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Novell to port Evolution to Windows

Gladiat0r writes "Nat Friedman blogged on Planet Gnome today that Novell has hired Tor Lillqvist (of Gimp for Windows fame) to help Fredrik Hedberg port Beagle to Windows, and after that his main task is to port Evolution to Windows."

262 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. Damn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    there sure are a lot of open source hippies getting jobs today.

    1. Re:Damn by Alan · · Score: 1

      I thought they were communists?

    2. Re:Damn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Evolution is the Linux desktop killer app. It really is. I know this is slashdot, and here anything "K" is King, but KMail is a bad joke when you try to use it beyond simple POP3 collection SMTP sending. Evolution becomes ever more impressive with each release -- and the 2.0 series is a beauty.

      Windows users would be extremely lucky to get Evolution... and I'll bet that many of them would find it one more reason not to stay with the expensive, buggy, security nightmare of Windows and Outlook.

    3. Re:Damn by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      Until you can replace either Outlook or MS-Exchange with Evolution or something like Open-Xchange, and not tell the difference in the GUIs, these great apps ain't killin' nuthin'. They're both coming along like gangbusters, though. I hope Novell can get something like Mozilla or Firefox to integrate with those two, over the open protocols/formats they've chosen, as "well" as IE/Outlook/Exchange integrate in proprietary monopoly land. I'm very glad to hear that Novell will put Evo on Windows, though I'd prefer they finished getting Evo to sync directly with MS-Exchange first. The best thing they could do, for everyone (including Microsoft, at first), would be to license the MS-Exchange sync protocol. Palm just did, for the next models of Treo - if they can negotiate a license while competing with WinCE (or PPC or whatever), so can Novell. Or there's some serious anticompetition going on with Microsoft - an unusually indefensible one, at that. If they build that protocol into O-X, Novell can suck up server share from Windows, while getting into shops that still want to think they're "Windows", because they're running Evo on Windows.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    4. Re:Damn by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Because MS don't have a monopoly over handheld devices, if many people have handheld devices that can't interoperate with their servers people will be pressured to use standards compliant servers instead.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  2. OSS calendaring, finally! by Slartibartfast · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Finally, a real client will be available for OSS calendaring. Granted, Sunbird is giving it a go, but I think that this will be warm and fuzzy for corporate users. This is a Good Thing!

    1. Re:OSS calendaring, finally! by ldspartan · · Score: 1

      If only Sunbird would sync!!!@!@ EVER! My life would be joyful.

    2. Re:OSS calendaring, finally! by prjames · · Score: 1

      And they've brought back the weather in the latest Evolution! Something I really missed from 1.4.
      http://codeblogs.ximian.com/blogs/evolution/

      If they get this Windows port right, it might be the "Killer app" we've (as in most but maybe not all) been waiting for.

    3. Re:OSS calendaring, finally! by cg0def · · Score: 1

      This has nothing to do with an email client or a calendar application. First of all the port of evolution is a long time away and the 2nd thing is that Novel is trying to create and email client that works with their servers and you can use for groupwise. Groupwise is an extremely expensive software and it is one of the golden eggs for Novel and buy creating an OSS client for it they will attract more users and also lower the cost of ownership for a lot of big companies. Don't get your panties in a twist though, this has nothing to do with just some OSS calendar. Oh yeah and right now it is simply and experiment that may or maynot happen.
      What Novel is going to do in the process though is enhance Evolution and fix some of the problems that gtk+ has on windows. So ultimatelly they will do some good for everyone ... thanks I guess.

  3. How nice... by forceflow2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sure, take all the nice Linux applications over to Windows...don't worry about porting the nice Windows apps over to Linux though. Nope, we're fine...We'll just run them at half speed with WINE or something...

    1. Re:How nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      what Novell apps for Windows do you want to run?

    2. Re:How nice... by vettemph · · Score: 4, Funny

      Stop Wining.

      --
      The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
    3. Re:How nice... by cduffy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As a Linux user, I don't find that I particularly need any applications I don't have. (And WINE, not being an emulator, doesn't run at "half speed" -- there are documented cases where it's faster than Windows itself).

      When I'm on Windows, though, I do miss Evolution. This is a useful move.

    4. Re:How nice... by jellocat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sure, take all the nice Linux applications over to Windows...don't worry about porting the nice Windows apps over to Linux though. Nope, we're fine...We'll just run them at half speed with WINE or something...

      Actually, this is how you get Windows apps to run on Linux.

      1. Port leading OSS stuff over to Windows. If it's quality, you will likely have some adoption.

      2. After enough people are using Evolution or another opensource app, some systems will likely be converted to Linux. Maybe in some pockets here and there, maybe more later.

      Example: "Well boss, this business unit(s) only use web, office, and email. We are already using the Windows ports of these core apps, we should look into Linux during our next hardware/OS upgrade. We can run the same apps on a better OS"

      3. With enough people/businesses running Linux, Windows applications will not be able to ignore the value in porting their app to Linux.

      Example: "Well Mr. Vendor, we really like your app, but it needs to run on Linux too at our company. I can buy if you can run on both."

      So, what does the market share need to be 5%, 10%...I don't know. But this is how you get in.

    5. Re:How nice... by kenneth_martens · · Score: 5, Informative
      Sure, take all the nice Linux applications over to Windows...don't worry about porting the nice Windows apps over to Linux though. Nope, we're fine...We'll just run them at half speed with WINE or something...
      Don't complain--be happy. If enough high-quality cross-platform applications are available on Windows, eventually people will wise up. They'll think: "Hey, I'm using Evolution for email, Firefox for web browsing, Gaim for instant messaging, and OpenOffice for all my documents. I could switch from Windows to Linux and never know the difference."

      And if that person is a responsible for an IT department that is currently negotiating to buy a site license for the latest version of Windows, well, suddenly Linux will look mighty attractive. A budget goes a lot further when you're not paying for Windows.
    6. Re:How nice... by Coryoth · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What Windows apps would Novell be porting over to Linux exactly? You want all the other companies that develop for Windows to port their stuff to Linux... which isn't going to happen unless Linux gets a little more desktop marketshare. Evolution on Windows is another step in providing an easy migration path. It makes groupware available as something that can be slowly migrated over.

      I am presuming that your complaint would be that if they already have Evolution on Windows why would they switch to Linux? Perhaps because, as nice as Evolution might be on Windows, the Windows version of Evolution is never going to be as fast, as nice and as integrated as it is on Linux - where it fits in elegantly as part of GNOME.

      I've seen a migration go almost exactly like that: they started with Windows versions of one or two Linux apps, added a few more, and then a few more, and found themselves wondering why exactly they weren't just running Linux where all these applications came preinstalled into their native environment by default. Migration to Linux (at least for that segment of the company) followed shortly after.

      Evolution, in combination with the likes of OpenOffice.org, Firefox, and all the other bits and pieces can very effectively spark a similar migration on a wider scale as it provides migration apps for a much wider array of users.

      Jedidiah.

      Jedidiah.

    7. Re:How nice... by Pxtl · · Score: 1

      95% of games out there besides Id's stuff and the UT games (without using Cedega).

    8. Re:How nice... by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 1

      I think this is really a very good move. At least I'm no longer stuck with Eudora! :)

    9. Re:How nice... by PhotoGuy · · Score: 1
      Sure, take all the nice Linux applications over to Windows...don't worry about porting the nice Windows apps over to Linux though. Nope, we're fine...We'll just run them at half speed with WINE or something...

