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Thunderbird 78.0 - German language pack unavailable?

  • 3 cavab
  • 1 has this problem
  • 10 views
  • Last reply by jwalesch

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Hi there! I'm running Solus, an independant linux OS, on my laptop (as well as on my daughter's laptop where this problem doesn't exist for whatever reason). Been using Thunderbird since God knows when, for the last 15 years on different linux OSs.

Version 78.0 broke the language of the UI of Thunderbird - I'm German and, although I can speak English, would like to have the German UI. During the latest update of Solus (July 17, 2020) the German language pack got deactivated as it - having been an add-on - isn't compatible with version 78.0 anymore. Fine.

The problem seems to be that Thunderbird handles updates of its software and/or complete new installations differently: Updates seem to ignore the formerly German language UI and go back to the English (US) version. Or to whatever other language you had installed, too. So I thought that were I to reinstall Thunderbird from scratch in its newest version including the German UI it wouldn't be a problem. But it is: I cannot for the life of me get the German language pack, be it via the system update of my linux system, be it via a new installation.

What can I do? Where can I find the German language UI for Thunderbird 78.0? I've searched the Mozilla and the Thunderbird help websites far and wide - no results. I could get support for Windows XP installations of Thunderbird, crazy as that might be, but not for a current problem.

Please help, it's really frustrating and I do NOT want to use another email client!

Hi there! I'm running Solus, an independant linux OS, on my laptop (as well as on my daughter's laptop where this problem doesn't exist for whatever reason). Been using Thunderbird since God knows when, for the last 15 years on different linux OSs. Version 78.0 broke the language of the UI of Thunderbird - I'm German and, although I can speak English, would like to have the German UI. During the latest update of Solus (July 17, 2020) the German language pack got deactivated as it - having been an add-on - isn't compatible with version 78.0 anymore. Fine. The problem seems to be that Thunderbird handles updates of its software and/or complete new installations differently: Updates seem to ignore the formerly German language UI and go back to the English (US) version. Or to whatever other language you had installed, too. So I thought that were I to reinstall Thunderbird from scratch in its newest version including the German UI it wouldn't be a problem. But it is: I cannot for the life of me get the German language pack, be it via the system update of my linux system, be it via a new installation. What can I do? Where can I find the German language UI for Thunderbird 78.0? I've searched the Mozilla and the Thunderbird help websites far and wide - no results. I could get support for Windows XP installations of Thunderbird, crazy as that might be, but not for a current problem. Please help, it's really frustrating and I do NOT want to use another email client!

All Replies (3)

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Why do you want to use a language pack if you only need the German Thunderbird version ?

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Does this language pack install correctly in TB 78.0?

https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/thunderbird/releases/78.0/linux-x86_64/xpi/de.xpi

There is no xpi folder for the Windows 78 releases, and adding languages from Options/General/Languages is inoperative. Language packs seem to be broken:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1490598

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@cor-el I just updated my system from the Solus repository as I always do when updates are available; Thunderbird was part of that update. I could try to install the German version of Thunderbird afresh - how would I go about importing my data from the previous installation? Like it used to be in former versions?

@sfhowes No, that pack doesn't install, installation gets rejected as the pack is recognised as an unsupported pack for TB 78.