TBird 2.0b with BirdieSync

If BirdieSync 1.x constantly replaces your girlfriend's phone number with your mother's one, this forum is for you...
skiflyer
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:52 am

TBird 2.0b with BirdieSync

Post by skiflyer »

I'm running the Thunderbird 2.0b with Lightning .3 (though lately I've been in Outlook way too much because of my new phone) and am dying to get BirdieSync up and running, but it doesn't go.

Tools->Add Ons shows me that BirdieSync reports that it's incompatible with 2.0b... with most XPI installations, this is a trivial matter to go in and just lie about the version compatabilities, but since you install via and .exe I don't have this ability.

skiflyer
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:52 am

Post by skiflyer »

Seems I found a post I missed earlier saying you just don't do alpha's and beta's.

Disappointing as 2.0b has some nice new features, and every extension which I've simply flipped the MaxVersion flag on the .xpi file has worked... perhaps you could release a special edition with the flag flipped and just put "Not officially supported or recommended, DO NOT USE" on it?

Birdy
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Post by Birdy »

The problem is that it is not only a version number to change in the xpi extension. :( It implies a new version of BirdieSync... It is also difficult to propose this parallel version without making it evolve like the other official one when bugs are found. And we'll also need another version for Sunbird... As you may see, it is more time consuming that it could appear at first sight.
I really understand your interest in this version but presently, the development of other features have priority. Sorry about that.
Birdy

bassopt
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:02 am

you should reconsider

Post by bassopt »

Hello Birdy.

I didnt quite understand you last statement about thunderbid 2.0b?! what has sunbird to do with it... sunbird and lighting are still the same verisions and i guess it will be for some time... still i think you should reconsider releasing a version for the new thunderbird.

Lots of the extenstions on the mozzila page are getting converted to 2.0 support only and it is starting to get a pain to install stuff on 1.5....


Either way thank you very much for the great work so far!! :D

Joao Oliveira.

Birdy
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Post by Birdy »

When I talk about Sunbird I just mean that if alphas or betas would be supported, it would mean support for all alpha/beta version: Thunderbird, Lightning and Sunbird (not only Thunderbird). And unfortunately, managing these independent versions implies time, even if there is only Thunderbird in beta right now... For the moment, top priority is given to other features.
Birdy

skiflyer
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:52 am

Overlooking something

Post by skiflyer »

Obviously this is your product, so you set priorities and decide what goes out the door, then we decide whether or not it's worth our 20 pounds.

But I would point out that you're overlooking the concept of alpha and beta products... the people running these are agreeing to be testers, they're not necessarily expecting something that will work perfectly, sometimes not even something that will install... we're used to that, and we've agreed to try it anyway, and to come back to your boards and post the bugs that we find with these versions.

As far as branching versions and maintaining parallel branches, this is not a trivial matter, but it's something we do in the software world all the time, it's well documented and pretty easy to pull off. A copy of SVN and some perl scripts and you'll find you can automate about 98% of it.

jcaneira
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:08 am
Location: Lisbon/Portugal
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Post by jcaneira »

Hi,
I'm a very recent user and it was love at first sight, I've registered you product as soon as I saw that it worked just fine.
But the point that I want to focus is that a beta release for the Thunderbird 2.0 would be very much appreciated.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
José Caneira.

Birdy
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Post by Birdy »

Actually, I understand your interest for Thunderbird 2.0b and I thought about the points raised by skiflyer. After some study and attempts, it appears that some modifications need to be performed to adapt BirdieSync to this new version. And like the development of other features, it will require some time...
Birdy

jcaneira
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Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:08 am
Location: Lisbon/Portugal
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Post by jcaneira »

Thanks Birdy,
We will wait.
Regards,
Jose.

charms55
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:34 am

Work around

Post by charms55 »

Here is a work-around for the problem of using the beta...not elligant, but works.

1. Birdiesync and Thunderbird 1.5 installed and running correctly
2. Install Thunderbird Beta 2.01b in new directory. Mine defaulted to a beta folder
3. Open 2.01b and use as normal. I tell it each time not to use as default, but I am not sure it matters
4. Update calendar events and mail as usual.
5. When you wish to sync your handheld, close Beta 2.01b and open Thunderbird 1.5.9
6. If connected, disconnect and reconnect handheld. If not connected, connect now.
7. Events should update as normal on Winmobile.

I do not sync my inbox, so I am unsure whether this works as expected, but my calendar updated as expected. It is a pain to switch Thunderbird just to accomplish this, it does seem to work and to me seems a small price to pay to use the new features of the Beta and continue to sync my handheld.

Hoping for an updated version of Birdie soon, but in the meantime, I am willing to do this as I really only need to sync just prior to leaving work or when just arriving.

See if it works for you.

Golfy
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:01 am
Location: Grenoble

Post by Golfy »

Hi birdy (and all forum's members)

I need to understand something before register birdy program :
I was using EssentialPIM (registered) with WM2003 PDA. However, I've bought a WM2005 and EPIM don't support it.

I've discovered birdy wich works great with lighting 0.31, Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 but... what would happens when Thunderbird auto-update will update itself ? birdy wouldn't synchronise ? or if lightning update (not alpha or beta but stable version) ?

Is birdy open-source ? if not, are you alone to develop it ? what are garanties if you're bored to work on it ?

Thanks by advance for your great program and hope your team will grow up :)

fireball
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:35 pm

Post by fireball »

1.50.10 will not update to 2.0 series i think - afair Firefox 1.5.x didn't update to 2.0 either.

Birdy
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Post by Birdy »

I understand your concern regarding the evolutions of Thunderbird and Sunbird. Next version of Thunderbird for instance needs some adaptation of BirdieSync while some users reported that it works fine with Sunbird 0.6.
BirdieSync is not Open Source, but I don't see any reasons why there would be no more updates if needed for future releases of Thunderbird and Sunbird. BirdieSync needed a very long time of intense development and efforts and this is not to stop providing updates for future Thunderbird or Sunbird releases. :-)
Regarding EssentialPIM, maybe the reason why they don't support Windows Mobile 5.0 is rather technical. Unlike Windows Mobile 2003, Microsoft has made very difficult to synchronize Pocket Outlook on Windows Mobile 5.0 over ActiveSync with external products. And you can see several PIM softwares that stopped providing a synchronization solution with Pocket Outlook over ActiveSync with Windows Mobile 5.0...
Birdy

girtsn
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Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:55 pm
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Post by girtsn »

I am a registered user, and I am willing to see a 2.0 TB support as well...
Girts Niedra

Birdy
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Post by Birdy »

Thunderbird 2.0 is now supported in BirdieSync 1.5.2.0. :)
Birdy

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