Looking for a Stand-Alone Calendar App?

Chadduss asks: "I don't know about all of you but I've been looking for a good calendar application for quite sometime. I have used the Mozilla calendar extension for Thunderbird but I had problems with it several times. Enter Mozilla Sunbird. That's right, another bird! It's still only version 0.1.1 but I for one hope to see it come out on top."

Comments

One bird too late

[__aavhli5779]

I was long awaiting the unveiling of another 'bird' app to complete the collection, but then Mozilla threw consistency to the winds with the renaming of Firebird... now I don't know what to think :(

On the upside, Sunbird looks like a pretty nice app, but it comes with so much baggage (basically a whole NSPR/Gecko runtime). 11 megs for a calendar app? If Mozilla is going to continue spinning off parts of their suite as individual apps, they should at least consider taking the otherwise redundant parts and keeping them in one shared directory. Of course, with hard drive space and memory being available for so cheap these days, who cares except for the pycklers like myself :(

Re:One bird too late

[OmniVector]

eventually the gecko runtime will be a separate library such that you can install it on the machine and then no longer have to distribute it with every app. give it time. as it currently stands you still have to install the entire mozilla suite in linux to install epiphany or galeon.

i think another welcomed edition to this of suite of apps would be a contacts editor, and task editor (much akin to the outlook suite's combination of apps). the day you can syntax exchange amongst the mozilla suite across all 3 big platforms (*nix, windows, mac) would be a great day.

Re:One bird too late

[Anonymous Coward]

I was long awaiting the unveiling of another 'bird' app to complete the collection, but then Mozilla threw consistency to the winds with the renaming of Firebird... now I don't know what to think :(

Don't worry... due to naming issues Sunbird will shortly be renamed Sunfox. And Thunderbird will be called Thunderfox. All will be well, except for both apps sounding like poor porn star names :/

Re:One bird too late

[Leffe]

I use the Firefox calendar plugin instead, it's the same thing - but without all the bloat :)

Of course, you can't really launch it just by itself (or maybe you can - pointing firefox to the main XUL file of the app should be enough?).

Re:One bird too late

[Stinking Pig]

There is a solution: FireSomething. For instance, I am browsing with Mozilla SpaceKoala today.

Still in early development phase...

[mc_barron]

...so I would imagine they are more interested in getting it working. They'll remove cruft and streamline as they approach a release version.

I, for one, would very much like a standards compliant stand-alone calendar app. Being able to run my own online calendar is very nice as well, since I have between several computers throughout the day.

Right now it requires SOME moz product (thunderbird, firefox, or mozilla suite) to be installed to work. Bit of a crutch, but something that over time will disappear. Can't wait!

Ack! Bloat!

[Txiasaeia]

For people wanting to check out a nice, sub-1MB calendar app, check out Rainlendar. Transparency, to-do lists, skinnable, free, and very light-weight. Not that I'm against what Mozilla is trying to do, but why bother waiting for Sunbird to creep up to 1.0 when you can get a fully-featured, stable app right now?

Disclaimer: I don't work for, nor am I associated with Rainlendar. For the record, I use iCal with my YzDock (OH NO APPLE'S GONNA SUE ME) dock.

No, I didn't RTFA

[Rick the Red]

Let's be honest here. We're all looking for an "open" Outlook replacement. I'd be interested in Sunbird on one condition -- it has to be truely open. If it only works (or only works well) with other Mozilla apps, then it may be open source but it's not really open. If it works with OOo, Pine, the KDE suite, etc. then I'm interested.

The dream is to make my own Outlook replacement out of open software building blocks, and a calendar block is much needed. But so far the other blocks only work well with their own kind. It's not Open unless all the building blocks are interoperable and interchangeable. Until then, Outlook/Office wins.

