I can't use Quicktext on Betterbird anymore

[DeanLemans]

TLDR, beef between author of quicktext and author of betterbird, which results in the end user feeling the effects

[jobisoft]

I do not want to support Betterbird. It's maintainer attempted to suppress part of my work by exerting pressure on me by threatening to sue me over baseless claims. I do not want to put up with anything related to him anymore.

[DeanLemans]

Oh damn, thats understandable, but do you have to restrict all users of betterbird, when only the author of the product did smth wrong?

[jorgk3]

I do not want to support Betterbird. It's maintainer attempted to suppress part of my work by exerting pressure on me by threatening to sue me over baseless claims. I do not want to put up with anything related to him anymore.

Oh, this old story again. Yes, when I removed ThunderHTMLedit from https://addons.thunderbird.net/, John wrote a replacement: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/html-source-editor/. I merely pointed out that parts of ThunderHTMLedit were subject to copyright (and infringing the copyright would have consequences). Normal, right? Nothing happened, one line in an e-mail. (That was in mid 2023. Some people are just resentful and can't move on.)

[jobisoft]

The point is and was that you knew that my replacement work was not based on your add-on, but on the add-on you yourself forked from. There was absolutely no reason to even mention that I could violate your copyright, except for power play. That you still think you are in the right and insist that others "move on" is so telling.

[DeanLemans]

Oh shit, im sorry didnt mean to cause any drama. Im closing this issue
I just wanted to know why it didint work anymore, ande my question has been answered.

[jobisoft]

I re-open it, so others can find it more easily.

[jobisoft]

After taking some time to reflect on the feedback and the broader impact on users, I have decided to remove the Thunderbird-only restriction again before this reaches a stable release. Some of my recent decisions were influenced by frustration more than they should have been, and I do not want Quicktext users to end up in the middle of maintainer conflicts.

Going forward, Quicktext will continue to officially target and support Thunderbird. Compatibility with alternative Thunderbird-based clients such as Betterbird may work, but it is not something I actively test or guarantee, and client-specific issues outside Thunderbird may be closed as unsupported.

I believe this is the healthiest long-term boundary for the project and for myself personally. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback constructively.

[uhs-robert]

Hey, I'm just seeing this as a BetterBird/QuickText user. I was wondering why recent updates seem to have broken my QuickText haha.

I just want to say thank you, John. For all that you do. Being an open source maintainer is difficult, stressful, and a big responsibility. At times, we can feel like unsung heroes or even like punching bags.

But you should know that QuickText is probably the single most useful extension for Thunderbird for power users. You've also done an incredible amount of work recently on it, and that work is greatly appreciated.

I'm happy that you've decided to remove the Thunderbird-only restriction action. You've got a lot of users, like me, who support you and appreciate what you do. Thanks again 🙏🏻

[NicholasDawson]

Thank you @jobisoft

Your work is much appreciated, and I think this is a good compromise for everyone.