Thunderbird 60 support

[xMate420x]

I tried installing the newest uBlock Origin into Thunderbird 60, and this is what i got:

[uBlock-user]

Duplicate of https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/3698

[curiosity-seeker]

The relevant documentation is: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Add-ons_Guide_57 and https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Add-ons_Guide_63

The first document says:

Legacy, pre-version 57 add-ons - Thunderbird 57-60 (and Seamonkey) still support legacy add-ons, but all add-on authors must check to see whether code changes are needed. ... WebExtension aka futures: Thunderbird 60 does not have WebExtensions support. Going forwards, bug 1396172 will add WebExtension support in Thunderbird beta 63, while maintaining "legacy" add-ons and hybrid add-ons.

So this suggests that the uBO webextension won't run before TB 63 is available (but additional APIs will probably be necessary). However, it should be possible to make the legacy version compatible.

@M-Reimer: I hope this answers your question in the other (locked) thread. I remember that you helped @gorhill in the past to make uBO run in TB. Perhaps you can support him again now?

[DandelionSprout]

This is probably pretty late for me to answer to, but I can confirm that curiosity-seeker was correct in his research, and that the WebExt version of uBO really does work in Thunderbird's beta channel now, such as in 64.0.

For those wondering about Thunderbird's stable versions, they traditionally tend to leap seven version numbers at a time. So those who want uBO in Thunderbird before sometime next spring, when v67.0 will be released, will have to change to the beta channel.

———————————————————

The following is partially off-topic, but is important to know for those who use the betas and/or who use lots of extensions:

The Thunderbird extensions in general are going through some rough weather, meaning that upgrading to v64 from e.g. v60 or v53 will cause a fair few older extensions to cease working (Examples that struck me hard include Mailbox Alert and Provider for Google Calendar, although certain CalDAV workarounds exists for the latter, which I could talk about on request). So if your Thunderbird installation has loads of extensions, you'll need to consider whether it's the stable channel or the beta channel that supports the most extensions that are important for you.

On the other hand, using the beta channel made not only uBO work again, but also Personas Plus. Thus this is a give-and-take situation.

[curiosity-seeker]

@DandelionSprout : After reading your post I tested the latest uBO dev release in TB 64. At first glance everything seemed to work: The dashboard and all settings are now accessible - good! But unfortunately, uBO didn't block any network requests, as a matter of fact its logger remained completely empty.

So it seems that there is still something missing (an API?) in TB 64.

[uBlock-user]

Wait till gorhill addresses the issue.

[alta88]

In Tb64+, uBO will block when loading an http link, like for feed web pages (only use case for http in #messagepane) and show sites in the popup etc. Element blocking doesn't work tho. The url loaded in #messagepane for email and feed summaries is of url scheme mailbox:// so this is likely where a new "soup" may be needed or other such exception, for that content to be blockable.

The Tb webextension apis are being very actively developed and enhanced at the moment.

(using Tb66 and uBO 1.17.4)

[gorhill]

How do you get Thunderbird Nightly? I downloaded from the Beta channel and the About menu says I have Thunderbird 60.2.1. I don't see a channel for Nightly.

[mapx-]

https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/nightly/latest-comm-central/

[gorhill]

Thanks, I had just found it after realizing it's probably on FF's ftp site: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/nightly/

[mapx-]

However, my beta is 65.0b2 (32-bit) https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/65.0beta/releasenotes/?uri=/thunderbird/releasenotes/&locale=en-US&version=65.0&channel=beta&os=WINNT&buildid=20190107162308

[gorhill]

I had downloaded the beta from Thunderbird's official page, which is way behind what I see in the repo. I will first see how uBO's fare in the latest beta.

[gorhill]

which is way behind

My mistake, I typed thunderbird -P at the command line instead of ./thunderbird -P.

[xMate420x]

Downloaded 66.0a1, the interface and filter updating seem to work, but the blocking, element picking, keyboard shortcuts doesn't.

[alta88]

A further note: the url scheme mailbox:// is used for local folders/pop email; there is also imap:// and news:// as the document urls in #messagepane <browser>.

Again, blocking works only for http[s]:// urls; you must create a feed account, add something like Planet Mozilla, and double click the message (default config) to load the web page. You can also see blocking work in a content tab but these are very limited; open addons manager, click Get Addons, click a link like 'see all'. Note that tab switching doesn't initiate an update of the button (tabs in Tb are very different from Fx, but I know the browser.tabs api has been hooked up or attempted to be so that web extensions don't have to worry about this difference - the Tb switching notification, TabMonitor, should probably be enhanced in to match Fx).

uBO is critical for Tb web content due to Bug 524281, so there would be huge gratitude to have it back.

Bugs in Tb should be filed in the webextensions component. Note also Bug 1504475 for content scripts (for element blocking).

[curiosity-seeker]

@alta88

Again, blocking works only for http[s]:// urls; you must create a feed account, add something like Planet Mozilla, and double click the message (default config) to load the web page.

This is not only relevant for feeds but also for HTML mails in which you allow remote content.

[alta88]

Certainly, but it's far less important as remote content in mail is very well trodden territory. There is already a built in whitelist mechanism based on origin and email, and the default is to block.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/remote-content-in-messages

[curiosity-seeker]

@alta88 : I know that. Nevertheless you have to allow remote content from specific domains for various HTML mails (e.g. from tour operators/travel agencies) to make them viewable. Filtering related tracking elements with uBO improves your privacy.

[curiosity-seeker]

@gorhill : FYI, the latest info about the available webextension APIs in Thunderbird is here:

https://thunderbird-webextensions.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

[WPFilmmaker]

@UBlock-user can this ticket be reopened? #3698 doesn't allow to post there..

[WPFilmmaker]

Adblock Plus version 2.x. used to work with the hide element addon but they decided to drop support for TB and TB 60 killed it.. +1 for ubo support!

[uBlock-user]

You can already post without opening the ticket, also TB builds require TB 65+ to work.

[WPFilmmaker]

@uBlock-user Thanks for the info!

[gorhill]

I would like to keep the issue strictly for comments which help advance resolution of the issue (technical information, etc.). Anything else is noise and annoying for whoever is following the issue as we receive a notification for every single comment. I will lock the issue if this is not respected.

[curiosity-seeker]

I've been testing uBO 1.22.x in the recent days with Thunderbird 68 on Arch Linux. 3 observations:

1. If you allow remote content in mails they are no longer filtered with uBO (contrary to older versions). Is the webrequest API not used for mails after the Thunderbird overhaul?
2. uBO filters the network requests in RSS feeds, though. Dynamic Filtering works well. However, it seems that there is no cosmetic filtering. There are no yellow rows in the logger.
3. The Element Picker does not work. When clicking it, nothing happens. Does this suggest that the APIs are not yet complete?