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Novell To Release Ximian Connector Under GPL
ashmodai9 writes "According to this article on LinuxToday.com as well as this press release directly from their site, Novell announced that its "Connector for MS Exchange Server would be integrated into Evolution 2.0 and made available as open source, beginning today with the current Connector 1.4." Apparently, downloads will be available for the current version of Evolution starting May 14th."
Thanks to reader crafterm, a snippet from Novell's Connector website: "With the Connector for Microsoft Exchange installed, Evolution functions as an Exchange client, enabling users to become full participants in company-wide group scheduling and other collaborative tasks. Linux and Solaris users can access public folders, Global Address Lists, email, calendar, task lists, and group scheduling information." Update: 05/11 17:58 GMT by T :
In related news, ChiralSoftware writes "Codeweavers' long-awaited sequel to Crossover 2.1 is here. Just like the old version, the new version lets you install MS Office on Linux desktops. The new version adds support for Outlook XP, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Project."
But what does this have to do with Apache?
Download the source now!
Another reason for not switching - the need to access an Exchange server - bites the dust.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
Ok, by the time I post this 300 other people will have said the same thing, but how come this is filed under "apache"?
This is great news! I put in a request a couple of months ago to have this purchased, and I just cancelled that request. It's nice to have one fewer barrier to acceptance.
Now I just have to convince our NT admin staff to turn on Outlook Web Access...
And there was much rejoicing!!!!
Paranoid tinfoil hat crowd say Y here, everyone else say N.
I always wondered if custom contacts forms would work.
And what about categories? In Windows you have to add them to the registry - there is no such thing in Linux.
Did I miss something somewhere?
"Evolution is Novell's award-winning e-mail and workgroup client for Linux systems..."
When did Novell pick up ownership of Evolution??
Skivvy Niner? Email me!
HEY! Look left just ONE MORE TIME!
Safest spot in the war, is closest to your enemy... or so they say... MS... watch yourself
je suis parce que j'aime
Any chance of creating a connector for Notes/Domino?
And yes, I know about Lotus Workplace already, just wondering if any alternatives might exist.
$30 Off All Plans: Use code TRIPLESAWBUCK
Now that Connector is open-source, it should be interesting to see what MS thinks of this as it will undoubtedly eat into their ability to sell Office as well as they do now.
I also wonder how long it will be before we see some kind of open-source version of Exchange Server itself, replacing MS across the board for Exchange!
That's great news - and for those wondering why Novell would release this open source, whereas they could sell it for cash before: Remember, Novell is not primarily selling software but services. They hope to sell more services by freeing the Connector.
Any word on when Novell will add, say, GroupWise integration? You know, the server suite they make that competes with Exchange?
in letting my boss let me use Linux at work.
Now only there were some way to access full Exchange compatibility from OS X...
--saint
What motives would Novell have to do this? I thought the exchange connector was the product that brought in the cash as far as Ximian was concerned? Maybe the revenues were so minimal they decided to just open it up?
On a related note, this opens the door for others to create exchange compatible software, things could get interesting.
This is great. A couple developers here at work are trying to get Linux for their workstations. Hooking into Exchange was always a set back. IT did not want to pay for the connector, since it already paid for Outlook.
This is just one less hurdle to overcome. I aplaud Novel's decision.
I love the fact that they seem very serious about OSS. But anyone want to comment on how they plan to make money?
In Soviet Russia, articles before post read *you*!
Compatibility with Exchange is wonderful, seriously.
The promise of exchange - integrated email & calendaring, locks a lot of companies in to MS software.
Say what you will, the ability for a clueless end-user to click "accept" on an email and automatically schedule themselves for a meeting is a Big Deal(tm).
Now, if only we had something affordable that could do that on the Linux server side, with clients on Linux, Windows and Mac platforms...and no, webmail doesn't cut it...
Is there anyone working on this?
-Steve
Okay, you have your connector for MS Exchange right there in the main app now. NOW what's stopping you from seriously considering OSS as a possibility? And, I'm not talking about the 1.2% of the population that needs some bizarre, esoteric feature in Outlook or Word or whatever that 98.8% of the rest of the population didn't even know exists.
Seriously, folks. Linux ain't ready for the home desktop market, but it's high time more people start considering its viability for the desktop in the workplace, especially as lightweight replacements for Wintops that don't do all that much more than word processing and scheduling.
Take most of that money you've been blowing on MCSEs and A/V software, and pay a few competent *nix admins to come in and properly set up the systems, and you just may well alleviate some, or most, of that downtime. How much TCO did YOUR company have to add to Windows from Sasser, anyway?
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Stevie-baby, here is your chance to get Mac OS X into the Enterprise! One of the major problems with integrating Macs in most large scale companies is the Exchange Mail Systems in use. In the past, most Mac OS X users had to load up classic to use the G-d awful Outlook client. The new Office 2004 Entourage client is still not as cool as Stickies, Mail, iCal and Address Book working as a team and the best part, those are built into the OS -- as the connector should be.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I was very dissapointed when I saw that you had to buy Connector when using Evolution with Exchange. :D
Today I was actually checking out the prices , but didn't find it cheap enough.
Well, the price is OK now
Novell did a nice job taking over SuSE and Ximian, they have a lot of nice developement ahead(Mono and Evolution f.ex)
Is it too late for Fedora Core 2 to include it? Probably. Oh well.
I'm a full-time desktop Linux user, and not just for coding, but for every aspect of business, so all this stuff matters to me. This week is going to be a great week in Desktop Linux: Suse 9.1 and Crossover 3 are both coming out at about the same time, and both are huge improvements over what came before.
