I've been a Thunderbird user for a while, but the LDAP functionality in the email addressing lookups is becoming quite annoying. We have an external LDAP server that is accessible from both our intranet and the internet when properly authenticated. It leverages both our market leading Directory Server and our Directory Proxy, both part of Directory Server Enterprise Edition. This allows me to set the directory and avoid having to switch it depending on how I'm connected. However, Thunderbird's LDAP implementation makes using it painful. When it functions properly, lookups while composing email messages works great. But when it doesn't you have to wait for the LDAP searches to timeout. It can take a long time to address an email to lots of people. The address book is even worse.

There was a day when I would have hunted down the code and participated. I'm too lazy and stupid now. I could stay at a Holiday Inn Express (which I don't mind), but asking my buddy Neil Wilson to fix it is probably a faster path to what I want. This is when having a well read blog would be nice. Oh well.