Three versions of Geary. Which should I use and can it be done?

Hardware Librem 5
1

Geary in the PureOS Repository is v40 and, as far as I can tell, dates back to 2021. The PureOS flatpak version if v43, and the flatpak version on Flathub is v44. With three versions available through the PureOS store, which is better? most stable? most reliable? Is there a way to make one of the flatpak versions live alongside the v40 installation?

Background: After experiencing so many stability issues and frequent crashing with v40, I thought one of the newer versions might be more stable. First, I looked into removing the original Geary, but quickly realized that it is part of the core components of the L5. They strongly recommend against removing it, and for good reason.

I removed my email account from the v40 installation and installed v44 via Flathub. At first it seemed to work. The icon on the desktop booted v44. My IMAP account imported nicely but soon the app would crash every time I tried to refresh my inbox. It didn’t play nicely with my keyring, and I suspect that had something to do with that. The interface was certainly more user friendly, but not stable.

Next, I removed v44 and installed v43 from the PureOS flatpak. That was even stranger, because I didn’t even need to import my IMAP. It’s like it was still there from the previous installation. Anyways, v43 appears to share many of the same stability issues that I noted in v40 and v44, although may have access to my keyring because doesn’t keep asking me for my password. It also allows me to refresh my inbox without crashing. Big win!

For now, I’m going to stay with v43. I can now safely browse my sent folder and read messages without the app crashing. And since it’s in the PureOS flatpak repository, maybe it will play nicer with v40 that is running in the background. Who knows.

I welcome your thoughts if you have any.

2

Debian-provided applications store their config and resource files in a different folder than Flatpak applications.

This is why when you installed the Flatpak, you started (in the Flatpak) with a clean slate; but when you downgraded to an earlier version you still had all the files, since the older version (still a Flatpak) was looking for the Geary files in the same folder as version 44.

Another thing to keep in mind, Geary v44 and Geary v43 are also closely tracking GNOME version (the desktop environment and all base libraries). So if Geary was your only v44 GNOME application, it might be worth to run

flatpak uninstall --unused

to get rid of the GNOME v44 runtime that might be taking a lot of space on your storage without getting any use at all…

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Is there a big difference in the updated versions? Should I uninstall the deb based Geary that is preinstalled and use the flatpak?

Edit: I installed the v44 flatpak and gave it a try. Maybe it was because I already had Geary installed, but it was mega buggy. However, v44 has some good improvements and one of the main ones for me is that they suspend the email engine when you suspend the phone. This means that when you resume it will be aware of things and not stuck on some previous operation that was underway when you suspended.

Some more testing from the community here would be good. I would like to use the more current version but will wait until there is some good feedback on that.

4

I did uninstall Geary and used another mail client.
In my case I never noticed any side effects from uninstalling it.
To me it’s just an email client, on top of the OS.

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Curiously though, Geary v40 is working for me quite well. Getting a gmail account added was a try and try again type thing.

But other than that I have 7 email accounts loaded and it works great.

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I’ve tried using Geary at first, but its configuration options where to limited. Geary did not support my needs.
I’m using Claws mail client, just to read my messages.
I’m more comfortable in using my desktop or laptop (also Claws) for replying to or writing e-mails.

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Gotcha. Simpler email client would be good, but Geary is not too bad, because they are purposefully trying to declutter the UI, etc. In general it was kind of a pain getting Geary configured, but once it is, it works well.

Evolution is a great email client that i could recommend, BUT it is a bit CPU intensive, especially with a lot of email accounts and a unified view search folder.

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Evolution would be my fav. too, but on the L5 it’s nearly impossible to use (at the moment).

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Docked it is totally usable. But just using the L5 screen, not so much. It is techincally working, but you can barely do anything with it.

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Regarding Evolution: It can be used, as long as it’s just one inbox. I blogged about it a long time ago, and still use it that way: LINMOB.net - PinePhone DDC pt. 3: Reading Apps and Email

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11

I see 2 pictures with the same settings being shown. Any chance you can divulge more here as the settings don’t see to give me a screen like yours?

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It sounds like Java, with jdk versions extending back ad-infinitum.

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Try Flatsweep to clean out the flatpak detritus.

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The important part is in View → Layout, where I disabled everything except Menu Bar and Preview Tool Bar.

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15

Hi
You can try among the V40 or V43 .
They are more reliable then the other one.

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Ok, and to just share this works if you have multiple accounts, you just have to have the unified search folder already selected before you start removing layout opens. Then you will have all of your emails, BUT you want really know to which account they belong.

You do however get Calendar and tasks that are accessible via the menus.

Now in comparison, Geary does convergence well. Its UI seems to have been designed for that. The ONLY thing it is missing besides Calendar, Tasks, etc. is a unified inbox.

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