Re:No, I didn't RTFA

[OmniVector]

outlook is a horrible design. leave it to microsoft to come up with the cludge of an interface of outlook. simply put users shouldn't have to go to their email app to edit their contacts. they shouldn't have to go to their calendar app to check their email, etc. breaking each component up into individual pieces and allowing each piece to integrate properly through designated interfaces is the way to go. it makes the mozilla suite not only more modular, but easier to use. just take one look at the powerful combo in os x: iCal, Mail.app, and AddressBook work VERY well together and they are totally separate apps. it's not a pipe dream, and they've proved it can be done and that it works well.

Re:No, I didn't RTFA

[cscx]

That's your opinion. You've never worked for a large company, have you? :-) There is a reason Outlook is called "groupware." It works best in large workplaces, where iCal, Mail, and AddressBook just don't do the trick. Outlook isn't really an everyday e-mail application.

Outlook doesn't really show its power until you connect it to an Exchange server. Everything on the Exchange server can be shared -- Email, Contacts, and Calendars. You may think this sucks, but once you see it in action you can appreciate it. Imagine you work in a company of 1000+ people (not even that many to prove my point, but...). Now, you or your secretary needs to schedule a meeting for 50 people. But at what time?! How do you know what is the best time for everyone?

1. Select your 50 people to invite from the global contacts list (which contains your entire company of 1000+, you can look anyone up)
2. Look at Outlook's availability chart. There is probably a better name for this, but when you schedule a meeting, it shows you a grid of people's names along the left, and times along the top. Each box is color coded as to what that person has in his/her schedule! (I.e., free, tentatively busy, busy). Just look for the colume with the most free times and you've now just picked an optimal meeting time. It doesn't say what you're doing (privacy), but shows if you're available or not. However, you can also share your calendar with, say, your department or your secretary if she edits your calendar for you. I hope this makes sense -- the only other tools that really do this out there are Lotus Notes (horrid interface) and Novell Groupwise (used it a few times; requires NetWare which is expensive). Nice part about Groupwise is that it's secure.

Well,

[KnightStalker]

Any old farts like me who are still using dialup care. :-)

Mozilla, do it for the old farts!

So, erm, what was the question again?

[MegaT]

What were you asking slashdot?

Stealing from Pontiac again...

[flabbergast]

First Firebird, then Sunbird. Hmmm...did someone on the Mozilla core team work for GM, in particular Pontiac?

All kidding aside, I think this is a good thing because I think there are a lot of people out there using Outlook just as a calendar, which is complete overkill. Likewise, Thunderbird is a good thing because once again people are using Outlook only for email and that's overkill.

Re:Stealing from Pontiac again...

[Rick the Red]

Oddly enough, I use Outlook for both, but not on the same machine. I use Outlook for email on my laptop, and I use Pocket Outlook for calendaring on my Pocket PC. I don't do calendaring on my laptop, and I don't do email on my PDA. I can hear /.readers gasping in horror, but in PDA bang/buck the Pocket PC wins, so whatever runs on my desktop has to work with a Pocket PC. So far that's Outlook, but I'm open to a replacement.

I really don't use Outlook's calendar (Schedule Plus) on my laptop except as a backup for my PDA. Frankly, it's annoying that I can't turn off the alarms on my laptop without turning them off on the PDA as well, so there's an opening for an open-source solution to do Microsoft one better.

I can't switch from the Windows XP that came on my laptop until everything I do can be done with open software. This isn't my game PC, so it doesn't have to run Windows games, but among other things it does have to run Outlook so I can sync my PDA's calendar.

By the way, there are more email clients than just Thunderbird. Sunbird better work with them, too.

Re:Ack! Bloat!

[OmniVector]

simply put, sunbird will run on windows, linux, and os x. it will run decently on all 3 platforms (thanks to XUL and the new os x pinstripe theme used in firefox and thunerbird).

people won't have the excuse of "i can't run that" or "it costs money", etc. it's quite a nice thing, actually. and the bigger plus yet is i don't have to ask people to download the entire mozilla suite + a plugin.

Re:Ack! Bloat!

[Oncogene]

Excellent suggestion! I downloaded both Rainlendar and Sunbird, and decided to quickly run through both. Without listing reasons or any of that garbage that no one cares for, Rainlendar wins on a matter of efficieny and ease of use. Sunbird isn't complicated, but can it merge with one's desktop as with Rainlendar? No? Bah. Again, excellent suggestion, Txiasaeia.

Thunderbird + Sunbird

[sirmikester]

I think that the mozilla developers should combine these two apps. People are looking for an outlook replacement, and both of these apps would provide this if developed together...

Also, how about applying the firefox design methodology to the overall Mozilla Suite. Make sure that the overall Suite is relatively light and graphically impressive, but keep all of the components together. I use them all anyway...

Still another idea, package Firefox, Thunderbird, nvu, and sunbird together in an online installer which downloads any of the components you select.

I'm sure some of this has been already mentioned, but hey, who wants to check Google?

Re:Thunderbird + Sunbird

[Anonymous Coward]

Still another idea, package Firefox, Thunderbird, nvu, and sunbird together in an online installer which downloads any of the components you select.

They could call it "The Mozilla Suite" and have them all tightly integrated with lots of overlapping code to conserve resources. There would be no problems maintaining a project this large. There would be no bloat or cruft or bugs, and we would achieve software nirvana.

Re:Thunderbird + Sunbird

[denis-The-menace]

Finally!
Someone who has realized that to have a meeting you have to TELL people about!
Once you schedule a meeting in a Calandaring app, you need to send emails to the participants.
The Address book in Thunderbird/Mozilla is not that useful compared to Outlook/Maximizer and other organizers. If I could have a Moz-based Organizer I could finally kill the VMware box that runs Outlook.

sync

[raffe]

Will you be able to "sync" it if you have several different computers?

Didnt see anytinh about it on the site.

Re:sync

[quake74]

I use Mozilla Calendar (and I suppose Sunbird behaves the same) and you can. You could use the same file on some shared folder, or use the same file on some FTP repository, or I think you could even use Webdav do share calendars. For example you can subscribe to all the calendars at ICalShare.

Re:Ack! Bloat!

[DeadSea]

1. Go to site
2. Admire nice feature set
3. Download source archive
4. Extract to /tmp
5. Admire GPL license file
6. Search in vain for .configure
7. View source and see it requires windows.h doh!!

iCal

[arska]

I use iCal (with iSync to my iPod, PDA and Mobile) happily.

A

Outlook replacement

[DrJAKing]

Outlook does a lot of things well - Contacts, Mail, Calendar, ToDo, Notes - and it integrates well with the desktop. It's a bit of a killer app for MS Office because it puts together most people's PIM needs in one place. The Mozilla approach of Browser + Mail might work for some but it makes no sense at all to me. I want an Outlook replacement, one which uses open file formats and isn't bloated. One that runs nice and quickly. It seems like a lot of people do. Thunderbird developers, please take note.

Old School

[Goo.cc]

I am going to keep it real just go with the Unix cal and calendar commands. Real nice and lightweight.

Rainlendar

[MachDelta]

Anyone else here use Rainlendar?
I find its a VERY nice piece of software, even if it doesn't have all the fancy contacts/synching/whatever features of other calendars. Nope, its pretty much just stick notes on the days, and glance at your ToDo list. Nothing professional, but for me it works really well.
No, its not perfect... but hey, it IS open source, so you could mod it yourself if you wanted! :)

I'd reccomend it to anyone whos at that awkward stage between "No calendar" and "Bloated calendar". Heck, maybe even if you're already using a bloated calendar and just want something simple. Give it a whirl, it cant hurt.

Do we really need another?

[Kevin Burtch]

No offense to the guys doing wonderful work on the Mozilla project, but there are already lots of calendar apps out there.

What people ask for in the corporate world is a full Outlook replacement. This does not exist in the F/OSS world.

Yes, I know about Ximian Connector, but that's not free or Open Source, and when you start telling customers "well, everything is free unless you want to use all of Outlook's functionality, then you have to pay..." they look at you like you're trying to con them.

Same goes with Codeweaver's Crossover Office.

It's worse when you're trying to sell Sun's Java Desktop System (which is actually quite nice, BTW) and you tell them "yeah, you have to pay for this, then you have to pay for that..." and they start asking "how much else do I have to buy to replace Windows? This is starting to sound like it's not worth it."

In the world of people fed up with MS, and having to drasticaly cut their budget, in fear for their jobs if they make a minor mistake, telling them they have to pay $60/head for people just to get Outlook funtionality doesn't go over very well.
If they dropped the price to around $10-$25... it would probably fly of the proverbial shelves.
Heck, JDS (the whole O/S) is only $50-$100/head and that's with a full year support!

Oh, and ditto to the Exchange replacements... people ARE asking for it.

Re:Do we really need another?

[Crayon Kid]

But how much does Outlook cost? How much do the Microsoft versions cost? Aren't those people paying for Outlook already? Doesn't Outlook cost about 90-100 bucks per copy? Isn't a $60 alternative cheaper?

You could have said they are interested in costs associated with migration or conversion, but you didn't, you just insisted on the price per copy.

If people are asking for open-source alternatives to Microsoft products, I hope they do so because of the benefits of open-source, not because they are cheap bastards who try to replace a $100 priced product with a $15 one (or a free one) and get the same functionality, if possible. Jeez, wouldn't that be nice. Of course such a product would fly off the shelves. I wonder why the heck Sun isn't making one and selling it for $15. Perhaps because they can't afford to?

I really wanted to smack you with a Troll flag, but I noticed some people actually find you insightful, which is down right ridiculous. "You have to pay for this, you have to pay for that"-- OF COURSE you have to pay, that's how programmers get to eat.

Todo Application

[Craig Maloney]

I really liked the Calendar component on Mozilla before, but there's one thing that keeps me far far away from it and it's ilk: the TODO app. As of yet there are very few full-featured todo applications that will allow you to sort by category, view by category, list with date, category, and summary, add notes, and sync with the Palm. Evolution is the closest I've come thus far, and even it has trouble with category support for the Palm (I've managed to work around it, however). Until that point, these calendaring applications are nothing but mere toys.

PIM users

[rueger]

Just as Mozilla is the odds on replacemnt for Internet Explorer, and generally is embraced by any IE user who tries it, it would be wonderful to have a replacemnt for the godawful Palm software.

I for one would love to have a calendar/contact list that had all of the features that Palm Desktop lacks. If Sunbird could sync with Palms, and even better, between my laptop and desktop, it could build a nice sized user group.

mmm...

[manavendra]

If Google provides a calendar, it will be indexed, searchable and you will get ads of comely women ready to meet you online (or real life) next to your meeting appointment.

If M$ provides a calendar, there are flash and other rotating ads surrounding your calendar, you can add only entries for only the next 20 days but you can upgrade for better (and slower) version for only $19.99 per month.

However, if there's an open source calendar, you get a webpage saying there's a calendar version 0.0.0.xx, no documentation, requires in-depth knowledge about your OS and several other scripts for it to even compile, does not actually work but ahh! keeps the nerd community happy!

Re:Ack! Bloat!

[Anne_Nonymous]

I'd rather save 500k and skip the skins.

Full PIM needed

[n-baxley]

In addition to a calendar, a contact manager that can interface with both the calendar and the email app is desperatly needed on Windows. I'm trying to convice people in the office to move away from MS and the big pitfall is a PIM to replace Outlook. Who is working on something like this? Anyone?

Calendar Software

[digitaltraveller]

Your in luck. I've been looking for something similiar and I bothered to search the web.

A grumpy editor's calendar search
Enterprise Solutions Overview
Open Source Overview
Linux Links

Freshmeat is always worth a look too. The biggest problem I found was too much choice.

So far I've tried Chronos but I found that not all it's CPAN dependancies were resolvable for me. I've also tried MyCalendar.
It's nice and simple, accessible via the web, but unfortunately it's webpages are too big to fit in my cellphone's memory. My ideal solution would serve up some tight WML when necessary and possibly be accessible via Outlook for my secretary.

So, I haven't found my ideal solution yet.

If anyone has any opinion on the other web calendaring solutions, please share...