      Anything that helps break MS's stranglehold, even on windows, is a good thing; not having to use Outlook, to get outlook-like functionality (but better, more reliable, etc.), is nothing but a good thing. No nasty sarcasm required.

      --
      Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
    10. Re:How nice... by iabervon · · Score: 1

      I can't come up with any nice Windows apps. Sure, there are necessary Windows apps (for some people, at least), but I can't think of any that most users don't hate. "Nice" apps are for the Mac (as opposed to "powerful" ones for Linux, and "critical" ones for Windows).

    11. Re:How nice... by crush · · Score: 2
      As a Linux user, I don't find that I particularly need any applications I don't have.

      Games, games, games. No, I don't play a lot of them either, but that's the number one gripe from people.

      Fwiw I've only used Win2K twice in the past year and it's because I was on other people's machines in their houses. I don't miss any Win-whatever applications either, but then I wouldn't because I don't know what's in use these days.

    12. Re:How nice... by EvilGrin666 · · Score: 1

      The only nice windows apps I'm missing are games. I have perfectly sensible Open Source software for everything day to day I need to do. That said, I think porting Linux software to Win32 is a good thing. It makes it easier for people to switch over to Linux.

    13. Re:How nice... by Medieval_Gnome · · Score: 1

      Just a me too post here. This is what made me switch from WinXP to Linux a little over a year ago (well, sans Evolution). As for the list of programs, I do believe you forgot the GIMP, as well as having a place where 'building from source' is amazingly easy.

      I've helped convert several people by this same logic.

      --

      :wq

    14. Re:How nice... by jarich · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Sure, take all the nice Linux applications over to Windows

      A lot of linux advocates seem to think that keeping the "good" apps only on linux will win over converts. One day everyone is going to wake up and say "Hey! I gotta have (insert your favorite app here)!"

      Guess what? It didn't happen in the last 10 years... it's not going to happen this year either.

      Port your apps to win32 and when migrating to linux no longer looks like a steep learning curve (because the same apps live everywhere), then Joe Office Manager will look at linux seriously.

    15. Re:How nice... by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 1
      Fact: I don't buy any hardware for my PC before checking Linux compatibility. OK, if there isn't one that comes up good, I'll settle for any.

      As well as that, I'm switching as many applications to OSS to run on it. At some time, I may want to switch to Linux, and I want to be able to do it on a whim.

    16. Re:How nice... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      I could switch from Windows to Linux and never know the difference.

      Would they? My mum needed to use my Linux box for email...I set up KDE for her, put on a WinXP theme, set up Evolution, and left it for her to use.

      Ten minutes later she still couldn't work out how to get her mail. She was still on the desktop ;)

    17. Re:How nice... by geiseri · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah this worked so well for Apple when Adobe ported to win32. Honestly anyone who believes that there is a migration "path" is out of touch with reality. The fact of the matter is if they get half way and thats all they really need to do, they wont do any more. Porting linux apps to win32 is basicly saying we suck so bad that we need to go back to windows just to make our application usable.

      If novel wanted to do something good for OSS they would push to get Linux where windows is now.

    18. Re:How nice... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > No, I don't play a lot of them either, but that's the number one gripe from people.

      And its not a serious gripe. A wintel PC can be had pretty cheaply. Upgrade the video card and off you go. Or buy a console.

      Game developers are not going to take any other OS seriously. The returns on porting over to OSX or linux are poor. Get used to it. Adapt or find better things to with your free time.

    19. Re:How nice... by Phiu-x · · Score: 1

      Did you teach her how to use the applications? I could say the same thing about my mom if she'd be using exclusively Linux apps and then ask her to get her e-mail on a Windows box...

      --
      This is a stolen sig.
    20. Re:How nice... by iamwahoo2 · · Score: 1

      Novell is not worried necessarily about bringing users over to Linux. Not unless it benefits them by selling Suse to users. Novell is trying to put itself in a position to offer a Complete alternative to businesses stuck in Windows. They need to allow for interoperatability however so that those who need windows apps can at least be partially converted to open source. Outlook really is one of MS's killer apps that they need to beat. Once they get Evolution on the desktop, they can offer Open-Xchange as a Microsoft Exchange alternative. Then all the servers are converted to Linux

    21. Re:How nice... by gnarlin · · Score: 1

      Install xpde (www.xpde.com) for your mom. It's made for detoxing people off windows.

      --
      A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver.
    22. Re:How nice... by Fnkmaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      By porting all these commonly used OSS apps to Windows, it helps commoditize the OS itself. This is however a double edged sword. It makes migration to Linux from Windows easier, but also reduces the incentives (excellent Linux-only software) to make the move.

      Which of these will win out remains to be seen. One of the problems with Linux is that as there is no monolithic entity strategizing about this stuff on a macro level, just a bunch of individual entities following their own locally optimal development plans, you may not end up with a globally optimal strategy for OSS adoption or for the community as a whole.

    23. Re:How nice... by slux · · Score: 2, Insightful
      This might actually work out in the business side of things where cost matters more, but probably won't at home. Windows comes as an OEM deal for home users so no-one really thinks they've paid for it (and a significant amount just copy it illegally). If it has all the same apps plus all Windows-exclusive ones, I don't think anyone (except geeks) are going to feel any need to switch. It's all about the application library.

      We only need to look at OS X and all the praise it's getting from some of the former Linux-aficionados as an example of what could (nearly) come of Windows too. They frequently cite the availability of all their former apps and plenty more on the platform as a reason for switching. With the Adobe range, iLife, MS Office etc. most of them feel OS X is vastly superior.

      Take the UNIX-factor out of the equation and you're left with what average users care about on their computer. The desktop apps. This is what Windows can offer given enough ports of free software.

    24. Re:How nice... by femtoguy · · Score: 1

      It all depends on your goals. 1. All programs should be GPL - This may be be the one case in which porting to Windows is a bad thing. Of course it may be the perfect gateway drug, and so this works well. 2. People should be using open source software - In this case, porting gets more people using open source software, so we have a definite win. 3. We want to use software that doesn't suck - Again increasing competition in the marketplace is good, so porting is good. 4. We want to crush Microsoft - This is the most interesting case. We maybe don't set with crushing MS as a primary goal, but it is pretty desirable. If you look back at how MS and Intel crushed the rest of the marketplace in the computer industry, you can learn a lot. Intel started their Intel InsideTM campaign as a way of saying that your computer builder is unimportant because only the microprocessor matters: Boxes are just commodities. Microsoft built up its OS/tools in order to make application software just commodity: As long as your run windows, nothing else matters. Porting software will have the sample effecdt on Microsoft. If every platform runs OpenOffice, Evolution and Firefox then platform doesn't matter. Windows is just another platform for running your software. In the end they go from being a monopoly player to being on among many, and I think that we would all agree that in a competitive marketplace Microsoft will not be a player. I think that the goal is 3 with a large hint of 4. Let's marginalize MS into non-existence.

    25. Re:How nice... by sowdog81 · · Score: 1

      OR
      Woah, I've got all the good OSS stuff AND I get to keep my games

    26. Re:How nice... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      I did, but it didn't do anything at all.

      And it's not like KDE was looking different to Windows...the problem was that she thought Linux was going to be really, really, really different to windows, and then didn't double-click the Evolution icon on the desktop which I had renamed to "Mail".

      The problem is people don't realise that two OSes can be different, but still have a similar interface.

    27. Re:How nice... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      I gave her an icon on the desktop that said email. I themed everything to look like windows. Evolution is clearly labeled with things like Send/Receive.

      I should probably install thunderbird, she already uses that on Windows...but I'm not in the mood for compiling that, not after KDE ;)

    28. Re:How nice... by IchBinEinPenguin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      actually, at step 3), the PHB who agreed to LINUX in step 2) reverts back to MS.

      You've proposed a chicken-and-egg solution:
      - Once no windows apps are necessary, people will switch to LINUX.
      - Once they switch to LINUX, the necessary Windows apps will be ported.

    29. Re:How nice... by Sleepy · · Score: 1

      on't worry about porting the nice Windows apps over to Linux though. Nope, we're fine...We'll just run them at half speed with WINE or something...

      I'm pretty sure most open sourced Windows apps have already been ported to Windows. And Novell is becoming serious about bringing proprietary client and server software to Linux.

      So what are you complaining about?

    30. Re:How nice... by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

      Actually that's what mono is all about. Running .NET applications natively. I even read on the site that in the long term they hope to bring over avalon. As of now they are working on the whole windows.forms which is a huge deal.

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    31. Re:How nice... by Directrix1 · · Score: 1

      I know for a fact that this will have a positive effect for the linux community. People didn't move to Macs because they are more expensive, and there was no justification for the move. Conversely, moving to linux is very plausible, in certain instances, as it can be deployed at a far lower cost than Windows. The use of the Windows version of Evolution can be used as a migration tool by determined IT departments such as mine. But the main pusher will have to be the IT department itself, as they are the ones that have to win over the bean counters, because the bean counters don't know jack shit about this kind of thing.

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
    32. Re:How nice... by xenocide2 · · Score: 1

      I have to agree especially within the home user segment. People think of platform wars like Linux versus OSX versus windows and compare it to a well known field, with similarities: video games. Everyone (apparently) knows that what drives console sales is "killer apps." That's why you see exclusive deals only for PS2 or gamecube or xbox, etc. The HUGE difference here is that most people don't go out and buy a second computer like they might a 150 dollar game system. Switching means giving up all of the known goods you have right now, in favor of wasting a weekend with a machine that causes you so much anxiety when it doesn't work. Buying a new console means dropping 200 dollars on a console and a new game and wasting a weekend ignoring your every problem, distracted by a game. Notice the significant difference?

      If you're reading this, the above argument doesn't make much sense to you. "Linux installers have made huge leaps of progress in the last few years, and you can always use WINE or dual boot!" For most home users burning a .iso is a confusing process, let alone tinkering with dual booting or emulators. The other barrier against a "killer app" argument is that there's a learning curve over the status quo. A whole new slew of terms (CUPS? ALSA?), and an uncanny likeness to windows with hidden trapdoors (control-alt backspace, x mouse behaviors, etc), quickly give people the impression that they'll have to learn something Different, and therefore its Harder than doing Nothing.

      As far as offices go, you'd be surprised how many places simply use windows as a terminal emulator to an old text based system for their various needs. The killer app isn't going to happen for them; these people are focused on reliability #1. Expectations for IT teams are to pump up efficiency 1% a year, or better. Sure, we both think that businesses could find a couple percentage points of efficiency in OSS and Linux, but taking a windows office and migrating takes a buttload of planning to make sure there isn't a single percentage point lopping hiccup in the transition. Six months with a Linux or Solaris in the workplace experienced staff, probably a year if your simply tinkers with Gentoo or Debian at home. It gets much worse if you have to train your people. Does Joe want to learn Linux? Is he capable of learning to administer one?

      If there's a killer app, its probably Pixie Dust.

      --
      I Browse at +4 Flamebait

      Open Source Sysadmin

    33. Re:How nice... by uvatbc · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, the average and slightly above average user will probably say
      "Hey, I got the excellent Linux apps working on my Windows box. I dont need to switch to Linux at all! Anyways, Linux's GUI sux and everyone seems to say that it isnt for the desktop as yet... So I'll stick to my nice and comfy Windows ... and get all the advantages of fast, safe, secure Linux apps!"

      Porting OSS programs to Windoze is a double edged sword. Dont be lulled into feeling anything else.

    34. Re:How nice... by Donny+Smith · · Score: 1

      >One of the problems with Linux is that as there is no monolithic entity strategizing about this stuff on a macro level, just a bunch of individual entities following their own locally optimal development plans, you may not end up with a globally optimal strategy for OSS adoption or for the community as a whole.

      But that's also its main advantage - imagine one monolithic entity that is .. NUTS!
      A bunch of monkeys hammering away on terminals... It's more likely something good's gonna come out.

      >Which of these will win out remains to be seen.

      At the same time, things like these make me care less and less - we've got Mozilla, Gaim, soon Evolution, on Windows - perhaps only people like Stallman & Co. (and people who make lots of money using Linux) will keep high open source spirits...

    35. Re:How nice... by nzhavok · · Score: 1

      Honestly anyone who believes that there is a migration "path" is out of touch with reality.

      I've used unix for about 7 years and probably in every commercial product I've worked on, however until recently I was never happy with linux on my desktop despite trying it several times over the last few years. About a year ago I started to replace the apps I used with the OS alternatives, this wasn't because I was trying to set up a migration path to linux, but simply because I percieved them as better alternatives. My laptop came with Staroffice pre-installed and I never bothered to install MS office as staroffice worked fine for what I needed (although it was slow), I moved from Opera to Firefox, Trillian to Gaim, windows media player to mplayer, and Agent to Thunderbird. I'd say that's about all the office software I use, for work I've been using Eclipse for the last couple of years, and various other java tools.

      Last last year I ended up with a new work contract that required me to use my own machine with a linux installation on it. I wasn't looking forward to this because I'd already tried mandrake 5, redhat 7, mandrake 8 and 9 previously and found none of them replaced my needs. This time I installed debian-testing and was pretty happy with it, *all* of the stuff I used on windows was available to me (except it was openoffice and gnumeric replacing star office). Even my favorite game (wolfenstein ET) worked fine in linux. As for the development side, I work in java and basicaly, it's been a dream :) The development environment is an order of magnitude better. YMMV of course.

      In summary, I'm a pretty happy linux desktop user now, and I'm sure most of the reason is I got to use exactly the same tools and only switch the OS. If there weren't windows ports of these programs I probably would have switched back to windows as soon as the contract was over, as it is I'm looking at buying VMWware for the rare times I will need to use it. Now this migration was totally unplanned, but there is definately a migration path here.

      --

      He who defends everything, defends nothing. -- Fredrick The Great
    36. Re:How nice... by nzhavok · · Score: 1

      I forgot to put my complaints/grips in before I submitted, bugger!

      Not everything wen't smoothly, my biggest gripe is no kernel level mixing of sound, I have a laptop and like a lot of laptops it has the intel8x0 audio chipset. This chipset (for me at least) has 1 hardware input and output channel meaning I can only use it for 1 application at once (unless *all* the applications support artsd or esd mixing) which means I can't play Wolfenstein ET and use Teamspeak on the same machine. This is fantastically annoying :)

      The other grip is hardware, so far the only thing that hasn't worked it my canon scanner (canoscan 3200F), everything else has worked fine, including my pocketpc PDA.

      --

      He who defends everything, defends nothing. -- Fredrick The Great
    37. Re:How nice... by Fred_A · · Score: 2, Interesting
      As a Linux user, I don't find that I particularly need any applications I don't have.


      Well, as a home user, apart from the current games, nothing much is needed.

      For corporate users however, there are lots of things missing, like Lotus groupware clients, accounting packages, decent OCR, industry standard CAD (just a few out of the top of my head, there are lots of specific applications that just don't exist).
      It's probable that Wine can help run quite a few of those things. However you probably forfeit support if you run it in that environment...

      When I'm on Windows, though, I do miss Evolution.


      Install an X server in Windows then.
      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    38. Re:How nice... by crush · · Score: 1

      Well, it's a major roadblock to the adoption of GNU/Linux by a huge number of people. Telling the consumers behind an industry that dwarfs Hollywood revenues to "adapt or get over it" is fine as far as it goes, but it means that GNU/Linux will probably never achieve a position where it dominates the creation and propagation of open standards. So we'll always be in the situation where we're fighting a behemoth (Microsoft) funded by the activities of the legions of consumers that did not "adapt or get over it".

    39. Re:How nice... by damiam · · Score: 1
      Yeah this worked so well for Apple when Adobe ported to win32.

      Yes, it did. The availability of iTunes and iPod for Windows is probably responsible for more new Mac sales than any other single factor.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    40. Re:How nice... by billjank · · Score: 1

      Apple could be the perfect example of this - For years, Mac Users said "Hey, we've got the good stuff here, why not come have a sip?" And Apple continued to plummet towards a footnote in a computer history text.

      Then, Apple releases the iPod and iTunes for Windows - suddenly people take them seriously again ...

  4. Good news for Linux? by flossie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If this encourages companies to move away from Microsoft's office organiser software, it could make it easier for them to migrate to Linux. Interesting.

    1. Re:Good news for Linux? by bersl2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Replacements

      Word... check
      Excel... a few complaints
      Powerpoint... check
      Access... isn't somebody working on it?
      Outlook... doubly forthcoming

      What hurdles to Microsoft lock-in am I excluding here (on the client side only---I think we are OK on servers)? Integration?

    2. Re:Good news for Linux? by RailGunner · · Score: 1

      MS Access, in a word, sucks. Anything that Access can do can be done better for free with MySQL, PostgreSQL, or any other free DB system. Plus, unlike Access, you'll get referential integrity. If you don't know why that matters... well you probably deserve what you'll get from using Access.

    3. Re:Good news for Linux? by TykeClone · · Score: 1
      What hurdles to Microsoft lock-in am I excluding here (on the client side only---I think we are OK on servers)? Integration?

      Industry specific software. In banking, there is software for generating the mountains of deposit account and loan documentation required for new accounts - and that software is tied (fairly closely) to Windows.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    4. Re:Good news for Linux? by bersl2 · · Score: 1

      I know it sucks.

      People still use it.

    5. Re:Good news for Linux? by Atzanteol · · Score: 1

      Better? Yes. Easier? Not by a long shot.

      You'd be amazed what some monkeys wearing ties can (and will) do with Access. And how many people will be willing to run part of their business on such an app.

      ::shudder::

      --
      "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

      - Charles Darwin
    6. Re:Good news for Linux? by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Anything that Access can do can be done better for free with MySQL

      Access the database may suck, but Access the GUI client is pretty nice. Sometimes people don't care about referential integrity, they just want an easy to use tool for organizing data, but want something better then a spreadsheet.

      The GUI clients for MySQL are lacking ... I'm still confused what cheap/free GUI clients are available for MySQL since MySQL.com abandonded their MySQLGUI project.

      When you're creating relations between tables, a graphical table editor and a GUI that lays everything out for you is pretty nice and takes away alot of the eliteness of the DB world. I can get a moderately experienced office worker setup with Access very quickly, but using MySQL requires more experience.

    7. Re:Good news for Linux? by Paul+d'Aoust · · Score: 3, Informative

      DBDesigner4 is an open-source database designer for MySQL. It's not really a replacement for Access, as it doesn't have a form designer for non-techies to enter records. But for all the fancy stuff like designing databases and forming queries, it's beautiful. My one beef is that it depends on Kylix, and as such I still can't compile it in Ubuntu. Worked great in Gentoo though.

      --
      Standing at the very edge of my imagination, I peered into the inky void and realised -- I couldn't think up a new sig.
    8. Re:Good news for Linux? by xslf · · Score: 1

      The Dev snapshots of OpenOffice (2.0) have a very nice GUI (and Access like) front end for databases (any database OOo can use as a data source).

      You can see a few screenshots here:
      http://www.openoffice.org/screenshots/ooo19/base/i ndex.html

      It isn't ready yet, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

    9. Re:Good news for Linux? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      When you're creating relations between tables, a graphical table editor and a GUI that lays everything out for you is pretty nice and takes away alot of the eliteness of the DB world. I can get a moderately experienced office worker setup with Access very quickly, but using MySQL requires more experience.

      If you install the JDBC driver, current versions (1.1.x) of Open Office does all this very nicely, and includes the ability to design forms and run mail merges.

    10. Re:Good news for Linux? by sydsavage · · Score: 1
      You'd be amazed what some monkeys wearing ties can (and will) do with Access. And how many people will be willing to run part of their business on such an app.

      I have a friend who runs a fairly successful consulting business by building apps for companies solely in Access. He's a pretty clever guy, so I'm sure he's good at it, but he has such a bias, he absolutely refuses to even look at (literally) Linux or MySQL or any other non-encumbered solutions. I think that he knows he's a god in his Access-world, but would be merely mortal and have a lot of catching up to do with any other type of solution.

      And yes, he's run into scalability issues, which he solves by throwing more hardware at the problem, and reliability issues, which I don't know how he overcomes.

      Anytime I mention an open source or other non-Microsoft solution, he launches into a speech about X being a fad that will never catch on. Of course, he's said the same thing about the internet in the past, and I suspect he still believes it.

    11. Re:Good news for Linux? by smaug195 · · Score: 1

      The generating software... maybe, but how many computers run that? In a branch location setting, things are either run through a unix terminal system, or a web based system. Most forms are handled through PDF. I don't think you need to move everything over to linux, but in lot's of areas it makes some sense.

    12. Re:Good news for Linux? by TykeClone · · Score: 1
      Many machines do - either the loan or the deposit software (and rarely both).

      The documents are generated on the fly and are not kept as PDF's. That may be the case at larger institutions, but we're limited to "off the shelf" software (as much as that kind of software is off the shelf).

      I agree that it shouldn't be too difficult to have software to do that - but what you're really paying for is the content of the forms and I've not seen a good alternative to what we're using that is platform independent.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    13. Re:Good news for Linux? by mewphobia · · Score: 1
      The GUI clients for MySQL are lacking ... I'm still confused what cheap/free GUI clients are available for MySQL since MySQL.com abandonded their MySQLGUI project.

      This is a place where i can really see mozilla as a platform/XUL shining. There is already an addin for mozilla to access SQL directly here. The only thing i'm waiting on is an itunes style editable treeview - at the moment you can put progress meters and tickboxes in a tree cell, but you can't make them editable. And you can't make an editbox appear over the cell you double click on because of this bug. (copy this location into a new window as bugzilla doesn't allow slashdot referers).

      XUL has massive advantages over Access because it's all human readable/editable. It's a shame the learning curve of mozilla's codebase is so steep otherwise i'd add editability to the tree myself.

    14. Re:Good news for Linux? by j0217995 · · Score: 1

      Looking foward to this then. I need to figure out my connector correctly through OOo and set things up. I've setup my network inventory in rough database format and can manipulate it through phpmyadmin or somewhat through the query analyzer GUI from mysql.com. But back to Access: At work we have power users that can easily slap together a database, manipulate the data and export it to a nice form or even into some way of dealing w/ excel. Until we can do that, we won't replace Access.

    15. Re:Good news for Linux? by j0217995 · · Score: 1

      Meant to add one more thing: Also we are implementing an AVID solution (Cisco's VoIP offering) and one of the pieces unified messaging (voicemail through email) comes with an Outlook plugin. Any way to use Evolution to connect to my voicemail server? Exchange and Unity working together. I have exchange through the connector

    16. Re:Good news for Linux? by Per+Wigren · · Score: 1

      Anything that Access can do can be done better for free with MySQL

      Except that Access has triggers, stored procedures and views and actually does verify input data... Face it, MySQL is a data storage system with an SQL-like interface, not a RDBMS. MySQL is not an option in most situations where databases are used except for not-too-advanvced web-backends. Even Access beats it big time, feature wise, not stability wise..

      I get embarassed when clueless people recommend MySQL to database developers. If you HAVE to recommend MySQL, at least wait until v5.1 is stable. (this paragraph wasn't directed to you, just ranting)

      PostgreSQL on the other hand... :)

      But then again, you're comparing apples and oranges because when people talk about Access they talk about the "pretty" GUI frontend, not the database engine.

      --
      My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    17. Re:Good news for Linux? by houghi · · Score: 1

      Access... isn't somebody working on it?

      There is Rekall that is also included in Novel's SUSE

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    18. Re:Good news for Linux? by rastos1 · · Score: 2, Informative
      It's a whole hell of a lot faster in Access than trying to get a damn word processor to do it for you if you're using a Linux-based solution.

      Ever tried that? I did. I went to OO Writer document and picked Data Sources from menu. And I was able to connect to various types of databases, create queries and include fields into the document.

      The only 'difficult' part was to make sure that my system knows what ODBC is - and that is because I wanted to get data from SQL database and I never needed it before and thus I did not have ODBC installed.

    19. Re:Good news for Linux? by civilizedINTENSITY · · Score: 1

      Actually DBDesigner is more than a replacement for Access. You can start visually building the Entity Relationship Model, then click to build said database in MySQL. Likewise, you can import an exsisting database into the ER model view, and edit the model from there. If you actually need to document what you are doing (as we had to in school, or if it's more than a list of your DVDs) then DBDesigner & MySQL will save you a *lot* of time.

    20. Re:Good news for Linux? by richlv · · Score: 1

      Word... check
      Excel... a few complaints


      bring them up for oo.org

      Powerpoint... check
      Access... isn't somebody working on it?


      again, check out openoffice.org base (in 1.9 developer builds) - it aims at something like that.

      Outlook... doubly forthcoming

      sunbird and evolution now both are going at it.
      though i'm using thunderbird, i really welcome another crossplatform app that undoubtly will give some boost to sunbird, i believe.

      --
      Rich
    21. Re:Good news for Linux? by minus9 · · Score: 1


      "Who in the hell things that a SQL -based server is the best solution for a database used by one or two people with less than a 1000 records?"

      The only problem with this is that a few years later this database which would only ever have 1000 records and two users now has 50000 records and 15 users and you find you've painted yourself into a corner.

      I've seen people do the same thing over and over again.

      Access is Ok for writing a front end to a database or prototyping.

    22. Re:Good news for Linux? by e2d2 · · Score: 1

      Oh you missed one - Direct X

      Seriously, Linux cannot compete with Windows in terms of games. Some will argue different. They are high on longbottom leaf.

    23. Re:Good news for Linux? by Paul+d'Aoust · · Score: 1

      oh, I agree that DBDesigner4 beats the stuffing out of Access and then mops the floor with its remains, but as far as I can see, it's focused on making entity-relationship modelling as powerful and easy as possible, but you can't build those funky form templates that you can in Access... you know, the thingy where you drop all these widgets on a form, choose font styles, backgrounds, etc. All the stuff I've never had any use for.

      --
      Standing at the very edge of my imagination, I peered into the inky void and realised -- I couldn't think up a new sig.
  5. Better get cracking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hear Kentucky has already started the port of Creationism to Windows. Lets hope the right team delivers first.

    1. Re:Better get cracking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      I hear Kentucky has already started the port of Creationism to Windows. Lets hope the right team delivers first.

      I wish MS would stop putting those "Linux is Just a Theory" stickers on school computers!

    2. Re:Better get cracking by div_2n · · Score: 1

      Funny you mention Kentucky. The state government of Kentucky has one of the largest user bases of Outlook/Exchange in the world. If you could get THEM to use Evolution on Windows instead of Outlook, that would truly be inspirational.

    3. Re:Better get cracking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      I hear Kentucky has already started the port of Creationism to Windows. Lets hope the right team delivers first.

      If the teams are competing, they better hurry. Last I heard, the Creationism port will only take seven days . . .

    4. Re:Better get cracking by div_2n · · Score: 1

      No, for them it would be a support and inertia issue.

    5. Re:Better get cracking by elhedran · · Score: 1

      Six days. The Creationism team plans on taking a rest on the Seventh day.

    6. Re:Better get cracking by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      As soon as I read your sig, I thought of the SCOpes Monkey Trial. Hmm...wonder why :)

    7. Re:Better get cracking by xigxag · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, it just had to be called "Evolution." Proving once again that those open-source bastards are commie godless heathens bent on destroying the American Way of Life. Might as well have just gone and called it "Al Q'alendar."

      --
      There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
  6. what is evolution? by hazem · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This write-up is pretty short. Maybe a sentence about Evolution would be nice.. or at least a link to a webpage about it.

    1. Re:what is evolution? by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      An open source groupware application, for example competiting with Microsoft Outlook.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    2. Re:what is evolution? by Lindsay+Lohan · · Score: 3, Informative
      Maybe a sentence about Evolution would be nice.. or at least a link to a webpage about it
      Here it is.
    3. Re:what is evolution? by Mold · · Score: 1

      It's a very nice open source Outlook clone.

      Here is the official site for it.

    4. Re:what is evolution? by Synn · · Score: 1

      Pretty much what the others said. But in addition Evolution comes with a free plugin that will allow you to use it with a MS Exchange mail server backend and it also works with Groupwise.

      I'm guessing Novell is doing this for a better supported Windows email client that will work with their Groupwise mail system which now runs on Linux servers.

    5. Re:what is evolution? by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      I'm feeling Lucky. While it might have been nice to include a link to Evolution, if you read the Blog entry it had a link to Evolution. Additionally, a very easy google search turns it up as the first hit. You could even replace Novell with Linux or GNOME.

      But you want a sentence?

      Evolution is an email and PIM program that is directly comparable to Outlook including being able to connect to Outlook Exchange servers.

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
  7. GroupWise mail support by Lindsay+Lohan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Novell has hired Tor Lillqvist... to port Beagle to Windows, and after that.. to port Evolution to Windows
    I found Novell's Evolution Product page interesting for this line:
    Supported mail protocols include IMAP, POP, SMTP and Authenticated SMTP, as well as Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003. Novell GroupWise support is currently in beta
    That suprised me. You'd think before they ported Evolution to Windows they would have finalized integration with their own groupware suite.
    1. Re:GroupWise mail support by moontumbohotmail.com · · Score: 1

      I may be way off, but I believe that Evolution had Exchange support before Novell bought Ximian. When you think of it that way, it would've made sense for Ximian to support one of the biggest email servers early on.

    2. Re:GroupWise mail support by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 1

      You'd think before they ported Evolution to Windows they would have finalized integration with their own groupware suite.

      Or, heaven forbid, they can work on two projects at the same time. Imagine the possibilities!

      Look, a big group like Novell (or even the Novell division formally known as Ximian) is more then capable of working on two aspects of the same project at the same time. They don't need to be 100% done with Project A before starting the planning for Project B.

