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Open Xchange Server Source-code Released
d3vi1 writes "Netline, the main developer of Open-Xchange, has just released the GPL licenced version to the masses. The product is mostly known by users because of SuSE's Open-Xchange Server, a product started from "comFire Groupware".
Open-Xchange is a groupware suite with WebDAV interface (XML), LDAP, iCal and HTTP(S) support. An Evolution plugin is on the way."
I should be more clear -- I use Evolution. But all the drones in the office use Windows desktops and Outlook.
Outlook bonds with Exchange (which we also use -- a slightly older version which works poorly with Evolution's calendaring) so that we cannot leave Outlook, and therefore cannot leave Windows. If we can get a work-alike for Exchange, we can slowly move people into a hetrogeneous (or even completely non-Windows) evironment.
We COULD upgrade our Exchange to allow Evolution to be more of a replacement for Outlook than it is, but that means spending money on a service, and our uppers would, after that, be unwilling to let us scrap it.
The optimal path would be to replace the Exchange server with something that plays well with Outlook, then migrate our people to Linux desktop, where those people don't need Windows speghettified apps.
Isn't that the whole point of OpenSource? Expose your bugs to the world and let them help you fix them.
It may not be ready for prime time today, but in 6 months or so I bet it is. This is the most needed FOSS project yet (IMHO). Anything that keeps me from having to maintane an Exchange server is awesome in book.
What's the "closed source nature" of Java? Any Java program can include its source code (or a pointer to it), under GPL or any other license. If you're referring to the source code for the Java Virtual Machine that runs the executable Java programs, you'd have to compare that to the Windows OS and x86 microcode that Python programs run on, which are also proprietary and closed.
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make install -not war
Is why we didn't get some open source Outlook Connector yet. Some companies (OpenExchange) won't even provide an eval of the connector to see if it really works in Outlook.
Bynari - too buggy.
SLOX - not tried yet.
We ended up using CommuniGate Pro from stalker.com.
I don't like it.. server is too closed source and inflexible.
BUT it has _excellent_ OL interoperability... My boss just forced me to use it because of this.
When we'll see some open source or at least free Outlook Connector to these exch-replacing systems, we effectively killed exchange.
- Arwen, I'm your father, Agent Smith.
- Well, you're just Smith, but my father is Aerosmith!
It's like if someone says I've been using my cell phone for organizer and sending messages and email and overall I've been very pleased.
Companies have forms, applications, scheduling, shared files, shared contact lists and a whole bunch of things built on top of Exchange Server and a big part of it simply can't be migrated. It's completely different from an individual user's experience and satisfaction with 3rd party MUA.