I share a TB/L profile between Win7 and Linux Mint, but Mint TB 38.8 requires L 4.0, and it can't read my L 4.7 calendars. Why? Mail folders share fine.
I have a dual boot system with Win 7 and Linux Mint 17.3 (MATE). My HD has a partition for Windows, a partition for Linux, and another small partition usable by both. This shared partition can be FAT32 or NFTS. On this partition I have my Thunderbird profile, which also includes my Lightning calendar data.
In Win7, I have TB 45.1.1 with L 4.7.1.1. In Linux, I have the latest available, which is TB 38.8.0, which appears to require a 4.0 version of Lightning. Linux and windows can both use this shared profile for all mail folders. I can send and receive mail in one system, and when I go to the other system, it's all there -- precisely the effect I wanted.
But the calendar data doesn't work. There is apparently an incompatibility in the two versions of Lightning. When I change systems, I can't start TB without getting a message that an incompatible version of Lightning is installed. Can it be that the Lightning add-on actually lives somewhere in the profiles folder, and not in the TB executable? Is there a solution? Why isn't the latest and greatest Thunderbird and Lightning supported in Linux Mint?
Wšě wotmołwy (4)
Yes, Lightning is in the profile folder, along with all your other Extensions.
It's always been my experience that you have to download and install an appropriate version of Lightning which is compiled for the OS. Hence it has not been possible to do what you're attempting unless you resign to reinstalling Lightning whenever you swap OS.
However, this "binary compatible" issue is, i read, going to vanish with some internal restructuring of Lightning. I don't know if or when this will or did happen.
What I would do, as a first step, is get Windows and Linux using the same version of Thunderbird. That means you have to stop using whatever is offered by your distro via its repository, and instead manually download the tarball from the Mozilla site. Some distros make this hard work, because they use a complicated launcher script. This for me was one motivation to move away from Ubuntu and its derivatives. I chose LMDE and Mate.
If you're not bothered about multiple users on the computer, I'd suggest installing Thunderbird under ~/ so you will have full write permissions and will be able to use regular in-program updates. If you put it into a "preferred" location, such as /opt, you need to elevate your permissions (e.g. sudo, run as admin, tweak folder access permissions etc) to do updates.
Wot Zenos změnjeny
Thanks, Zenos. I did what you suggested as the first step, namely to install the latest (V45.1.1) version of Thunderbird on the Linux Mint side. This nearly works, hampered only by the OS-specificness of Lightning.
Do you think it would work to run the Windows version of Thunderbird and Lightning under WINE so I am using exactly the same Lightning on both sides?
I think you need to try it. I have been somewhat disappointed with Wine. Whether or not a given Windows application works at all seems rather hit and miss. Even those which install and "just work" can be unsatisfactory in use; I've had child windows opening in an app and appearing as if they were separate processes in new taskbar tabs. And even when they work well, the font rendering can make them just unpleasant to look at. Oh and then there is the issue of navigating the file system when opening or saving files. It defaults to a pseudo-Windows-style folder tree and navigating out into your Linux folders can be painful, and getting back into your psuedo-Windows folders can be awkward too.
I wish you luck.
It should but to be honest using wine especially on mint is more hassle than its worth (for me at least).