Hello,
I've been using portable apps for some time, and I do like the concept. But I won't recommend it to unexeprienced users. Sure, portable apps are easy to install and use, but they need just a few things.
1/ SYNCHRONISATION
Synch will allow you to copy your local firefox and thunderbird settings to portable firefox and thunderbird (firefow and thunderbird only - it's not really useful for other apps). So need to copy local firefox settings from some cryptic directory (C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.???\)
Right from the start you'll be able to use portable firefox and thunderbird with ALL your settings, extensions, bookmarks, emails.
This needs to be done AUTOMATICALLY, or at least in a much easier that it is now.
Also, portable thunderbird and firefox will automatically sync emails, bookmarks etc... each time the usb key is connected to the main computer.
2/ EASY WAY TO SEND EMAIL ON THE GO
On the go, you can't use your ISP smtp server. Some webmails offer smtp server, but it's a pain in the ass to figure out what the smtp server is for each email, especially if one has multiple accounts.
Easier way is portable smtp server (maybe an extension).
I know there is some security issues with smtp server, but just fix them (allow relay only for mail incoming from the user computer, set a password to use smtp server, change port, etc...)
There is already 2 existing smtp servers:
Speedmail
http://members.aol.com/toadbee/Programs.htm
miniRelay (pretty nice)
http://www.blat.net/miniRelay/
At last, I'm not requesting anything. Just giving you my opinion. I consider these issues important.
Make it simple and easy so that inexperienced users can use it too.
I'd like to know what you think about these issues. Do you consider them important? Are you working on it?
Thanks for the great work you've already made. I'm sure portable apps will be an important part of computing in the next years. You started something HUGE.
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For the sync stuff you could try profile sync, see the link in my signature!
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Developer Profile Sync & PortaLog
I don't see why you can't send e-mail with your ISP's server on the go. If you can't, look into the Webmail extension for Thunderbird (http://webmail.mozdev.org/ ?) -- it has an SMTP server and would let you use a service like Yahoo! Mail on the go.
~nm35
a.k.a. Mark
steve, thanks for profile sync.
This should be built-in with portable firefox and thunderbird.
Email client and browser are the 2 apps that even the most unexeprienced users will configure to some point (email accounts, bookmarks, extensions, etc...)
So there should be an easy way to keep in sync these settings. Remember that configuring an email client is an hard task for unexperienced users.
Portable digital device needs a good and easy to use sync program, think about ipod and itunes for example.
The way I see it is:
1/first time, one laucnhes portable firefox or thunderbird, it asks the user "do you want import the email settings, bookmarks, extensions etc... from your local firefox, thunderbird" answer Yes or No
Please find a way so users don't have to go through cryptic directory
(C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.???\)
2/each time the usb key is connected to this computer, portable thunderbird and firefox will auto-sync emails, bookmarks, etc...
>I don't see why you can't send e-mail with your ISP's server on the go.
>If you can't, look into the Webmail extension for Thunderbird
>(http://webmail.mozdev.org/ ?) -- it has an SMTP server and would let
>you use a service like Yahoo! Mail on the go.
short answer: because of spam most if not all ISP won't allow you using using their smtp server if you're outside their network
for more info read here:
https://www.smtp.com/faq.html
It's not about me, it's a common problem. Some ppl already posted in the forum about this. Webmail is not a fully effective solution.
1-only work with some webmails (what if you need to send email on the go from your work email?)
2-it's not a real smtp server, instead it uses the smtp server of your webmail
3-not really easy to install
If you can't send email on the go with portable thunderbird, why bother using it??
I'm afraid a portable smtp server is the only way to send email with portable thunderbird that will always work on the go.
Portable thunderbird should come with some built-in easy to use smtp
server. (see mini relay for example)
I'm not requesting these for myself; I know how to handle it. But IMHO most people will encounter difficulties because of these issues.
I do believe that portable apps are going to be something big, and these issues need to be fixed to help newbies.
Sync won't be a true sync. It will be copying profiles and such back and forth. So syncing automatically is a bad idea. Not to mention the fact that, by default, doing anything automatically when a USB device is plugged in can be a bit more difficult. Plus, some people like to keep a seperate instance of PFF than their normal FF. (some... but not most) So, sync will probably be a manual process. My integrated sync is still in the works, but Steve's sync app has gotten some good reviews by other folks on-site and seemed to work well when I checked it out. Definitely worth a try.
