      The site http://www.activewin.com/winxp/tips/index.shtml successfully executed a popup on me when I visited, just now. The browser is Mozilla 1.8b using Adblock. I have javascript allowed to raise and lower windows and change images. When I disable those two Java options - no popup. Thank you for the informative and truthful, tip.

      --
      In times of trouble, the smell of frying onions usually gives confidence and comfort.
    3. Re:Read this and shut-up you big-balled fuck by StarDrifter · · Score: 2, Informative

      This site is using Flash to do its popups in FireFox. So you shouldn't see them if you don't have the Flash plugin installed.

      It executes this javascript. That does a document.write() to create an EMBED with the source pointing to this flash applet. And that flash applet is the thing that opens the popup.

      It also sets a cookie so that it only gives you a popup once per day. This is why changing your JavaScript settings may seem to block it. But messing with those settings has no real effect.

      I have FlashBlock installed, but that's not enough. The Flash applet still gets a chance to run for a fraction of a second before FlashBlock hides it, and that's all it needs.

      See this post on Asa Dotzler's blog for a workaround for this problem.

  24. Of course, this is a flaming flamebait by ArgieNomad · · Score: 3, Funny

    Thanks, Dan Brown, for bringing Fibonacci to the masses.

    Not a single day without some "look ma, I'm smart! Fibonacciiiiiiiii!!" post on /.

    --
    I just read /. for the sigs
  25. Re:What am I supposed to use for e-mail? by Rick+and+Roll · · Score: 2, Informative

    nobody should have any trouble getting invites any more. There's a buttload of them on isnoop.net.

  26. In true slashdot style... by Samah · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... the story title totally misleads people into thinking that Thunderbird itself has been dropped.
    Perhaps a better title would be:
    "Thunderbird 1.0.1 dropped, 1.0.2 on the way"
    or
    "Thunderbird postponed to version 1.0.2"

    Just a thought...

    --
    Homonyms are fun!
    You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.