The Rumbling Edge

Thunderbird 1.0.2 is now available for download.

Edited from a mozillaZine post:
“Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.2 has been released. Consisting of security and stability fixes, this version is an essential upgrade for all Thunderbird 1.0 users. The Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.2 Release Notes have more information and builds can be obtained from either the Thunderbird product page or the Thunderbird 1.0.2 directory on ftp.mozilla.org. As previously reported, there was no Thunderbird 1.0.1.”

List of fixed bugs in 1.0.2 can be found on Mozilla.org’s list of known vulnerabilities.

Bombshell:
Additionally, official zip builds of Firefox and Thunderbird have been discontinued as of version 1.0.2 onwards.

Asa Dotzler has some workarounds, which I post here:
“there are a couple of workarounds here. First, you could just get the zipped nightly build that corresponds to the final release (look at the build ID in the final release, and get the same nightly build from the same branch and you’re set). There is nothing magical about the release build. It is the exact same nightly build bits that we QA’d with a new file name and location on FTP. The second answer is to make a “zipped” build of your own. Just install the installer and don’t run it, then zip up the Firefox directory and carry that around.“

However, some people have expressed concerns that the zipped nightly build that corresponds to the final release are not exactly identical either. The real impact of this decision remains to be seen, as system administrators who use the zipped builds for network installs and people who create their own installers have been inconvenienced. There has been word that many users are unhappy with this arrangement, but it seems that the Mozilla Foundation is unlikely to reverse their decision in the face of the backlash.

On Chase’s blog, Ben Goodger adds:
“Way to go Chase for doing this at last - I’ve wanted to discontinue these releases for a long while.

Folks, we’re on a shoestring QA budget. Testing software update and other functions with a complex installation matrix is neither glamorous nor fun, nor something we can afford to be doing.”

Users have come up with a counter-argument: How difficult is it to take the file list for installer builds and zip it up to put it on the ftp server? One suggested that it could be due to some files being generated by the installer script, so the situation is not as simple as that. And the argument goes on…

Read comments in this mozillaZine forum post and Asa’s and Chase’s blogs to find out more. Sorry for the late post. I was busy the past few days.

Official Windows installer, pigfoot’s, moox’s

Official Linux

Official Mac, ozjason’s