Replacing or fixing the bloat that is Thunderbird (was "Re: [TLUG]: Linux desktop sluggish over time")

[Thomas Milne]

On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Marc Lanctot<lanctot-yfeSBMgouQgsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Alex Beamish wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 2:16 PM, Marc Lanctot<lanctot-yfeSBMgouQgsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> Considering my experience with Linux this seems to be a problem a should
>>> have fixed by now, but it's an problem I'm growing particularly annoyed
>>> with.
>>>
>>> I notice that over time Linux desktops I use tend to get sluggish. I know
>>> this is true for at least Ubuntu and Fedorah. I don't remember feeling it
>>> as
>>> much on Debian, but it's been a while.
>>
>> I use Windowmaker as my desktop, and about the only thing that slows
>> it down to a crawl is Thunderbird. At work I have a dual core
>> processor, so while one core is getting monopolized by TBird, the
>> other core is doing Everything Else. At home I have a regular single
>> core, so TBird hogs my machine for 30-45 seconds on startup (login, I
>> guess I should say), and sometimes when downloading messages.
>>
>> I leave my machine on for months -- right now I think it's been up for
>> 90 days. I log out after each session; I assume that cleans a few
>> things up.
>>
>> See if you have the same slowness when TBird isn't running -- that's my
>> vote.
>
> TB causes noticeable slow-downs.
>
> Allow me to spawn another discussion out of this. :)
>
> I've been considering replacing TBird because of this "bloat", but I can't
> find another, lighter mailer that have all the things I like most about
> Thunderbird:
>
> - GUI-based. As much as I love using mutt through ssh, I need something a
> little more usable
>
> - proper IMAP filters; I can filter an incoming email into a server-side
> IMAP folder. AFAIK even Evolution can't do this. What gives?
>
> - quick search on subject and sender mailboxes (in TB you can do this
> without having to use a menu bar.. there's a text box for it that works as
> you start typing)
>
> - support for multiple accounts, multiple SMTPs, SSL for both IMAP and SMTP.
>
> - integration with a centralized calendar that can remind me of upcoming
> events. In particular google calendar, with both read *and* write access.
> This isn't essential, but it is really sweet to have.
>
> - support for NNTP and RSS a plus but not required
>
> Do all these nice things require such a massive app? Is there a way we can
> make TB a little more efficient?
>
> Marc
>
You should try Claws Mail. It should do most, if not all, of the
things you like.

B.
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists