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Open Source Microsoft Exchange Replacements?
Carl Farrington asks: "Do you think you could try to raise public awareness of the importance for an open source replacement for Microsoft Exchange (Outlook/MAPI compatible for shared/public folders). Current offerings are SuSE Linux Groupware Server, Communigate Pro (Stalker Software), Samsung Contact (ex. HP OpenMail) all of which are not open source / free. Kroupware is in development, but there will be no Outlook Connector for it. otlkcon is in slow development as a possible connector for Kroupware. There is also OSER (Open Source Exchange Replacement) which again looks like it needs more help. Is there any chance of getting some people to back this stuff? It's so important and is probably the major problem facing Linux as viable replacements for Win2000 servers." While this seems to be a question that
keeps
popping up in one form or another, it's always worthwhile to come back and point out alternatives, in development, that might need your help to get off the ground and running. So, if you're looking for an alternative to Exchange, would you be willing to contribute some time to one of the projects listed above? If you've been using Unix as an Exchange replacement, what did you do and how well has it been working?
Heheh. That is too damn funny.
Welcome to my foes list.
You mean that all the file and print had moved to Microsoft, and you didn't notice it was worse, slower, less easy to manage, more prone to crashes and generally shit?
WTF did your IT dept do all day? Were they constantly cosseting the NT boxes, or did nobody in your company ever open a shitload of files and kill the NT servers?
Jeez - Novell has been (for the last 12 years at least) and will continue to be the king of file and print - NT is a fair application server, so long as the applications are well written (SQL Server - yes, Exchange - no.)
I'd love to see a decent OSS Exchange replacement, but I'd be equally happy to see a stable Exchange equivalent for Windows, so I don't have to drive all over the place repairing the Exchange boxes that inevitably fuck up and corrupt their own data.
oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
Where have you been, while I criss-cross the country fixing fucked-up Exchange installations?
It's not FUD, it's experience.
And don't get me started about VB 'programmers'.
oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
This is one cool post!
Looking at Exchange/Outlook from the outside makes it look pretty straight forward and even reasonably priced. But when you actually start using it, training people to use the groupware functionality and extending licenses and services like backup, spam- and virus-filtering, that's where the horror starts that you just talked about.
But of course you paid the software assurance in order to have a continuous concept for the future so management will not allow any changes that mean giving up the investments already made.
There's no way out of this hell. Start using Exchange today and make sure you've already sold your soul.
We are all individualists!