      The GroupWise aspect is most focusing on the client-server interactions. Porting to windows is mostly about getting "making Gtk+ and various parts of the Linux desktop stack run better on Windows".

    3. Re:GroupWise mail support by Xibby · · Score: 2, Informative

      I may be way off, but I believe that Evolution had Exchange support before Novell bought Ximian. When you think of it that way, it would've made sense for Ximian to support one of the biggest email servers early on.

      You're not way off, this is correct. Evolution "supported" Exchange by sucking in the exchange data via Outlook Web Access 2000 or 2003. I would imagine that it still does Exchange in this fashion, and why not? Outlook 2003 now supports doing the same thing. Interesting how that works.

      --
      I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
    4. Re:GroupWise mail support by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm pretty sure Novell has more than one programmer. I could see hiring a Windows person to port the UI while still having someone else work on the backend.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    5. Re:GroupWise mail support by Sonicated · · Score: 1

      He is currently working on a dbus port to help complete Fredrik Hedberg's port of Beagle to Windows.

      After that is done, however, his major project will be to port Evolution to Windows.


      I imagine by the time he gets to actually porting Evolution to windows Groupwise support will be out of beta.

      Usually beta testing is just to find the last few serious bugs anyway. In my experience its unlikely there will be any major code changes.

    6. Re:GroupWise mail support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      It partially works if you get the dev branch and use GW 6.5.3 with the /devsoap-enabled switch

      Full support won't come until GW Sequoia.

    7. Re:GroupWise mail support by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, and they can have two priorities at once, and I doubt that the Windows port is going to block the GroupWise project.

      Plus, the GroupWise support is in beta testing, wheras the Windows port is still in the planning phases (according to Nat's blog).

    8. Re:GroupWise mail support by gad_zuki! · · Score: 1

      >exchange data via Outlook Web Access 2000 or 2003.

      No. It uses WebDAV. OWA uses WebDAV also. If disabled then the connector wont work. So far I dont think anyone has reverse engineered MS's MAPI protocol.

    9. Re:GroupWise mail support by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      Unless it's google.

  8. The actual announcement by Anonymous+Commando · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seeing as how the submitter neglected to link to the actual announcement, here it is: http://nat.org/2005/january/#17-January-2005

    --
    Corporate Jenga: You take a blockhead from the bottom and you put him on top...
  9. Tor by Coneasfast · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tor did a lot of work on porting gtk and gimp to windows and because of that, today gimp works as good or at least almost as good as it does in unix, and is a great competitor to photoshop.

    Seems that his work payed off for him. Congrats Tor, and keep up the good work.

    --
    Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
    1. Re:Tor by JaxWeb · · Score: 1

      From having used The GIMP on Windows, I guess we can say goodbye to the beautiful interface of Evolution then?

      --
      - Jax
    2. Re:Tor by jilles · · Score: 1

      It works great but it looks awful. GTK on windows just doesn't feel right. The dialogs are awkward (especially the open & save dialogs are extremely ugly), everything looks different and it doesn't even try to blend in.

      But the Gimp is a great app and once you rearrange the toolbars into one window it almost looks usable. I've spend some time with it lately and it's a good photoshop replacement unless you know what you are doing when using photoshop (surprisingly few people do). Photoshop is just more polished in the more advanced features and the Gimp doesn't really compare well in that area. But it is well equiped for all the basic stuff like fixing holiday pics, pngs for your website etc.

      --

      Jilles
    3. Re:Tor by Nicholas+Evans · · Score: 1
      and is a great competitor to photoshop.
      Yup, and my punny little microcomputer is a great competitor to a Cray.
    4. Re:Tor by nuxx · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Gimp does a great job working with the color profiles that my monitors and printer are set to.

      Oh. Wait.

    5. Re:Tor by bulletman · · Score: 1

      With the release of GTK+ 2.6, things should be much better. According to the release notes, the "ms-windows (Wimp) theme engine and the IME input method module have been integrated into the GTK+ sources".

      Stephen

    6. Re:Tor by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      GTK on windows is very very very very slow. I have a 3.2gHz, but any GTK app feels like I'm back on a 486DX66. I have to wait a couple minutes for columns in a list box to sort. They update at blinding slowness, drawing seems to take a few seconds.

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
    7. Re:Tor by antiknijn · · Score: 1

      They update at blinding slowness, drawing seems to take a few seconds.

      I'm on a 1.5GHz box, and have GTK apps like The GIMP, Inkscape, XChat installed. They run as smooth as any other app.

      Something's wrong with your setup, dude.

    8. Re:Tor by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      put 100 items in a list, sort it. After you finish waiting, realise that this is very fast with native Windows widgets.

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
    9. Re:Tor by jcupitt65 · · Score: 1
      I have 500+ items in a list in a win32 gtk app here and it sorts instantly on a 1GHz machine. *shrug*

      Maybe you have some kind of odd pixmap theme set for it?

  10. Exchange compatibility by yetdog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ..would be a point that very well could begin to erode MS's stronghold. Sure, it will keep you using Exchange for the short term. But some kind of migration tool to turn all those mbx's into openexchange or another OSS backend could make the transition on the desktop seamless.

    1. Re:Exchange compatibility by Lispy · · Score: 1

      Or Microsoft changes Exchange in "Longhorn exchange" to kick all the other clients out.

  11. This is great by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There goes the last hurdle in your IT budget for Windows boxes. Now there's no reason to buy Office! I'll gladly pay say..a $100 for a nice port of Evolution per box. Save me all sorts of money.

    1. Re:This is great by kaustik · · Score: 1

      How would that be saving you money? A client license for Outlook runs you less than $100. I believe that you would also have to pay for the Client Access License for Exchange no matter what email client you are using to connect to the server.
      Now, if the copy of Evolution ran you only $20, and actually included all the features you need... then we'd be talking.

    2. Re:This is great by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 1

      But if you already have the CAL for Exchange and you generally end up buying Office anyway because of those over you... well you get my point. Maybe a $100 was high but I'd still pay to be rid of Outlook. Also, don't forget the newer versions of Outlook try to default to Word as the editor for emails.

    3. Re:This is great by Synn · · Score: 2, Informative

      Evolution is free. It uses OWA to connect to the exchange server so whatever licensing you need for that still applies though.

    4. Re:This is great by kaustik · · Score: 1

      Using word as the default is horribly annoying. I install O2k3 using a custom Transform file. When a user open Outlook for the first time, their profile is created automatically using their NT logon name as their email address. This setting (word as default) is also turned off by with the transform.
      I agree completely, I'd love to get my office off of Office, but there's just about a 0% chance that that is going to happen.

    5. Re:This is great by Xibby · · Score: 1

      Exchange licensing is fun! First, you need a Windows Server CAL (~$25 depending on your volume agreement) for each device. Then you tack on an Exchange Server CAL (~50 depending on your volume agreement) for each device. An Exchange Server CAL includes a license for an Outlook Client. So technically, you don't have to buy MS Office to use Exchange.

      It doesn't matter if your device is *NIX, Mac, Windows, or whatever. You need those two licenses.

      --
      I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
    6. Re:This is great by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 1

      Powerpoint is the killer app for my execs and big part of buying Office. Although I have moved them over to Macs as well as my Sales guys. Now if my engineer could only develop on Macs....
      Anyway, what's the deal on a Transform file? Could save me some time.

    7. Re:This is great by binford2k · · Score: 1

      Also, don't forget the newer versions of Outlook try to default to Word as the editor for emails.

      This is a joke right? Please don't tell me that they'd be this stupid. Time to configure the mail servers to summarily reject .doc attachments.