SMTP is another issue. You can't use a built-in SMTP server. TONS of email servers block all email originating from dynamic IP space... which is what you'll be on most of the time you use Portable Thunderbird. Good ISPs, let you connect via SMTP w/ TLS with authentication from anywhere in the world. Most webhosts allow you to do this as well. (I've been doing it for 2 years now)
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I have been a 'long time' user of John's portable apps, and follow this forum on a daily basis. I want to thank everyone, especially John for their efforts. Keep up the good work.
SYNC: As described in previous posts, this is a problem. Syncing Firefox is relatively straight forward, but Thunderbird is much more complex. John aludes to this in his post. I have solved this for myself by using a commercial comparator program that compares file contends and allows me to decide which file(s) I want to copy. I don't consider this to be a true sync program, because I have to be careful to do the copying before I move between PTB and TB. If I try to use them interchangably without copying, my email history can get terribly messed up.
My defination of "sync" would be to merge new emails from PTB with existing TB email and vise versa. This add an order of magnitude of complication to the process. It is not impossible, but would be a huge step forward.
SMTP: I too have experienced this problem and there is no good solution to the problem. Because I have multiple service providers, I can usually work around the problem. I will be following this thread with great interest.
Thanks,
Clair
Yeh, I thought about actually getting it to sync (ie compare the file dates and copy) but it quite often makes mistakes, especially with on acess virus scanning. I my look into it again in the future but dont count on it!
Yours
Steve Lamerton
Developer Profile Sync & PortaLog
For most files checking the date/time and file name and then copying the most recent should be adequate. Adding a CRC check could help. But, the big butt, for the files containing actual mail messages, one would have to look at the actual mail messages and check for duplicates and add the new ones. Makes for an interesting assignment in a university programing class! Once the problem is solved for say the "inbox" file then the fun really begins.
The interesting thing is that there are probably bits and pieces of the algorithms laying around. This file format has been around since the early days of UNIX. I have seen programs that are said to remove duplicate messages but never tried them. A simple approach would be to append the two inbox files then sort the messages, remove duplicates, and copy the resulting file back to both locations. Might work and might not, really haven't thought much about it.
Enough of my day dreaming,
Clair
Any news how long it will be until we have this function in TB and PTB?
I have just downloaded Steve's sync app and will try that out.
Tally ho!
Not Profile Sync?
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R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
An amazing alternative to SMTP would be IMAP. Many servers support it and it's actually quite nicer to use then SMTP as mail stays on the server and is read and manipulated directly on the server. This means that all of your mail clients will have the same mail in it no matter where you are (Outlook, Thunderbird, webmail, etc).
GMail support SMTP sending, details here. FreePOPs is a great application which lets you get around of IMAP/SMTP/Webmail systems (like Hotmail and Yahoo).
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
I think you're confusing SMTP with POP. IMAP is a replacement for POP. Unlike POP, which only allows you to download from your inbox and either download and keep or download and remove... IMAP allows you full access to all folders on the mail server. You can even put messages onto a server from your local system. But, for sending mail, whether you use POP or IMAP to check, you still have to use SMTP.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Very true indeed,
currently I use the website showmyip.com to get hold on my isp so I can manually insert the smtp from that isp into thunderbird. And it works just fine.
Maybe this could help.
B@s
http://checkip.dyndns.org/
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R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
There's an extension that lets you easily switch smtp servers from a button on the toolbar. Just get hold of that and use whichever SMTP server is appropriate at the time (ISP, corporate etc).
I have Portable Thunderbird and 2 e-mail adresses
G-mail and cox E-mail bolth I use at home and at school. I find that there is no problems with either.
My isp cox uses a different ip adress everytime I go idle from my internet so they don't block me because of my ip.
About haveing multiple smtp I know yahoo doesn't allow it unless you buy their service and g-mail does allow it also thunderbird allows multiple accounts with multiple smtp,pop,imac servers and I found it simple to setup and switch between the two.
I hope this answers your question. if it doesn't I'm sorry and still hope it answers someones question.
*****
Microsoft wants to control the internet don't allow him to do that; his cheap software has more holes than swiss cheese and we must get the word out...
DOWN WITH BILL DOWN WITH MICROSOFT!!!
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