Thunderbird plans "Thundermail" email and other services

Ryan Sipes has announcedefforts to expand Thunderbird's offerings with web services to"enhance the experience of using Thunderbird".

The Why for offering these services is simple. Thunderbird loses userseach day to rich ecosystems that are both clients and services, suchas Gmail and Office365. These ecosystems have both hard vendorlock-ins (through interoperability issues with 3rd-pary clients) andsoft lock-ins (through convenience and integration between theirclients and services). It is our goal to eventually have a similaroffering so that a 100% open source, freedom-respecting alternativeecosystem is available for those who want it.

The planned services include hosted email, appointment scheduling,a revival of Firefox Send,and (of course) an AI assistant based on a partnership with Flower AI. The AI features will"always be optional for use by people who want them". Sipes ismanaging director of product for Thunderbird's parent organization, MZLATechnologies Corporation. LWN covered hisGUADEC2024 keynote last July.