Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[labbe5]

This utility is useful to show you received emails, and can be easily installed and configured whatever OS you use, Puppy or Dog, thanks to a deb file available for 32 & 64-bit systems.

To get your copy of Birdtray : http://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxuprising/apps/ubuntu/pool/main/b/birdtray/

Here is a tutorial to help you configure Birdtray : https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/10/birdtray-thunderbird-tray-icon-with-new.html

[Mike Walsh]

I was thinking this sounded like a useful FireTray replacement. But you know what?

As soon as I read that it wants Qt5....I lost interest. Just like that. Qt5 is a bloated, over-sized complex monstrosity, bigger than Puppy itself.

What's wrong with using GTK?


Mike.

[Flash]

So, just to add a little icon in my system tray that informs me when I have mail, I'd have to install Qt5?

[norgo]

@Flash
wow are you really so up to date ?

[Mike Walsh]

Actually, having said what I did earlier, I've realised (like norgo did) that it does in fact only want 6 Qt5 'modules'. I know 'ldd' only shows 4 as being needed, but you also need Qt5DBus (without which it won't run), and also Qt5XcbQpa.....without which you get the never-ending saga of the

'can't find or load platform plug-in xcb...'

...despite that xcb is available & staring you in the face!

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I've run up a package for 64-bit 'Bionic'. I tried doing a package for 32-bit Bionic, but am currently having problems with an accidental mix of Qt5 versions, so I'm holding back on that for now.

It's quite neat, actually; you can set it to monitor as many email a/c's as you like (each one will give you notifications in a different colour if you want. The number that shows in the tray icon can be color-coded to the a/c, so you know exactly which one it is before you click the icon to open T-Bird). The icon flashes when you have mail (you can alter the speed at which it does this.)

Like FireTray, you can use the tray icon to display/hide T-Bird. If you accidentally close T-Bird, it can be set to auto-restart again.

If you want this to auto-run at boot-time, just drag/symlink /usr/bin/birdtray across to /root/Startup. I haven't added this to the pet, because not everyone will want it to autostart. There's a Menu Entry to start it manually; Menu->Internet->Birdtray.

You can find the 64-bit package here. Run at your own risk; the article at linuxuprising.com clearly states this is alpha-quality software, although it seems fairly stable, for all that. The .debs available are only for Bionic Beaver and Cosmic Cuttlefish anyway, so I can't guarantee they'll even run in any other 64-bit Pups, let alone any older ones.

[norgo]

birdtray version 1.3

compiled under Slacko 700 RC3 and shared qt-5.6.1 libs

especially for Mike

dependencies:
libQt5Base
libQt5X11Extras

maybe you will have to edit config file manually
( ~/.config/ulduzsoft/birdtray.conf )

[Mike Walsh]

Thanks for that, norgo. Ta very much...

Right. OK. Now, then:-

For anyone who'd like to use Birdtray as a Firetray replacement for Thunderbird 60 in Upup Bionic 18.05 32-bit, here's what you need to do:-

1) Update the PPM first (always a good idea).

2) Install the following:-

libqt5core
libqt5gui
libqt5widgets
libqt5x11extras

This will pull in libqt5dbus and libqt5network, plus libdouble-conversion, libxcb-xinerama, and one or two others.

3) Install norgo's pet from the above post, birdtray-1.3-qt5-i686.

All things being equal, it should fire up from Menu->Internet->Birdtray. If you want this to start at boot, sym-link /usr/bin/birdtray into /root/Startup.

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Configuration takes a bit of fiddling about. Birdtray works by reading the global-messages-db.sqlite database inside your Thunderbird profile; this makes it independent of T-Bird version, and should continue to work well into the future.

When it fires up for the first time, it'll ask if you want to set up the profile. OK this, and it'll take you into the settings.

The first tab to concern yourself with is the 'Monitoring' tab. First time you click on this, it'll tell you it can't find the profile, or something similar. Hit 'Cancel' at the bottom to exit the settings. If Birdtray is showing in the notification area (a Thunderbird icon, probably with a red cross through it), right-click->Quit.

There doesn't seem to be a way to correct the profile problem from within the app's settings (remember, this isn't 'stable' yet). So, open ROX; click on the 'eye' to show hidden files; and go into ~/.config->ulduzsoft (which norgo mentioned above. I had to use this in Bionic64, too). Open the 'birdtray.conf' file with Geany.

Scroll all the way down to the bottom, through tons of what looks like gibberish (coding? Not sure). You want the line starting 'profilepath='; it'll be empty.Add your T-Bird profile path; something like