In a move aimed at enhancing the user experience, Thunderbird has announced its commitment to maintaining the Thunderbird Snap available in the Snap Store, thus emphasizing the team’s decision to support Linux users across all distributions.
In light of this, the team behind this widely-adopted email client took ownership of the Thunderbird Flatpak last year, marking it as the officially recommended package for Linux users.
Building on this initiative, Thunderbird is now extending its support to include the Thunderbird Snap, a decision set to benefit primarily Ubuntu users alongside the broader Snap user base. The goal is to cater to a broad user base as possible without bias towards their package preferences.
For years, the Ubuntu desktop team has diligently maintained the Thunderbird Snap, and Thunderbird’s involvement signifies a step towards closer collaboration and support.
The forthcoming Ubuntu 24.04 release, scheduled for April 25, will be the first to include the Thunderbird Snap pre-installed on its ISO, offering Ubuntu users a version of Thunderbird that is directly supported by its team.
At the same time, the non-Ubuntu users who utilize Snaps will continue to enjoy the benefits of rolling updates that are characteristic of the Snap experience. From a user’s perspective, the transition promises to be seamless, with no anticipated changes in how they use the Thunderbird Snap.
On the development front, Thunderbird has integrated the Snap build into its build infrastructure. The process involves a version bump in the Thunderbird Snap GitHub repository, automatic builds for x86 and arm64 architectures via the existing launchpad mirror, and subsequent uploads to the Snap store channel upon successful build completion.
For more information, check out the official announcement.