-------
WAP news
I'm just hoping to see evolution ported to windows soonish. And heck, seeing the ximian connector integrated into thunderbird would be very cool as well.
What are you talking about? The connection was out LOOONG before the Microsoft code leak. Besides, it wasn't the entire operating system that was leaked, just parts.
- tom -
Anyone working on emulating the groupware functionality of Exchange? Would be great to see a Linux solution here and then work on an Outlook plugin for the Linux server.
This way to the egress...
Novell, you seriously rock. I know you're doing this for business reasons, but you just bought a lood of goodwill from a bunch of folks in IT departments. Thank you!
OT harp: Now, if KMail would just add IMAP filtering... ;-)
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I'm not supposed to use it here since the move to Exchange 2003 because Evolution doesn't support NTLM2. Sigh... :(
creation science book
Well we ended up with an Exchange 2003/Outlook 2003 solution here...an expensive solution, but once they spent the money - well It's actually been quite good! Active Directory seems to be a bit of a headache ;) But Exchange/Outlook really is running well! Two things stand out (well having different mail views in OL2K3 is awesome - for example having a view of "follow up" items, or "unread" items separate from the folders they are in):
One is cached mode - no more online/offline dicking around - it really works *well*. I have not had any screwy problems as of yet. (Basically Outlook caches your email - a seamless synchronization of your folders and it automatically detects a connected state)
The other thing is the RPC over HTTP - so I can get full exchange functionality over the internet, just as if I was using IMAP or POP standards, but with the full exchange server deal: contacts, calendars etc. It's really been handy - no opening VPN connections or using webmail to check my work mail on my laptop.
Are these two features available with Novell's solution? Even if they aren't I'm sure they will be. And having the option is great for the future even though, we are on the MS road for the time being. But for now, Exchange 2003 has worked very well, certainly better than our Linux pilot (Debian/FetchMail/Exim etc. with Thunderbird) - but our Linux pilot was kneecapped by having to operate in a mixed environment (which these new connectors would fix), and obviously going with Exchange cost us a whole lot more money! (Like $20K or thereabouts instead of free - consulting and hardware fees would've been required in both cases - and the Linux consulting was a lot cheaper believe it or not)
Novell has in public beta a GroupWise client for Linux and Mac OS X...and then they give away a connector to make a free client talk to the enemy's mail/calendaring system?
Makes me glad I don't have Novell stock. GroupWise earns them money. This does what?
But they didn't mention if it also enables users to become full participants in company-wide worm spreading, which is the most expected feature.
Groupwise does the trick. I might not fall in your definition of affordable though...
I'd just like to throw that in. I've been waiting for ages and now it's actually possible.
I can actually use my Linux box at work, without relying on my Windows box.
In my particular company, we use Exchange. While I *have* been able to get IE working with Wine, I haven't had any luck with Outlook at all - I need it for its calendar, which everyone else uses. With Evolution plus the connector, I can now throw away my old dusty NT box for good!
We've needed this for a long time, and I am very grateful for this.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
Furthermore, Ximian (now acquired by Novell), is among the most upstanding open-source companies. They continually contribute to Gnome, and, as evidenced by this release, they are making a very determined effort to balance between providing source under the GPL, and supporting a prosperous business model.
I, for one, appluad Ximian and Novell.
Lotus Notes?
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
Also this might be of interest
IIRC - This was the one of the "missing pieces" that OpenGroupware needs to make it an Exchange replacement. I think this is all Evolution needs to connect to the OpenGroupWare server.
Apparently though, Outlook itself will still require the "ZideLook" plug in to connect to the OGW server. But that is still a small price to pay in lieu of Exchange & MS-Win Server CALs.
You could write the server-side of the protocol this client expects for instance. That should not be too hard.
Specially if you use something like Mono (plug, plug, plug, plug).
Love,
Miguel
Wow.
This is THE single big reason to NOT switch away from Windows in Office Automation. THE. Wow.
I cannot believe, there are not 10.000 alarm bells ringing in redmond right now.
Notice the tarball already avail in source?
Notice how SOON it will be officially? This looks like a planned hit and run to me.
Prediction: Either MS treatens them and they pull it. But the source is out so -pbbbt-. Or expect the next big free software suit to arrive. And it will be pulled, but the source is out so -pbbbt-
If, on the other hand, MS plays nice about this, well, hell just froze over again.
"/Dread"
I've admined 5.5 over the past few years...and can't get management to switch over to OSS or even newer versions of Exchange that Connector supports. Very annoying...though I do use Evolution to read mail.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
This is great news but does it support RPC over HTTPS? Its really tricky to get working in Exchange 2003 but once you've got it working its wonderful (Good Tutorial). After being a POP3 guy for 8 years I've jumped ship for MAPI. I know I'll get modded down for betraying IMAP4, which I considered as I'm not tied to Outlook, but my company is.
Vi ate my notepad
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
Really great news ! I decided to migrate to SUSE 9.1 and was very close as regards bying the Connector. Now I will wait till Novel will relese their desktop. THis is really a huge step towards interoperability in large corporations where people use MS server applications.
MySQL Error 1040: Can't return sig, Too many connections!
The big picture for commercial distros a couple years back was:
With RedHat going Fedora (and resigning its mindshare), it wasn't clear what the new scenario sould be. Mandrake was in my mind the great candidate to be the king of the overall distro (from freelading and home users through enterprise solutions), assuming they released more stable corporate versions.
Mandrake did its homework, and they announced a new development strategy with a community release and a later, more stable official release. They probably should add a slower (once a year) corporate option
But now Novell buys SUSE, opens it up and kicks the hell out of the Chess board. RedHat backs up and announces their (late) return to the desktop. Things are getting hot my friends :-)
is this useless now?
Maybe you missed it in all the other replies to your question, but Novell got it when they bought Ximian. :o)
If Evolution then connects to Suse's Openexchange Server as seamlessly as to M$'s, then suddenly Microsoft Exchange Server is the unwitting new standard in groupware servers.
Now, they only need to release a Windows port of Evolution and even more people will be able to enjoy this awesome program.
I don't consider myself clueless and it's a Big Deal(tm) for me.
I don't get paid for managing my calendar and I don't want to waste my time managing my calendar. If someone or something will do it for me or make my life easier, then all the better.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
Check it out here
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
It looks like the was the missing piece that kept Evolution from connecting to OpenGroupWare. Now that looks to be solved. OGW provides Contacts and Calandar services (an can be integrated with a mail server like Cyrus to provide mail)
You could write the server-side of the protocol this client expects for instance. That should not be too hard.
Sounds doable. I'm a developer on the Citadel project, which has an open source groupware server. Now that the Connector is open source, we might give some serious consideration towards implementing the required WebDAV API in our web service.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
But there is another gropware server, opengroupware (www.opengroupware.org), that uses Evolution + Connector as a client.
This could be very good for this app, because Ogo will have an open and full client.
Now if I could only find a free alternative to the zidelook outlook plugin for OpenGroupware in Windows I'd be set. OpenGroupware is a helluva lot cheaper than Exchange licenses but if there was something else I'd be even happier.
So, if you really want to support Novell becuase of its very positive actions of late, here's the way:
BUY something from SuSE, Ximian or Novell!
Apache...a great operating system in want of a good web server...
Won't that piss off emacs? :o)
Ok, this is fantastic news. I'll be taking my work laptop and switching over to linux as my primary OS by the end of the week. (And yes, I realize I'm lucky to have an IT dept that will still support me after I do such a thing.) I'm not a zealot about such things; imho Outlook and IE genuinely suck on their own functional/security merits. The only thing I'll miss from a windows client perspective is Visio (yeah, I think MS does make/maintain some good products), but then there's always VMware.
BUT here's the obvious question: When will there be a viable challenger to Exchange Server? Am I missing something big? Last time I looked, most of the messaging solutions were missing a decent calendaring/schedule solution. Oracle's Collaboration Server is so involved/overkill (9cds for a basic install, iirc) that it's out of reach for most small/med orgs, and makes Notes look svelte. Groupwise was pretty obtuse & closed when I last looked. Open Groupware looks interesting (especially with the knoppix-ogo distro), but feels like Openoffice build 635... i.e. not fully baked.
When is a project going to come up with messaging, calendaring (via ical, mapi, etc etc), a repository that isn't as horrid as exchange public folders (maybe something modeled after/improving upon Opentext's Livelink), flexible event notifications (maybe simple stuff like alerts via email/SMS???). I have hopes for IBM's recent office tools announcement, but we'll see. A turnaround for Groupwise? Maybe? Options, I want options, dammit!
-Jon
I think not...(*poof*)
Is Novell turning out to be a good open source neighbor, or what? I think there is finally a large commercial corporation that "gets it!"
About time.
How long till they open source NetWare and eDirectory?
I know it costs $$, but my wife got her employer to buy a copy of Microsoft Entourage for OSX. She seemed to really like it. I believe it is fully compatible for Exchange access from OSX.
Novell baught Ximian was a long back story.. find more info with below links..
m ls s/1 57901.asp
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0804ximian.ht
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04172004/busine
In reply for a comment after his latest interview, de Icaza said that the people commited to free software are in the business of changing the world.
And then Ximian goes on and consistently proves that!
I know there are strategic decisions, but that doesn't mean they are not doing any good. It's quite the opposite!
With all of my best wishes to those guys.
Rafael
http://www.bynari.net
This product (not free, but cheaper than Exchange) which, by an odd coincidence, I'm evaluating for purchase in an upcoming IT changeover, replaces an Exchange server and supports both standard and Outlook/Exchange clients with all the calendaring bullhockey PHBs can't seem to do without. They have a separate for-cost Webmail product as well, about which I know little.
Insight Server *looks* very good, and the independent info I've seen also likes it. (If anyone has direct experience good or bad, I'm interested in hearing of it.) I'm looking forward with glee to a MS-free server room...
Also, once upon a time, Bynari was making a free Exchange client, but something happened to that plan and they don't mention it on their site any more.
"My strength is as the strength of ten men, for I am wired to the eyeballs on espresso."
I use Evolution/exchange connector for my email every day. Its really flaky. I've become quite familiar with the evolution --force-shutdown command. Maybe now that it is OSS some of these seemingly 'hard to figure out' bugs will get fixed.
Either Novell gets sued, or Microsoft changes Exchange just enough to break this feature.
Another good news for Linux in the Enterprise came from CodeWeaver's CrossOver Office 3.0. It now supports Lotus Notes 6.5.1 on Linux.
/ change_log/
CodeWeaver is happy to announce that today we have shipped version 3.0 of CrossOver Office.
We've added new, official, support for Outlook XP, Microsoft Project, and Notes 6.5.1. Unofficially, we're excited by users comments that far more applications are working now. These include programs like Framemaker and Microsoft Money. You can see the full list of changes here:
http://www.codeweavers.com/site/products/cxoffice
Further, this version marks some fairly ubstantial changes in our CrossOver Product line. First, we have merged the CrossOver Plugin product into the CrossOver Office product offering, so now all non server versions of CrossOver automatically provide
the Plugin functionality.
For a basic office computer, there is now no excuse for IT to not use Linux, unless there is a specific Windows-only app that is needed.
Linux has any terminal you ever needed, OO.org, and now is fully Exchange-server compatable?
And it's all free?
The only thing that could possibly make your Linux TCO high now is perhaps re-training your tech staff who have undoubtedly been brought up on MS Windows if they went to college in the US, and that's not terribly expensive in the long run...
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Bold move. And it comes at a time those type of corporate jewels are in short supply.
I'm just glad to see someone...anyone...stepping up changing the game. And it's kind of satisfying to see MSFT assaulted from so many different directions. Sort of reminds me of the toppling of the Berlin Wall, only it'll take MSFT a lot longer to collapse.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I see quite a few comments about "Now I am going to switch to Linux" or "I have been waiting for this for so long" and I got to thinking. What stopped you from using prior to this? It was available for download for ~30 dollars. I purchased it not only for its functionality but to support a Linux company.
Too late, Emacs has already passed becoming an OS. It is now on its way towards becoming sentient.
Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
What would be the advantages of writing the server-side in Mono over Java? Not a flame, I'm sincerely curious.
mp3's are only for those with bad memories
http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise/
It looks like OpenGroupWare does wonders according to other posts here.
The clincher is that you have to purchase the piece that lets Outlook talk to it. I think (at least I know in my enviromnet) that a move away would have to be cheap (ie free)
We're a university. We have the Microsoft Campus Agreement, so we get Office Pro and lots of other MS stuff for "free". We pay academic pricing for exchange, which is dirt cheap ($1200ish). So something we'd have to purchase to get people to move to a free thing won't fly.
Just need a free MAPI provider.
Right, peace treaties aside, I doubt would be happy about any C# in Evolution.
I think Sun should instead help develop a viable Java mail client, maybe http://columba.sf.net.
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
Given that MAPI documentation is rather thin on the ground, this is HUGE NEWS to those who would build open MAPI<->IMAP connectors, and push Exchange out of the mix.
OR... Perhaps Novell's going to offer a dual-license Exchange substitute that doesn't suck as hard as Oracle? That would be epic, and would find a home immediately where I work...
This is great news. My college recently switched from a VMS/OSF based mail service to Exchange, and I'll finally be able to take advantage of it. As much as I hate MS, Exchange does have some decent and unique features. If my college incorperates scheduling of courses and teachers incorperate assignments into it, I'd never have to put that kind of stuff into my PDA again.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
http://www.xcnetwork.com/index.jsp
You can install the server on just about anything. And they've got a connector for Outlook and Evolution. They're working on Mac connectors and other clients.
Has anyone installed red-carpet on a Debian (unstable) machine, and what kind of luck have you had? How did you do it? Install the official RPMs, make your own debs, etc? Thanks.
I wonder if thunderbird will be able to integrate the connector into their code?
Some of us are still forced to use windows at the workplace for other reasons (Visio a big one), but would love to have an open win32 email client that can connect to exchange for calendaring reasons.
Exchange connector for Evolution, now free.
SunOne Calendar connector for Outlook, free.
SunOne Calendar connector for Evolution, NOT free.
...a new Exchange license designed to make this unattractive.
Please donate your spare CPU cycles to help fight cancer and other diseases
What would be the advantages of writing the server-side in Mono over Java? Not a flame, I'm sincerely curious.
:)
They would both be nice choices -- Miguel is largely responsible for Mono, however. So, you might say he is biased
Miguel on Mono
(Score:-1, Wrong)
Now, if only we had something affordable that could do that on the Linux server side, with clients on Linux, Windows and Mac platforms...and no, webmail doesn't cut it...
I'm not so sure webmail doesn't cut it. I recently rolled out a web based groupware server based on qmail/vpopmail/phpgroupware and the users couldn't be happier. They do everything they used to do on Exchange and I freed up a sizable chunk of IT's budget by no longer needing Win2k/2k3 Server license, Exchange license, and CALs. That adds up.
I installed Mozilla Firebird on the Ghost build host and have the browser start with all the pages they need in tabs. Aside from some Oracle and AS/400 users, most never have to leave the browser to do their work.
Web applications are great in an enterprise environment, they free up a bunch of my time so I can do useful things like post on slashdot ;)
You've got an easy breezy wind at your back...most of the time.
If you work for a company that would actually spend money on it, DO IT! We should financially support F/OSS companies when we are able to.
Also, remember you'll likely be buying some support which is cheaper than going it alone.
Er, no, don't do that unless you want to keep tracking our ever-expanding knowledge of exactly how Exchange works. OpenGroupware made their server work against Connector 1.2, and then it just failed against Connector 1.4.
Admittedly, if they had had the source, they could have figured out why, and fixed things, but the point is that Connector doesn't really have a real, official, documented "protocol". It just does whatever works best for us at the time, and we're always figuring out new things.
If you're going to try to hack in to one of the Evolution backends, it would be better to use the GroupWise SOAP interface, since that does have well-defined semantics. (Although that API will also be changing over time.)
The best would be to get CAP or CalDAV finalized and out the door so Evolution can support those.
Ok, I tried to follow the site, but this isn't my area. If this runs under Apache, wouldn't it be a simple matter to get it in OS X? Every OS X computer has Apache built in.
If it has nothing to do with the web server, fine. It can probably be built directly under X11 (I can't get my work VPN to work in OS X so I haven't tried); I just saw it under Apache and immediately assumed it would be a slam onto my Powerbook. It may still be, I just have to get the VPN working before I try. (I'm guessing it's as much the office's settings as mine, since I know people can connect to MS VPN rather easily usually.)
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
We don't use evolution because it's a real resource hog and mozilla is already there for browsing, but need exchange interconnect, because IMAP doesn't cut it (no calendar, todo-list, ...).
How about Mozilla-Suite/Thunderbird integration?
That would be AWESEOME!!!
However, their wording could also mean "allow users to edit server-side Sieve scripts, and then we don't have to implement client filters", which would be worthless to many of us. First, not all IMAP servers support Sieve. Second, my IMAP setup uses special folders for spam/ham training, which means that I need some sort of client filtering to get the mail into those folders (unless I want to individually drag-and-drop each spam into the spam trainer, which I don't).
Please, oh please, let them be taking the path of "let's do it right" instead of "let's do the bare minimum necessary to advertise that we support this feature". The roadmap could be interpreted either way.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Say what you will, the ability for a clueless end-user to click "accept" on an email and automatically schedule themselves for a meeting is a Big Deal(tm).
You don't need any proprietary protocols or Exchange servers for that--simple HTML E-mail, even without JavaScript, will do.
Specifically, Connector only works if Outlook Web Access is enabled on Exchange. There are a few problems with this approach in the real world.
First, OWA isn't enabled by default in Exchange. That is because, secondly, OWA costs extra for each user. Third, as a result, all places I've worked that used Exchange either disallowed using OWA at all or severly limited its use.
For instance, at my current company, OWA is enabled but only has a few client licenses and is therefore blocked from all internal IPs. It's intended use is for people that are traveling that want to access their email via a web browser.
So, yeah, Connector is very slick and very useful... just not as slick and as useful as the euphoric posts here seem to indicate!
do you mean a secretary? or as my friend puts it, "a recptionist who gives blowjobs and get drycleaning"
Now, If we can port some of this code to KDE (if their exchange connector isn't as advanced as GNOME's) I can make the pitch to switch my dekstop @ work to Linux :-)
Everyone wants a Tux in their life.
SUSE looked like a very viable Excchange server replacement. I run a 5.5 Exchange server and I am dying to move away from it. As long as it supports group calendering and global adress lists.
Anybody have any suggestions?
http://www.bynari.com looked promising also.
there is also the whole java "isn't open" argument, of which i'm still not sure whose side i'm on.
go ask RMS...
The Kolab Project is a project that was sponsored by the German "Federal Agency of IT-Security". The Kolab server is based upon several open source software pieces: OpenLDAP, Postfix, Cyrus IMAP, Apache and more. Kontact (combines the following KDE apps: KMail, KOrganizer, KAddressbook and KNotes) will soon be ready for use as a Kolab client too. There are other clients too.
Haven't used Java in the last... oh... ever, have you asshead?
It's superior in my experience to just hire IT staff that have been using Linux all along.
While I applaud Ximian/Novell for releasing Connector, I would dearly wish they would also mention (even as a one-liner) a method by which Connector can be downloaded without using the proprietary Redcarpet mechanism. I understand the need to push their own product and technology, but most open companies provide a means and instructions by which things can be done in a more open fashion (in this case, FTP or HTTP and tar.gz or RPM package format).
If there are instructions for downloading using FTP, HTTP, Bittorrent somewhere, i couldn't find it from the Connector product page.
????
In a word, WRONG.
Calendars, schedules, meetings... yes, open source has 'em all. Predates MS Exchange by a considerable degree.
Let me wind back... "finger user". Ah well, Exchange won't finger people to get plans. Calender and reminder services for Unix date way, WAY back. Just that Exchange doesn't support them.
So "we" (Linux/Unix/other OSs) have to kludge in support for MS.
I also use Linux "full-time". Except for Exchange. I have a machine on my desktop that is DEDICATED to Exchange Client. Nothing else. Of course, "Outlook" has been paid for, so that was it. Until now. I had the extra machine, a KVM, and even a network hub pretty much devoted to the "Exchange Experience".
All because Exchange can't be accessed via HTTP internally (here, at any rate), and won't "finger" me.
So, this is great news. I can finally get back a vast chunk of my desktop. But I still wish that the damn Exchange server would do more "compatible" (and, for me, useful) stuff.
YMMV
Ratboy.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
Anyone get this to conpile yet?
/usr/bin/install -c
checking for a BSD-compatible install...
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for working aclocal-1.4... missing
checking for working autoconf... found
checking for working automake-1.4... missing
checking for working autoheader... found
checking for working makeinfo... missing
checking Evolution version... configure: error: Evolution development libraries not installed
Where do i get these libararies from? I downloaded the 1.4.6 evol code but cant get the connector config script to see the libraries
When is someone going to release an Open Source relacement for exchange? Something that works with Outlook natively (or through plugins)?
The dingo ate my sig.
Lotus Notes runs under WINE and has this exact capability.
I am running it at IBM and it works fine with our Domino Servers to get to Databases, email, calendar... and the clicking accept on an email to schedule a meeting is there as well.
... she's really cute!
...said Nat Friedman, vice president of the desktop technologies group at Novell.
I know a Nat Friedman who is Vice-President of Product Development at Ximian Services, thingumyjig. I don't know who this bloke is.
Yes, but: "(OpenGroupware) currently only works with Ximian Connector 1.2, the new 1.4 version isn't supported yet..." (from http://www.opengroupware.org/en/users/faq/index.ht ml).
On the other hand, if the people at OpenGroupware were listening, this might just be the boost they need...
This is not text.
Posted on the Mandrake Development List (cooker) about an hour ago.
5 /m sg03185.php
http://archives.mandrakelinux.com/cooker/2004-0
A good move towards migration from a Windows desktop to a Linux one.
Anyone currently using Microsoft Windows and Exchange will already have bought a load of Microsoft Client Access Licenses, so the hoo-har about that is pretty much a non-issue.
This is one fairly large step in the right direction. Next is an easy transition away from the Microsoft Exchange Server itself.
Congratulations to all at Novell, and a hearty "thank you".
Is this a possibility? That would complete out its needed features...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Is this a joke/troll? Miguel de Icaza?
Eh, anyway, why would you try to build a new server technology based on a hack of an old one? I mean, if you're going to spend the time an resources to build a server-end-software, why not develop a new open protocol, or extend IMAP? Why would you try to emulate the bass-ackwards way of accessing an Exchange server that Ximian uses, when you could probably develop a server with something superior to Exchange's unknown front-end access and add that protocol to Evolution?
Okay, I'm running gentoo and just built this from source. A couple of things:
./configure (probably should be the same one with which Evolution was built).
Be sure to specify the proper --prefix= to
A few things failed to link. This was solved by adding "-lresolve -lldap" to the proper _LIBS= line in the Makefiles. I only had to do that a couple times.
So, I have it installed and Evolution finds it. It seems to be hung up right now trying to connect to the Exchange server, but at least I got it installed.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 -- Mathematics is the Language of Nature.
Since they've acquired Ximian and SuSe and have been making many of the Right Moves w/r/t both the F/OSS community as well as corporate users, Wall Street has been looking kindly on them. IMO, they have much additional value to provide (especially in user and meta directory services).
As others here have pointed out, the possible revenues they can make in services outweighs anything they might "leave on the table" w/r/t the previously ~$30 downloads they've abandoned.
Are any of these moves calculated to foster good will in the F/OSS community? I don't know, but these guys are smart and I'm happy to reap the rewards of their work and generosity.
Just did and..e tup ... this is a bug (md.c:524:md_write)
:) :)
Seg' fault
ximian-connector-1.4.7]$ximian-connector-s
DBG: md_enable: algorithm 137017184 not available
DBG: md_enable: algorithm 136991200 not available
Ohhhh jeeee:
Don't care if it's free when it doesn't work
I know it's probably a lib issue, so I'll try out the Ximian install aswell
This is just in time for me! I'm planning on buying an ibook sometime this week, and now I'm going to be able to connect to the exchange server at work with it! Yay for Ximian!
----
All of whose base are belong to the what-now?
I've been able to 'slip under the radar' and use Firefox/Thunderbird at work for some time now, removing the blight of Outlook from my life (saying "look, the data on this computer is *important* to me and my client" has got me by so far).
However, I'm working in a strongly MS environment and I catch fire for not being compatible with some of the Outlook/Exchange collaborative stuff.
Not being a programmer, I understand that this story is good news for me in some undefined way: can someone put in simple terms how I will be able to make use of this? Do I have to change to Ximian to benefit? Can I go ahead and use this code myself somehow? Is it likely that someone will integrate it into Thunderbird/Firefox somehow?
Apologies for not being a programmer....
'This writing business. Pencils and what-not. Over-rated if you ask me. Silly stuff. Nothing in it' - Eeyore
I thought Webdav wasn't so bad?
What's the difference between Ximian Connector and the Exchange plugin for Kontact/Korganizer? The latter's been free since day one.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Sun is already working on the Glow project.
So if I am making a homebrew mail program to connect to my work's Exchange email, is the Ximian connector the best solution?
Doesn't Mozilla have access to Exchange mail because it can use SPA, Microsoft's Proprietary Secure Password Authentication?
See this note on Mozilla's forums saying that they Implemented SPA (aka NTLM MSN) authentication for IMAP (it was already implemented for POP and SMTP in 0.5). By using the NTLM Davenport project couldn't I use SPA with my homebrew email program in the same way that Mozilla does?
Also, does the Evolution work like YahooPops where it goes through a web page connection? If so, wouldn't a direct connection using SPA like Outlook and Mozilla do be more elegant, efficient, faster?
This is great news for OpenGroupware. It's a full featured calendar, email and groupware server.
Previously, the only end to end open source solution you could set up with OpenGroupware was using Mozilla Calendar, another iCalendar app, or by using the built in web client. The Mozilla/iCalendar support is good, but "provides little "groupware" functionality and the support for it is to be consider experimental".
There are plugins for Outlook and Evolution, but they were both not open source. It was actually pretty funny, an open source server, an open source client (evolution), and a closed source, very expensive connector to get the two to talk to each other! Look for "Ximian Connector" in their FAQ:
http://www.opengroupware.org/en/users/faq
OpenGroupware will not be able to use this Evolution connector directly, but since it is open source, it will be adapted for this purpose. Helge Hess the main developer for OpenGroupware has said as much.
But I Currently have the opposite problem and have yet to find a solution.
I am looking to replace an exchange5.5 with something a little more controllable. Cost is an issue and I have around 50 clients. webmail a must. Currently, we are evaluating and will probably go with SUSE Openexchange.
But, here's the problem:
We also want to replace the outlook clients and I would love to switch to evolution. But, I cannot switch the clients off win2000 because of some propriatary programs that need to run.