  12. Well, great. Or is it? by Lispy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I mean let's bring all the greatest OS-programs to the Windows platform. Just what Microsoft needs to strengthen it's monopoly: even more great applications on Windows. Of course many people will get in touch with Firefox and now Evo but they won't make the switch to a free platform. But still, I'd love to get my desktop users off of Outlook and this might be a real alternative for them.

    I am just not sure if OpenSource should battle Microsoft on their own ground. They can change the rules anytime they like. And they have done so before...

    1. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by yetdog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think it's all about weaning off of MS. Let's face it - a cold turkey jump to OSS is damn difficult for any company. But if you start working in OSS projects into the current platform, when you start migrating the users, the transition will be that less invasive.

    2. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Qzukk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I mean let's bring all the greatest OS-programs to the Windows platform.

      You say that like its a bad thing but put it this way:

      Your company runs OO.o, Evolution, and Firefox on Windows. You're asked to cut costs, so you point out that you can deploy the exact same thing on Linux. Minimal retraining will be required (quite possibly in the form of "If you can't figure it out, you're fired!") You get a pat on the back, and the CEO gets himself a nice fat bonus check. Problem solved!

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    3. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by 0racle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I thought it was about providing good software. If the only reason to use Linux and GPL software is to 'stick it to the man,' I'm going to use something else.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    4. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Ramses0 · · Score: 1

      I wrote up something on this the last time the conversation came up. It applies just as well to Evolution as it does to Open Office.

      The goal is to factor out the operating system.

      Nothing more, nothing less. After that, the goal is to factor out the document creation device (OpenOffice / AbiWord / KWord v. MS Word). Basically: "It doesn't matter what software you use, but the results that you produce".

      --Robert

    5. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Lispy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I know what you're saying. Actually we are having this discussion over here right now. And if it wasn't for the excellent performance of OpenOffice and Firefox (and Thunderbird on some clients) they wouldn't even consider to move our shops to Linux. All they need over there is a Webbrowser and an E-Mail client (a luxury more than a requirement) anyway.
      Let's just hope that it plays out like this:

      1. The delay of longhorn causes many to use a more secure browser wich causes them to try other free software.
      2. Longhorn arrives and all is well.
      3. Microsoft switches to panicmode as OfficeLH doesn't take off immediately and breaks compatibility for some OS tools. (Might be formatwise not to make the judges nervous)
      4. People want to keep their beloved free apps and think that Windows is only cool because it's free with their PC anyway and they start to fiddle with one of the cheaper off-the-shelf Linuxboxes that some stores (Dell?) start to offer. And suddenly we are all part of a mainstream movement. ;-)

      It's all about timing, really...

    6. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Zak3056 · · Score: 1

      Just what Microsoft needs to strengthen it's monopoly: even more great applications on Windows

      Evolution provides Exchange Server connectivity. If Evolution becomes the mail client of choice in an organization, that's one less reason for Windows on the desktop in that organization (though, ironically, the backoffice Windows becomes more entrenched.)

      --
      What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
    7. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Lispy · · Score: 1

      Agreed.

    8. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by fistfullast33l · · Score: 1

      If it gets to the point where most users use OSS on Windows instead of Microsoft's own products, then Microsoft will be unable to change whatever they want for fear of angering their clients. I'm not talking about only Mr. Home Consumer. If large corporations such as a GE or GM implement a Novell solution on Windows, and Microsoft starts to change things, losing a client like GE or GM could really hurt their income.

      Of course, you have to convince people to switch first. I think that the change is coming slowly. First comes the Web Browsers. Then the Office Productivity Software. The hardest clients to switch will be those that use Microsoft features like VB Macros. They've taken the the time to write their own software and they probably won't drop it quickly.

    9. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Exactly. I'm the only person in my office using a non-Windows (rah!-rah! Debian!) desktop system. A few days ago my boss was walking past my office and I called him in to show him the 17" LCD monitor he just bought for me and to thank him for it, when I realized that he'd never actually seen a graphical Linux system before. He agreed that KDE looked pretty nice, but said (with a smirk) that "we're still not going to use it."

      That's OK. Just as long as everyone keeps using and enjoying OpenOffice, and using Psi to connect to our new Jabber server, and Firefox to use our web applications (FreeBSD/PostgreSQL/Zope), and now Evolution to read the email that gets filtered by our happy little Postfix server before it can choke the Exchange server to death, I'll smile and nod in agreement.

      The truth of the matter is that except for one or two in-house apps, everything our employees use is either a port from Unix or interacting with a Unix server. We're really not that far from being able to drop Windows altogether, and Evolution will close the largest part of that gap.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    10. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by legirons · · Score: 1

      "Your company runs OO.o, Evolution, and Firefox on Windows. You're asked to cut costs, so you point out that you can deploy the exact same thing on Linux"

      Uh, actually you'd be spending more money in that scenario by doing an O/S migration, buying linux licenses (as you do), and finding somewhere to put the Windows experts. The cheap option favoured by a company trying to cut costs, would be to make do with whatever they're using, and not buy anything new. That would be the sign of a failing company of course, but you already said they're trying to cut costs, even after migrating their office suite to Free Software.

      If you're equipping a load of new PCs however, or if you're trying to cut support costs (they're not normally visible enough for someone to moan about, even after a virus infection) then you'd have a point. Or if you're planning for the long-term. Or doing IT in a large company. Or starting a company. But replacing everything with linux doesn't immediately get you a profit, and only saves money if you were about to purchase commerical software.

    11. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by the_truk_stop · · Score: 1
      it's all about weaning off of MS

      Absolutely. A friend of mine uses Gaim, OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird. He looked at me and said "...and these all run under Linux?" So now he dual-boots Ubuntu.

    12. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      Why would they do that ? MS Windows is free (as in "the PC isn't sold cheaper without it"), and can run Evolution, Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and basically every other program which would make Linux a better choice. Where is the incentive ?

      1. Virus resistance. This can be a major advantage and time-saver in a large organisation.

      2. No forced software and hardware update cycles.

      3. Very easy remote support. Secure remote X11 access is either the default on Linux, or at least is simple to set up.

      4. Versatility. Linux workstations are fully licensed to act as servers if the need arises.

      5. Security. Linux workstations are by default set up with separate administrator accounts, and so the ability of users to mess about with their own machines (such as installing pirate software) is limited.

      6. Often the PC IS sold cheaper without it! I can buy PCs installed with whatever Lindows is called now, and there is a significant saving.

    13. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      About number 2, nobody is forcing companies to buy new hardware or go with the latest OS. Many companies have stuck with NT4, or even 2000.

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
    14. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      About number 2, nobody is forcing companies to buy new hardware or go with the latest OS. Many companies have stuck with NT4, or even 2000.

      If they stick with these systems they lose support, which includes patches for major security issues. Linux distributions generally provide much longer (and cheaper) support for older versions of the OS.

    15. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Degrees · · Score: 1
      There is another angle on this....

      GroupWise shops have a real problem with new PHB's that are used to Outlook. They show up at the new organization, and hate the look and feel of the GroupWise client. They aren't thrilled about the idea of having to learn a new email client either.

      So the question GroupWise admins are having to fend off is: "Why don't we switch to MS Exchange? It's the most popular email system on the planet. Why are we different?" And of course, there are always middle managment types vying for power. "There is no victory without conquest."

      Novell hears that GroupWise shops sometimes have to defend their existance. Sometimes, Novell loses a customer. What saves most shops is that the GroupWise back-end system is stable, efficient, and secure.

