Thunderbird 0.8 questions

[William Anderson]

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Hi Adam,

Adam Boettiger wrote:
| A couple of quick questions about installing and using TB on
| Linux Fedora Core 2.
|
| I realize that I can install TB just about anywhere, but am new
| to Linux. Is there a specific directory/path that TB should be
| installed into?
|
| Right now I have it in USR/LOCAL/THUNDERBIRD
|

Current Unix file system conventions recommend that you install
additional, non-system provided software packages under /usr/local. the
place you installed Thunderbird, /usr/local/thunderbird is an acceptable
place; however, I usually include a version number with the directory.
My copy of Thunderbird 0.8 is installed in /usr/local/thunderbird-0.8 .
The next version will be installed in /usr/local/thunderbird-0.9
(assuming that they do not jump directly to version 1.0). Doing this
allows you to install multiple versions of the software and use the
version that is best. I have sever versions of Mozilla and Open Office
installed this way and each is separate and usable.

It is also possible to install a personal copy of Thunderbird (and other
software) under your home directory. If you do this, it is best to use a
~ sub directory tree that resembles the root directory and include a
$HOME/bin , $HOME/lib , $HOME/man , etc... I did this at a previous job
when I was using a Sun workstation and had no root access to it.

Of course, using a system provided RPM package is easier in that you
usually do not have a choice and the software will be installed
according to the packeger's preferences. Redhat's Mozilla and Open
Office are installed under the system /usr directory tree.

| Second question is:
|
| With regard to reinstalls/updates, I know that with FF an update
| client just got built into the 1.0 PR. I tried it for FF and it
| did not work. Are FF and TB going to show up when I YUM for them
| in Fedora Core 2 if there is a new upgrade/update available?

I do not know when or if Thunderbird will become a part of Fedora Core.
In other postings I have read that it might be included in the
forthcoming Fedora Core 3 release.

If you go the RPM route, you can install the updated RPM over the
existing files. RPM will manage the updating process for you, which is
one of the nice features of a package manager like RPM.

|
| If no, what's the cleanest way to install the next update, just
| on top of the old program?

If you install Thunderbird using the Mozilla installer instead, you need
to either remove the old version or install into a new directory. The
Mozilla team  recommends that you NOT install a new version over an
older version's directory as problems can be caused that way.

|
| Finally, what should permission settings be set to on the
| directory that TB resides in?

Either way you install the software, the permissions should be set
correctly by the installer. You should not need to manually tweak the
permissions.

|
| TIA,
|
| /AB
|
|

Hopefully this helps,

William
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