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Evolution 0.3 Released

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-keep-an-eye-on dept.

aleksey notes that HelixCode announced Evolution 0.3. With all the Napster-related news flooding us lately, it's nice to see some good news. Evolution is making great progress, and I'm probably not the only one itching for just enough stability to use it for a few days.

6 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. File format? by Evangelion · · Score: 5


    There doesn't seem to be much mention about how this stores mail. One of the (very few) things that was nice about Balsa was that it used libmutt to store mail. So, I could access my email from either Balsa or Mutt, without worrying about one even subtly messing it up for the other, and it working seamlessly from both. Which is nice when I had to ssh to my box from work (and I send most email from xterm -e mutt in X anyway...).

    Is there any hope of accessing Evolution's data files from a console-based program with any grace at all? Or, once I start using it, do I always have to have an X session available to use it?

  2. Talking to Exchange by smartin · · Score: 5

    Much as I hate Exchange, I hope that a high priorty for Evolution is to talk to it using it's native/proprietary protocol. Many companies run it in this mode with IMAP turned off, leaving people like me who run Linux completely out of luck for email. We really need an application for Linux to access an Exchange server running in this mode, fetchmail seems to have some sort of support for Exchange, but it is not well documented and I think it is targeted at some sort of buggering that M$ has done to IMAP.

    --
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  3. Re:Screenshots? by Griim · · Score: 5
    As I understand it, Evolution will be a Outlook replacement


    Does this mean it will allow email the ability to delete stuff and make disastrous, system-wide changes, or will this still be based on the Honor System?

  4. Evolution / Exchange by CountZer0 · · Score: 5

    This is a common mis-conception.

    Evolution is a groupware package, just like Outlook, Lotus Notes, et al. It has mail, calandering, contact management, etc... Therefore, some people call it an Outlook replacement... It is. IF you don't use any proprietary Exchange features.

    It is NOT Outlook/Exchange compatable any more than ANY POP-3/IMAP and SMTP client is Exchange compatible. It does NOT impliment the "native" Exchange protocols. It WILL NOT import free/busy information, contact lists, network folders or any other "Exchange only" features from an Exchange server. It does NOT interact with Exchange in any way other than as a simple SMTP/POP-3/IMAP client.

    It uses it's own OPEN protocols to deal with the groupware functionality.

    It also happens to LOOK a lot like Outlook.

    Again, Evolution is NOT "Exchange" compatable any more than ANY POP-3/IMAP/SMTP mailer.

    So... If you want a good standards based groupware suite, Evolution will be a good bet. If you want an Exchange client, your gonna hafta stick with Outlook till someone reverse engineers the proprietary protocols.

  5. My #1 Absolutely-gotta-have-it mail feature by DG · · Score: 5

    I will switch to Evolution - no matter how flaky and unstable it might be - if it supports seamless and invisible PGP encryption.

    Here's what I want:

    1) Store all my mail PGP encrypted in the mail file. If I get unencrypted mail, then encrypt it BEFORE it hits the hard disk.

    2) When I start the program, prompt me for my pass phrase, and cache it for this session or for a user-definable timeout period.

    3) PGP sign all outgoing mail

    4) Add public keys to my keyring as seamlessly and invisibly as possible.

    5) If I send mail to someon for whom I have a public key, encrypt it BY DEFAULT.

    The biggest problem with using mail encryption is that the interface is such a pain in the ass. If Evolution hides all the dirty details, then I can start encrypting my mail on a regular basis - and if the encryption support is really good and enabled BY DEFAULT, then we get the "fax machine effect".

    Are you listening, Evolution developers?

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  6. File formats are obselete. Use IMAP by David+Jao · · Score: 5
    The days when you had to worry about what file format is used to store your mail are over. IMAP is designed to allow you to access your mail folders anywhere, anytime, from any program. In short, IMAP is nothing less than the definitive answer to client lock-in.

    For more information on IMAP, you can read this Linux Gazette article I wrote two years ago on the subject. It's a bit dated but still mostly relevant.

    Evolution, of course, supports IMAP. I switched to mutt after the 1.2 release added decent IMAP support. I urge you, if you are at all concerned about getting at your mail, to switch to IMAP today and put all those worries behind you forever.