The goal here is to be MS free within the next year. And, with the exception of some programs we are currently porting, If I can get the users off outlook I can switch them from 2000 to Linux or BSD and very few would notice the difference.
It took us 3 months to ween the users from MSOffice to Oo with very little complaints/training.
Any thoughts?
TIME is the Aether...
Kronolith (the Horde web-based calendar) and IMP can do this via iTip.
:wq
Any chance this will encourage a Exchange connector for something other then Entourage on Mac?
... you guys in government hire strippers! Big ones, too! Big ole amazons with big..whatevers! Man,I'm steamed, send me back my tax refund "in kind" I want some stripper-hours too!
You're just making excuses. You must be a manager.
Okay, is this one available as a t-shirt?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Do you think it's going to be real credible for RH to do a boxed set again? You think the droves that went away will just say "Oh, I'm back to Red Hat, now that they're boxing it again."? IMO, they abandoned me, and I'm not going to be overly eager to jump back on board. I'm looking for two things from my OS provider: 1) quality; 2) consistent understanding of its customer base. These are the problems with MS, no? Why shouldn't we be wary when we see others wavering back and forth on one (or more) of them also?
Do you have any idea what I'd give to have Evolution's vFolders in Outlook when I'm forced to work in a windows environment? That one feature is worth more than gold for me...
And yeah, I realize there are a lot of windiots out there who don't sort their email by folder at all... but they're the type who haven't refinanced their houses since 1977, too.
Allegedly real newspaper headline from 1998:
Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
You're wrong. Pure and simple. If I can't go to my local CompUSA and find it in a box on the shelf, I'm not going to use it. Crank your nose up in the air if you want, but not all of us want to mess around with downloading and/or building the kernel, or frankly even buying off the net on a CD. I want to get it retail, stick the disk in, and watch it install. Right now, Red Hat has abandoned that. SUSE and others have not. That pretty clearly demonstrates the level of customer committment.
So yes, the mindshare is gone.
I'll stick with Java. I'm not eager to be "Microsoft-compatible".
What is the protocol? Presumably, the server (eg OpenGroupware) could use a WebDAV interface, so it could look the same as a connected Exchange server. Migration from Exchange would then be a snip, no?
Will Mozilla be integrating the connector?
Within a few weeks, my wife would be totally au fait with it (of course, she or I could just move the menus around).
This migration thing is horseshit. People can follow an app just fine.
It won't meet your wish for a full-blown Mac and Linux client, but it's Linux-based and offers functionality equivalent to Exchange. Mac and Linux users can get their mail via IMAP, and calendaring via the web is in the upgrade due out next month.
(Full disclosure: I'm not involved with Scalix but we were their first customer.)
irb(main):001:0>
I don't consider myself clueless and it's a Big Deal(tm) for me.
Well of course you don't consider yourself clueless, that's the whole point - you're clueless. (please guys, this is a joke)
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
Flamebait?! That's a bit harsh, don't you think?
Some people may disagree, on the "well, if it's there on Linux, people won't switch".
There are, however, 2 good reasons for building Windows versions. Firstly, people will choose the OSS project instead of a Microsoft one. That's less money for MS to spend on developing lockin, paying lawyers etc.
Secondly, if people have Evolution (to go with Apache, PHP, MySQL, GIMP, Open Office and Mozilla), they can get used to it on Windows. Then, they can pull the plug and continue to use what they've got elsewhere.
You print them up and start selling them, and I'll be the Evil Monster that sues you later for copyright infringement. When Slashdot picks up the story, we'll put a bunch pay-for-eyes ads on the site and make all our money off a Slashdotting!
Woohoo! I filled in step 2!
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
From the OGo-Evolution listserve
May 9th
"It is a rewrite (from scratch) for Evolution 1.5. The binary RPMS are compiled for Fedore Core 2 Test 3 but you should be able to rebuild it under any other distribution (hopefully).
The connector is based on the original sources of the "evolution-data-server" which makes the evolution-ogo connector GPL."
Get it here
If you have Linux and want to connect to the firm's Exchange server.
The next step would be to port Evolution to Windows to help ease the migration to Linux. Evolution needs to integrate with OpenOffice.org so that it can take advantage of a word processor to edit messages better and do a spell check.
Well,
...
Since now with Linux you can run
Outlook XP,
Lotus Notes
Microsoft Project
Office 2000
Macromedia Dreamweaver,
Macromedia Flash,
Visio, and most of the other popular business centric applications.
Together with Ximian connector which enables effective communication between linux groupware/email clients and Microsoft Ones.
The reasons/excuses why not to use linux in a desktop business environment are rapidly diminishing. There will always be those weird bespoke applications which may or may not work, however this shows just how far we have come and is a good trend to continue. Way to go boys!
nick
The Evolution "Connector" isn't exactly what it sounds like. It doesn't talk directly to the Exchange server; it simply acts as a web client talking to Outlook Web Access. I used it from 11/01 to 9/03 and it barely improved at all during this time. When a new message arrives, the Inbox folder view shows that there are new messages, but they don't show up until you manually refresh the view with the "Send/Receive" button. There are various other annoying problems, but not quite enough to make me stop using it (until 9/03 when I left the company for one that doesn't use an Exchange server (thank God.)) Anyway, here's hoping that opening up the source will help iron out these wrinkles, but going through OWA is still a pretty kludgey solution to the problem no matter what.
>Sorry, but no. First...They get all the power of exchange viruses coupled with the ease of IIS viruses for an optimal user experience...
