[Users] Claws-Mail configuration problems following upgrade to Mint 21.3

[Gil Weber]

On Wed, 27 Mar 2024 06:51:29 +0800
Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:

> On 27/3/24 04:32, Gil Weber wrote:
> > Hello. I am running Claws-Mail 4.1.1. Two days ago I upgraded from
> > Mint 20.3 to 21.3 following all the online instructions from Mint.
> > Ended up with some issues for Claws-Mail. And I'm hoping the gurus
> > here can help. 
> 
> Hello.
> 
> I am wondering from whence, you got Claws Mail 4.1.1 .
> 
> I installed Claws Mail, when I first installed Linux Mint (I believe
> it was 21,0).
> 
> On the particular computer on which I use Claws mail,  I
> inadvertently upgraded Linux Mint to 21.3 - I am running 21.0 and
> 21.2 on my two main other computers - I won't upgrade the OS on them,
> to a later version, because  the version upgrades involve downgrading
> Thunderbird to the trojan horse version. The earlier OS versions are
> running Thunderbird 104.x, from before mozilla sabotaged thunderbird
> and turned it trojan horse.
> 
> On the Linux Mint 21.3 installation, which is up to date, I have
> Claws Mail 4.0.0 .
> 
> So, I am wondering how you have Claws Mail 4.1.1 on Linux Mint 21.3;
> a later version than I have on my updated system.
> 
> ...
> Bret Busby
> Armadale
> Western Australia
> (UTC+0800)



Hello, Bret. It's a bit of a strange story so bear with me please.

When I was running Mint 20.2 I would always look at the updates that
popped up in the Update Manager and individually decide what I wanted
to add and WHEN. For example, I typically would not immediately update
the kernel for a few days just in case someone found a problem and that
kernel was quickly corrected.

Of course this required a reboot. Not a big deal in my experience. And
it allowed me to keep track of kernels and remove old ones.

Well around end of October last year I discovered quite by accident
that I was no longer being given the option to choose what and when to
update. Instead the system was automatically updating without my
knowledge. Yikes!

My good friend who knows Linux told me he had also just noticed
the same and discovered that:

The Update Manager>Edit>Preferences>Automation Tab was turned on to
"Apply updates automatically." 

Further, "Remove obsolete kernels and dependencies" under "Automatic
Maintenance" was also turned on.

Well, neither he nor I ever knowingly turned either of those on.
Somehow the system was now automatically updating.

So I turned both to the "off" position.

About the same time Claws-Mail which had for years been the "native"
 v3.17.5 suddenly became v4.1.1

I did not knowingly do this update. The system just did it.

So it seems (?) as if the Mint developers may have initiated an
automatic update system by default. My friend wrote to me that:

>"Rebooting" after kernel updates might be becoming a thing of the past,
>by the way. My understanding is this behavior is considered an
>anachronism and the engineers have been working their way towards
>implementing a seamless "update and resume" capability.

Again to clarify, this update to Claws-Mail v4.1.1 occurred while I was
running Mint 20.2 and it came over in the update to 20.3 and then 21.1.

Now, does any of that give you an indication as to why I have v4.1.1 
after an upgrade that occurred while using Mint 20.2 and you can only
see v4.0.0 with a much more recent version of Mint?

Hope this helps or allows another participant to jump on the answer
with additional helpful information.
Gil
Florida USA