FairMiles's questions

A recent update of Thunderbird in Ubuntu (version 60.2.1) broke the Lightning calendar installed as add-on. See here. Mozilla provides Lightning as bundled in the last versions, but Ubuntu (and Debian?) package do not, so now there is a mismatch between the Thunderbird version in the repositories and the add-on provided by Mozilla (5.4, only useful for Thunderbird 52).

One suggested option is to search and install beta releases provided by Mozilla, but it looks as a workaround (future automatic updates are compromised). Another is to delete the non-compatible Ligthning add-on and install a separate package (xul-ext-lightning) via apt, but it is not localised (only available in English since at least 2010).

So, which is the proper "future-proof" way to install Lightning in Mozilla Thunderbird from now on (as intended by Ubuntu maintainers)?

1. Remove the internal add-on (.xpi) and install (xul-ext-lightning) [this package will be updated accordingly, together with Thunderbird and, eventually, localised]
2. Keep the Mozilla add-on until the mismatch with Thunderbird apt package is fixed
3. Remove the add-on and wait until a future Thunderbird apt package provides it integrated (as Mozilla bundles it for other platforms)

Say you have two computers with different hardware (two laptops or a laptop and a desktop) that you want to use alternatively. For example, I am using the comfortable desktop now, and want to mirror all documents and settings to a laptop to travel, and then push changes back to the desktop when back at home. Both have same OS (Ubuntu 14.04LTS 64bits), same installed packages and (for the sake of simplicity) a single user (same name, same password).

Here is how you can sync (I will use rsync over SSH on a direct Ethernet cable between two laptops) and here is what you should sync to mirror folders and settings. Also, here you can find a great list of files and folders that may be left out for efficiency when the goal is a backup (though some may be useful in this case, like histories, recent files or some caches) and, again, here is a nice and practical way to do it in rsync.

I know that most hardware-specific configuration files should be out of user folders by design. Still, there are any files/folders within /home that must be left out of this sync to avoid configuration problems between different hardwares?