.doc and .xls compatability was dealt with by the lovely openoffice.org/kword people, but who couldn't ditch the MS desktop (without going to Exchange over Web) interface, for calendaring, address lookup and mail.
Ximian connector is great for those of us in large (28,000 (MS licenced) seat companies, in my case) where Windows file sharing was dealt with years ago by the lovely SAMBA folks,
Connector let me run an under-the-radar Free desktop, and *still* accept those 3 hour meetings about 'the future of the department' (woot)
It does *not* allow 'exchange viruses coupled with the ease of IIS viruses', as I am running a UNIX-like OS
Connector doesn't make Windows-using-colleagues *more* prone to these, or me *in any way* prone to these, it just allows (Exchange based) mail and calendar sharing across platforms that previously couldn't do this
It isn't a Brave Gnu world, but it sure as hell doesn't make 'exchange viruses' (what on earth are those? since when did a virus *run* in an MTA?) do anything at all to my GNU/Linux/ Solaris desktop
It just makes it play nice with the 99.98% of my company that are running (possibly prone to virus infection) other OSs.
You *obviously* aren't the target market. I am, and I am happy, as now I don't either have to pay for it myself, or try to persuade an AR (authorised requestor) to pay for it for me.
Still doesn't run 'exchange viruses' in evolution, though!
http://milkshake.dexy.org
It's only "fully" compatible so long as you have an exchange environment which has IMAP, POP and WebDAV turned on. A lot of corporate environments only allow MAPI access, and if that's the case, Entourage is totally useless.
A lot our clients are saddled with Exchange server 5.5 and 2000 networks with MAPI ONLY. This precludes moving to Entourage since that requires SMTP, IMAP and OWA enabled.
We need to have a goup of programmers bring this to the Mac toute suite!!!
In order to use Ximian Connector, you need to buy an Exchange CAL and a Windows CAL.
Why would I need to buy a Windows CAL?
These "receptionists" aren't free as in beer are they?
No, I think Mozilla is now under a triple MPL/LGPL/GPL license policy:
http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/relicensing-faq.html
This may allow GPL code to go into the main tree, not sure about the detail though.
Now we have both a back-end and a client system available.
Part Time Philosopher, Oft Times Romantic, Full Time Unix Geek
Hm... might also look at taking the code from OpenHMS (sourceforge) to do WebDAV - I've got the login part working, although it's in perl and not C...
We switched at work from an IMAP server to Exchange, and they won't turn IMAP on so I have to use evolution. Here's a comments list comparing to something like kMail.
/tmp, for example).
== Functional ==
* Evolution is taking 24M (and counting) before I've even set up filters or imported my mail into it. Plus another 9M for the exchange plug-in, and another 2M for the evolution-wombat process, whatever that does.
** Update - now up to 35M, 5M for the wombat, and another 7M for the evolution-alarm (which is idle, waiting for the next appointment to come up. Why does that need to be a resident process anyway, can't it just add something to a crontab?)
* New mail notifications can only be done by playing sounds, not displaying windows (even my usual kbiff in the panel doesn't work, because I don't have an IMAP inbox any more)
* There is always a Local Calendar, Local Contacts, Local Tasks etc. folders. There seems no advantage to these over the ones in "Personal Folders" on the server, but they cannot be removed. If you go in and literally rm the directory where they reside, Evolution creates a new empty one next time it starts. I do not want them - not only because they use up vertical space which is in limited supply, but also because if they're there then I might accidentally use them (any changes in there will presumably not be visible to others, and isn't that the entire point of installing a groupware system? They'll also not be visible even to me if I take a laptop and work at home).
* When meeting invitations are recieved, Evolution DOES NOT tell you that/if they overlap with something already in your calendar on the server. They only show up visually on the calendar after you accept them, so you have to check manually that you are available. This ought to be automatic.
* Evolution can LOSE DATA if you're short of home directory quota. If you're typing an email and at the point you send it there isn't enough quota to save the file in your home directory, Evolution brings up an error message, but the typing window is closed already and your message is lost forever. The message did not get sent, nor was it saved into the Sent Items (even though that's stored on the server and doesn't use home directory quota), nor can you save it anywhere else, nor is there a permanent setting to get Evolution to use a different location for temporary files (such as
* Outgoing message filters are not applied automatically
* One of the filter actions is to change the colour of a message in the mailbox view. If you quit and relaunch evolution, all these colours have been forgotten.
* If you select a part of a message and hit reply, it quotes the whole message and not just the selected portion.
* If a filter action moves a mail to another folder, any further actions are applied to the old (deleted) copy of the message in the original location.
* It isn't possible to redefine the order in which multiple actions take place for one filter, except by redefining them all.
== User Interface ==
(Some of this might be gtk's fault).
* You can't just press space to view the next unread email (damn primitive!)
* Identities are tied to accounts. I used identities in KDE to have a setup for doing support emails (sender appears as {company name, function} but with my own email address, and adds a reply-to header) - the equivalent in Evolution is a seperate account. I need to send mail from that identity, but obviously I don't want it to recieve mail (it is just a duplicate of my standard headers). But I can't send through Exchange if I don't recieve through Exchange. (and I don't know how long SMTP will be a supportted service. If I suddenly stop answering support requests, that's why.)
* The INBOX for incoming mail is presented in an alphabetical list of folders in "Personal Folders". In other words, your new mails appear halfway down a long and arbitrary list of items. It doesn't even have a unique
If anyone is interested (or still reading this thread) I found it at http://www.gnome.org/~jdub/debian.