Thunderbird Team,

First of all, I’m glad to see that you have collected so much in donations.

I myself am one of the small €10 donors. Several times. I appreciate open-source, and I have been a tech enthusiast for a long time. Additionally, I had the same accident as Michael Schumacher, just one day later. It happened to me while riding a bicycle, and I was in a coma for a long time. That’s why sometimes my German grammar is not the best. I partially lost my company due to the accident and now have debts of around €270,000. However, even though I live on less than €900 per month, I usually donate €100 to various open-source projects each month. I don’t mind because I don’t like proprietary software, and I enjoy exploring different areas, such as flashing phones or laptops that have a deal with Microsoft in their chips.

I’ve known about Thunderbird for over 30 years, from the early days of Mozilla. Even though I don’t understand every word in English, I try to translate and understand as much as I can. I have grown up with you, from Firefox to Thunderbird and many other pieces. I also know that you acquired K-9 Mail and can now offer it like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others. It was a smart move and crucial for the survival of Thunderbird. With K-9, people can read and reply to emails on their mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and PCs. While you missed the opportunity to establish yourself on Android, acquiring K-9 was a great decision. I’ve known K-9 for a long time, and I’m familiar with both systems. I don’t mind if K-9 turns blue in the course of history, but please don’t make the same mistakes as Firefox, which is now overloaded and runs in the cloud. That’s why I’ve been looking at alternatives like Brave or Vivaldi. I’m not particularly fond of Brave either, but I appreciate their approach to survive. Programmers need to be paid, and there are costs associated with developing software. However, the way you and the GNU Foundation operate, of which I am also a part (Linux), is what I love. I particularly love Debian and use it on all my devices. I’m even planning to run it on one of my Fairphones soon. I bought two Fairphones and am paying them off. I find the idea of easily replacing the battery without having to send it in very appealing, and I want these two gems to last as long as possible. I only buy used devices and use them as long as I can to support initiatives like yours. This is what you tried to achieve with the Firefox Phone. One of my phones is running without Google and now under e/OS, exclusively through F-Droid. I have K-9 on there as well, which is important to me, as it supports IMAP and many other great features. I also host my own servers and have several domains. For the past two or three years, I even have my own decentralized server to remain autonomous. This is not just because of the big corporations but also due to the increasing intrusion of the state. Even the EU Commission with its dubious GDPR regulations. While it’s not all bad, it’s certainly not good either. They simply do things differently from the corporations. That’s why I strive for autonomy. I use all this under Yunohost, which is also open-source. And there is a Firefox Sync available, which I appreciate. I can configure it nicely with my Thunderbird on my machines, such as laptops and PCs. Unfortunately, Thunderbird often runs differently on various Linux distributions and variants, which I don’t like. Therefore, I stick with either Debian or Kaisen Debian. My Thunderbird runs perfectly on those, especially in Dark Mode, which is missing from K-9. Also, don’t confine yourselves to Flatpak or Snaps containers in Debian. I prefer less data junk and a smooth running system, which unfortunately is not the case with Firefox. I hate Flatpak and Snaps, especially from Canonical. That’s why I don’t use Ubuntu unless necessary. The only exception is UBports on my Linux phone, which I hope to switch to Mobian soon. And I hope Thunderbird follows suit. In Germany, a large part of the population wants us to embrace open-source more. Even though not all politicians and regional leaders have understood this yet, it’s evident that they are influenced by the lobbying of Microsoft and Apple. You need to support the movement to prevent them from gaining a foothold on mobile or other devices. So, please continue as you have been, but don’t overload my Thunderbird and K-9. In Germany, we often say that less is more. Therefore, I ask you not to make the same mistake as the Firefox division. That will backfire. However, I’ve already described this to you above. If you merge K-9 and Thunderbird together, keep the blue and the bird. By the way, it would be a nice touch for fans and supporters if it could be used as a small intro on my websites and blog. I like the design when it pops up in emails, urging people to donate. And please keep it in that blue color, like my ball, the rolled bird or fox.

To conclude, there have already been YouTube videos suggesting that Thunderbird would die because you missed out on opportunities. However, I have strongly opposed this notion. Many people in Germany love Firefox and Thunderbird, and I hope that remains the case.

Hey, thanks for sharing the email with the option to read it directly in German. It’s great, and I usually translate it myself. It’s easier now than it used to be.

Now, back to work, defending and upholding the Thunderbird brand. Thank you for sharing the initial information about the amount of money you have raised.

Let’s hope we can collect even more and keep seeing our Thunderbird soaring. I’m happy to support you in any way I can, whether it’s K-9 or Thunderbird.

Best regards to the entire Mozilla team. And don’t hesitate to give the Firefox team a nudge, reminding them that often less is more.