Kmail vs. Thunderbird

[Mark Greenwood]

On Tuesday 13 Nov 2012 21:40:09 Valter Mura wrote:
> In data martedì 13 novembre 2012 00:49:33, Clay Weber ha scritto:
> > > Hi All
> > > 
> > > so, again, the old, (in)famous issue.
> > > 
> > > System:
> > > - Kubuntu 64bit 12.10 updated
> > > - KDE 4.9.2
> > > 
> > > I made a *fresh* installation of Kubuntu in a "virgin" hard disk, setup
> > > the
> > > entire Kmail with all my accounts (everything is kept to server, so I
> > > don't
> > > have problems to lose something).
> > > 
> > > Nepomuk has made its work, indexing my folders and now is quiet.
> > > 
> > > The accounts are syncronized, Kmail is quiet. the "google-akonadi-contacs"
> > > plugin is working, so I can see my contacts in the addressbook. But.
> > > 
> > > But, I cannot get working the address autocompletion when composing a
> > > message!
> > > 
> > > So, even if now my system is quite new and works well (as fast as I
> > > expected), I'm seriously thinking of migrating to TB and have
> > > full-working system...
> > > 
> > > Please, give me suggestions for not take this irreversible decision.
> > > 
> > > TIA
> > > 
> > > Ciao
> > > Nepomuk must be enabled for address autocompletion to work. However if it
> > > isn't you do get a warning message when you compose mail in KMail.
> 
> It is. Only mail indexing is not enabled, but I don't need it, I use IMAP and 
> keep all my important messages in the Mail Server provider.
> 
> > > 
> > > Try opening KAddressbook and ensure there is a tick in the box next to
> > > your google contacts list. It works for me but I'm on 4.9.3.
> 
> Already ticketed.
> 
> > > 
> > > Like you, I considered moving to Thunderbird as I have plenty of other
> > > issues with KMail but I tried it and it just didn't feel right :)
> > > 
> > > Mark
> > 
> > Hi Mark & Valter
> > I'd like to jump in this discussion at the other end of the problem. I have 
> > been using TB for years and am happy with it. Lately I have looked into
> > KMail and am thinking of moving over. One thing preventing me doing it is
> > the fact that for work purposes I have Windows as a dual boot on my
> > computer. I use Thunderbird in both and have the mail on a common partition
> > so I can use my TB in whatever I am logged into. Persuade me please :-\
> > Errol
> > 
> > With your setup, which I assume is working well for you, there is no reason
> > to persuade you to change ;)
> 
> Well, I think the same.
> 
> The *big* issue with Kmail is its use of Nepomuk/Akonadi, while TB doesn't.
> One vote on Kmail's favour is its strong integration in KDE, together with the 
> other features that come with it, that's to say all the stuff of the "PIM" 
> suite. Moreover, the efforts of the KDE Team shouldn't be underestimated.
>

I don't doubt the amount of effort they've put in, but KMail *used* to be my no.1 email client of choice. These days it has the feel of Beta software. I've been using Apple Mail (on a Mac) since about a year ago and I now find that infinitely preferable to KMail, simply because it's so much more stable, it works reliably, and the setup and interface is far more user-freindly. Akonadi/Nepomuk/PIM is a comparative nightmare to set up. (I don't mean it's partitcularly difficult, it's just a lot more involved than it ought to be. Email isn't rocket science but KDE PIM is...) Thunderbird is sort of halfway between the two - it works better than KMail, it's easier to set up, but the look-and-feel sucks big rocks :)
 
> A big plus for TB is the large extension repository and the ability to handle 
> separate spam for separate accounts. It seems also that TB handles better the 
> IMAP protocol (the one I use for Gmail and others).

One of the few problems I *don't* have with KMail is its IMAP support, it works very well for me. Just another aspect of KDE PIM... it's not finished.

Mark

> 
> I repeat: the big issue for me now is the non-working autocompletion.
> 
>