[SOLVED] Thunderbird 68.3.1 Slackware - Current create custom binary for 14.1

Is there a way to create a binary installation of Thunderbird from my Slackware-Current installation to run on 14.1?

I've got two servers running 14.1 that can't be upgraded at the moment and a new laptop I'm testing Slackware-Current on to eventually replace laptops running 14.1.

I need to transfer my Thunderbird profile between my laptop and one of the servers and back again from time to time

I've downloaded the Thunderbird 68.3.1 binary from Mozilla to match the version running on my laptop (Slackware-Current) however because the build dates differ, I'm getting errors on the 14.1 machine after a transfer due to it being technically a older version (by two days) than what's running on the laptop.

I have a work around for the error, but it's a P.I.T.A.

Suggestions?

If you're compiling,The short answer is no, you'll hit version issues. You'll probably hit version issues compiling thunderbird for 14.2.

I would be cautious about trying to shoehorn the latest thunderbird into 14.1 unless thunderbird is a self-contained thing like firefox and immune from version mismatches. I would also think that thunderbird (and indeed X) are strange things to be putting on servers generally, but I presume you're not serving any serious load. If you've 14.1 on them, they're pre 2014 laptops and have low wattage cpus.

It's a secondary server used primarily for secondary DNS and web. X is manually started when a desktop session is needed.

The laptops are irrelevant as they're being replaced by new units running current once testing is complete and kinks are worked out (like this one)

The servers however will still be running 14.1

If acceptable, perhaps try compiling 60.9? That is what I am using on 14.2. I don't know how 60.9 will compile with the older gcc on 14.1.

Hey Upnort,

In this case it's not. 68.3.1 is what's running in current on the new laptops

The 68.3.1 binary downloaded from Mozilla runs fine on 14.1 (at least for what I need) "BUT" because it's build date is older than that of "current" I get a "you are using a older version of Thunderbird" error.

This prevents me from using my transferred profile until I run "thunderbird -ProfileManager"

Transferring back to current and opening after isn't a problem

The real odd part is this only works if I run "thunderbird -ProfileManager" under the 43x version of Thunderbird installed on 14.1. If I run it against the 68.3.1 binary downloaded I end up with the same error.

I have a working work-around which for how much I need to do this isn't that bad. It would just be easier if I could get the versions to match

Originally Posted by bitfuzzy I have a working work-around which for how much I need to do this isn't that bad. It would just be easier if I could get the versions to match

I'm not sure what your current workaround is, but you could try using the /usr/bin/thunderbird script that's included in the -current package along with your Thunderbird installation on 14.1. It sets an environment variable disabling that (in my opinion, ill-advised) profile handling "feature".

Thank you volkerdi

That fits my needs nicely

Any foreseeable issues with running the Mozilla 68.3.1 binary installation under 14.1 rather than the default (installed) 45.8.0?

Originally Posted by bitfuzzy Thank you volkerdi That fits my needs nicely Any foreseeable issues with running the Mozilla 68.3.1 binary installation under 14.1 rather than the default (installed) 45.8.0?

I'm not aware of any, unless you require ALSA support.

Not at all

Thanks for the help

Originally Posted by bitfuzzy Any foreseeable issues with running the Mozilla 68.3.1 binary installation under 14.1 rather than the default (installed) 45.8.0?

I know the 52.x ESR series had a tradition of crashing under 14.1, that's why Pat went back to 45.x ones; from the ChangeLog:

Fri Apr 21 22:40:12 UTC 2017 patches/packages/mozilla-firefox-45.9.0esr-i486-1_slack14.1.txz: Upgraded. This release contains security fixes and improvements. Also, switching back to the 45.x ESR branch due to instabilty of the 52.x ESR branch on Slackware 14.1.

Pat never tried to update firefox since then.

BTW: what you can see from this is that the latest update for Slackware 14.1 was the 45.9.0esr version, not the 45.8 you mentioned above.

what you can see from this is that the latest update for Slackware 14.1 was the 45.9.0esr version, not the 45.8 you mentioned above

It is, it was a typo on my part

I know the 52.x ESR series had a tradition of crashing under 14.1

As do I which is partly why I asked.

I doubt it'll be a problem, if it behaves 90% of the time it's a win.
Thunderbird (or X for that matter) isn't used very often on the 14.1 box in question (4 - 5 times a month at the most)

If it becomes a issue, then It's easy enough to switch back to 45.9 though at that point I will need to keep resetting extensions (Lightning, etc) every time the profile is transferred between current/14.1