I wanted to give it a try to check the new re-design but i am wondering if it is safe to use ??
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/thunderbird-bin
The big advantage of the AUR is that you can read the PKGBUILD to see exactly what it does and determine for yourself if it safe.
The PKGBUILD is pretty simple, it just downloads and installs the binary from mozilla. You should read through it.
That being said, I am pretty surprised that is allowed to stay in the AUR. It seems like a pretty clear violation of the rules unless I am missing something.
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A general reminder on AUR suffixes
package means you compile it yourself.
package-bin means you are dloading a binary compiled by someone else.
package-git means you are using bleeding edge code.
The PKGBUILD seems to just download the binary from Mozilla, but I’m surprised this exists considering that
https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/thunderbird/
Exists.
Read https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/thunderbird for more info.
The arch wiki is awesome!
There are discussions here and there (e.g. https://lists.archlinux.org/pipermail/aur-dev/2021-December/005056.html)
Seems to be somewhat of a grey area.
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I am using it. No issues so far, but I didn’t expect any as the AUR package is only a lazy way of getting the official Mozilla release on the system.
Edit 10days later: Apparently you have to select the correct profile with
thunderbird -P- for me that’s the default but everyone not having that default that might start with a new profile if not using the profile manager.
well, the thunderbird in the Repo stays on the “old” major version (currently 91) until Thunderbird offers self-updates to the new major version - at least that was the case for the last 2 major version jumps.
For me, that contradicts the bleeding edge philosophy that Arch wants to offer, but I don’t maintain that package. The AUR package fills that void for people like me who want REAL bleeding edge (in this case version 102).
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Bleeding edge != Cutting edge
well, arch says they want to offer bleeding edge: https://archlinux.org/about/
Arch strives to stay bleeding edge
According to dictionary definition, bleeding edge means
systems, devices, or ideas that are so modern that they are still being developed
while cutting edge simply means most modern approach with no emphasis on still being developed.
So yeah, Arch says that it wants to deliver bleeding edge, but in many cases, and especially in the case of the tunderbird package, they only deliver cutting edge - they only offer it when it finished its development status and is declared stable enough for auto-updates by upstream.
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For scarring edge, just switch to the testing or even staging repos lol.
Or just compile it yourself!
thunderbird 102 is not even available in testing or staging xD
I am looking more and more on Gentoo because of that …
Wait a couple hours…
what for? Thunderbird 102 was released a week ago …
Vetting exists, but I know that’s a straw man argument. In that case, if you REALLY insist then just…
COMPILE IT YOURSELF! xD (this is a joke, I certainly wouldn’t want this response)
well:
And if you want REAL REAL bleeding edge, called scarring edge, enable all staging repos.
Don’t forget that this is all based voluntary work.
If there is some maintainer that does not have time atm to push out updates, so be it. They are also just humans.
Humanity won’t seize to exist just because a new version of some software is not packaged at day one after release 
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Yep. It’s not like your manager is gonna axe-murder you for not updating 1 second after release.
Historically, what is allowed in AUR has no bearing on if it is useful or not. That was why I was surprised.
I think the situation here is a bit different than that in this case. Historically some Thunderbird versions have been deliberately held back in these scenarios for extended time periods(months).
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If i install the aur version will it automatically load the accounts i have set ?
yes, it removes the thunderbird - package from the repo and uses the config present in your ~/.thunderbird/profiles.ini.
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It did not load my accounts here but there’s the import option, it’s asking me if i want to import from default-release or from default, i am not sure which one to choose