{"id":1917,"date":"2011-01-11T12:07:11","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T17:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/?p=1917"},"modified":"2023-12-20T16:25:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T21:25:15","slug":"starting-work-on-mozilla-thunderbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/2011\/01\/11\/starting-work-on-mozilla-thunderbird\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Work on Mozilla Thunderbird"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Winter holidays drawing to a close, I’m really looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life – namely, my new job at Mozilla Messaging<\/a> working on the Thunderbird e-mail client<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In just a little under a week, I’ll be knee-deep in a code-base larger than any I’ve ever worked on before.\u00a0 And I’ll be working with some of the best software developers in the world.<\/p>\n

I’m pretty stoked.<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what exactly will I be doing for Thunderbird?\u00a0 What project will I be starting my work with?\u00a0 I’m so glad you asked…<\/p>\n

Thunderbird + Unity = Badass<\/h3>\n

Ok, that’s not technically the code-name for the project, but I think it more or less conveys my feelings about the whole thing.<\/p>\n

So here’s the story in a nutshell:<\/p>\n

Ubuntu Linux<\/a> is one of several operating systems that Thunderbird runs on (the other big ones being Mac OSX and the various flavours of Microsoft Windows).\u00a0 I use Ubuntu as my primary operating system – I’m comfortable with it, and I like it.<\/p>\n

In the coming months, there will be a tectonic shift of sorts in Ubuntu.\u00a0 The graphical user interface that most Ubuntu users are used to (the GNOME<\/a> Shell) will no longer be the default.\u00a0 Instead, Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, have created their own user interface to run on top of GNOME.\u00a0 That interface is called Unity<\/a>, and will be made default in the Natty Narwhal release (due to come out on or around April 28th of this year).<\/p>\n

Just to make sure we’re clear on this:\u00a0 Ubuntu is not <\/em>dropping GNOME.\u00a0 The GNOME Shell is the icing on the whole GNOME Stack.\u00a0 Canonical has just decided to put their own icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

So, anyhow, my job is to make Thunderbird work nicely with Unity in time for the April 28th release.<\/p>\n

And by “work nicely”, I mean the following:<\/p>\n

The Global Menu Bar<\/h3>\n

If you’ve never used Mac OSX, it’s likely that you don’t know what a global menu bar is.\u00a0 Here’s the idea:\u00a0 in Windows and Ubuntu, each window tends to have its own menu bar (File, Edit, etc…).<\/p>\n

In Mac OSX, and the upcoming Unity shell, instead of having these individual menu bars, we have a single, overarching menu bar. This menu bar changes itself every time you switch application focus.<\/p>\n

Here’s some guy demonstrating the global menu in Ubuntu Linux:
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

Currently, Thunderbird doesn’t “play nice” with Unity’s global menu bar, and just displays the menu within the Thunderbird window as it always has.<\/p>\n

My job is to get Thunderbird to use the global menu bar properly.\u00a0 Click here to read more about Ubuntu Unity’s global menu bar.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Messaging Menu<\/h3>\n

Ubuntu Unity also sports a shiny new messaging menu.\u00a0 The messaging menu aggregates all sorts of message-related information – and that includes e-mail messages, chat messages, social networking messages, etc.\u00a0 It tosses all of these into a nice, clean, simple notification interface, like this:<\/p>\n

\"Ubuntu<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s up to messaging application developers to leverage this feature in Unity, and that’s where I come in.\u00a0 I’ll be getting Thunderbird to work nicely with this messaging menu.\u00a0 Click here to read more about Ubuntu Unity’s messaging menu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Task List<\/h3>\n

Ubuntu Unity also sports a new application launcher.\u00a0 The launcher is a panel that stretches down the left-hand side of the screen, and allows users to quickly find and execute their applications.\u00a0 It also lets users know which applications are already open.\u00a0 In a way, it is very similar to the Mac OSX dock.<\/p>\n

Here is a Canonical designer demonstrating the new launcher:<\/p>\n