      Evolution connectivity to GW servers is already in beta. Porting it to Windows will give GroupWise shops an easy answer to the "Why can't we just run Outlook, instead?" crowd. Evolution will look and act close enough to satisfy the people who actively complain that they want Outlook.

      Novell probably does also see the benefit of being able to show off multi-platform products. It does get the idea into the minds of people that stuff from the Linux world is viable. So in this way, it will open doors. But I expect a primary goal is to help out their GW base with an alternative to MS Outlook, keeping customers on GroupWise.

      --
      "The most sensible request of government we make is not, "Do something!" But "Quit it!"
    16. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

      If they stick with these systems they lose support, which includes patches for major security issues. Linux distributions generally provide much longer (and cheaper) support for older versions of the OS.

      NT4 was just retired officially this year. NT4 was released in 1996. I believe this was when Red Hat 4.0 was released. I don't know of a single commercial Linux distribution that has been maintained and patched for the same lifecycle as NT4.

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
    17. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by vandy1 · · Score: 1

      You'll find that Evolution provides connectivity to OpenGroupware.org, Groupwise, OpenX-Change, and yes, Microsoft Exchange. This in fact makes it remarkably vendor-neutral, in my opinion. Cheers, Michael

    18. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

      How about you getting the bonus check!?

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    19. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by roror · · Score: 1

      I agree with the parent in theme. But wanna add my 2 paise.

      One needs to think what are they after win of OSS or win of Linux? If it is the former, then you see OSS wins directly here, immediately as evolution is ported to windows. People can now use this incredible OSS app even if they use windows.

      If you want only linux to win, even if at the expense of win of OSS then good luck to you - because, it is self destructive.

      Just like an insightful slashdotter said upon the release of limited versin of windows, "you can't compete with linux by crippling your OS bill" I'd like to say, "you can't make the OSS win by preventing people from using it Mr. OSS Advocate".

    20. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by binford2k · · Score: 1

      It's called free upgrades.

    21. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Herr_Nightingale · · Score: 1

      Your theory would be workable if the facts fit it better :) Think of it this way: Everybody's already running Windows. How can Evolution on Win32 strengthen a 95% market share by attracting more users?

      Look at it another way: anybody running Windows and is already using Firefox/OO.o/Evolution will be millions of times more likely to switch because the programs are identical on both platforms; Novell is trying to reduce the OS to just another interchangeable part.

      Assuming that each OS is equal, the whole process is osmotic. If 10% of each user population switches to the other side, then the one with the smaller initial marketshare wins in proportion to its initial disadvantage.
      In this case Linux wins unless it really is a shittier system, or is perceived as such by enough Windows users.

    22. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      I don't know of a single commercial Linux distribution that has been maintained and patched for the same lifecycle as NT4

      Why use commercial Linux? There are free upgrades for the kernel and most packages for systems like Fedora.

    23. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

      Free Upgrades != longer (and cheaper) support for older versions of the OS

      Thats my point. I'm not saying your wrong...

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
    24. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

      Why use commercial Linux? There are free upgrades for the kernel and most packages for systems like Fedora.

      Fedora hasn't been around since NT4. The grandparent poster said that Linux had supported systems for longer and cheaper than Windows. My question was what Linux?

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
    25. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      Well, you see, the reason to use Linux and GPL software is just the opposite -- to avoid bending over and having "the man" stick it to us by holding our data hostage by proprietary binary formats and "trusted" computing.

      Or maybe I've been drinking too much Kool-Aid...

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    26. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by binford2k · · Score: 1

      OK then be pedantic ;)

      Linux kernel 2.0 (released in 1996) is still actively maintained. Most current apps will still run on it.

      You can install a Debian distro from 1995 and with a couple quick commands be current with all security fixes, or update it to current Debian.

      Sure you won't find Redhat claiming to support RH4.0, but that's because the Linux world operates differently. If all those companies running NT4.0 had the opportunity to upgrade all their servers to winxp for no cost and no upgrade hassle and were guaranteed that their applications would continue to work and work just as well, I'm fairly certain that most would take advantage of the offer.

      That's the kind of support Linux offers.

      There are exceptions to the rule, but by far, most companies and individuals running Linux have a fairly current distribution installed, and many of those that don't are merely running the old version because they simply haven't bothered to upgrade, not because anything is compelling them to stay with the older versions.

    27. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      Fedora hasn't been around since NT4. The grandparent poster said that Linux had supported systems for longer and cheaper than Windows. My question was what Linux?

      Both Debian (1995) and Slackware (1993-1994) distributions have been around, and have provided free upgrades, since before NT4 (1996).

      But of course, this is irrelevant. The point is that distributions like these have no support time limits. They plan to provide free support and upgrades indefinitely. This is obviously not the case with Windows - there will always come a point at which a full upgrade to a new OS is required.

    28. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by Decaff · · Score: 1

      The grandparent poster said that Linux had supported systems for longer and cheaper than Windows.

      No it didn't. Read it again. It said
      Linux distributions generally provide much longer (and cheaper) support for older versions of the OS.

      It said 'provide', not 'had provided'. You got the tense wrong. It's an on-going thing. For example, Debian provide resources for a smooth (free) updating of any earlier version to any required current version. There is no plan to stop this. Even if this did not go back to versions from a long time ago (it does) this would still be longer support than for Windows, as Microsoft products have limited support periods.

    29. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by HrothgarReborn · · Score: 1

      This is kind of like supporting free speech for people who agree with you.

      The whole point of Open Source is that the code is free and not dominated by any political or marketing strategy to support only one vendor/platform. Microsoft has done some great things and this program is a direct clone of one of its popular products that Linux users aspire to imitate. Lets get off the righteous bandwagon of Windows users aren't cool enough to use our cloned applications. If Windows can run all the same apps as Linux with as enjoyable a user experience then maybe it is the equal of Linux. Lets port the apps both directions and let Windows and Linux stand on their merits. Have some faith in the penguin.

      Information wants to be free, anthropomorphized and cross platform. Choice is always good.

    30. Re:Well, great. Or is it? by DA-MAN · · Score: 1

      Both Debian (1995) and Slackware (1993-1994) distributions have been around, and have provided free upgrades, since before NT4 (1996).

      There goes that distinction again. We're talking updates not upgrades.

      But of course, this is irrelevant. The point is that distributions like these have no support time limits. They plan to provide free support and upgrades indefinitely. This is obviously not the case with Windows - there will always come a point at which a full upgrade to a new OS is required.

      Yeah support and upgrades indefinately. However we're talking about supporting a specific version.

      --
      Can I get an eye poke?
      Dog House Forum
  13. Beagle and search extensions? by Jugalator · · Score: 1

    Does Beagle support an open extension API for third-party developers to add extension support to it?

    I've found this being something missing in Google, Copernic, X1, and Yahoo! Search which is a variant of X1. Basically all of them, except... (you'll never see this coming) Microsoft's new desktop search engine. :-S OK, not sure how open it is, haven't looked into it, however it's an extension API documented here.

    Please let Beagle get something like that if it hasn't already, so we don't have to rely on their developers to add everything we want. If Beagle become well used due to being open source and all, that could become a huge advantage to it, with the most obscure formats indexed in an intelligent way with metadata extracted, etc.

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    1. Re:Beagle and search extensions? by dustmite · · Score: 1

      Basically all of them, except... (you'll never see this coming) Microsoft's new desktop search engine. :-S

      Correction, Apple's new Spotlight includes an API that allows third parties to add support for their own formats etc. I guess you were talking about the PC platform, but the way you spun it made it sound like MS were the only guys who had thought of this.

  14. great news by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

    This will really help getting Outlook out of the workplace.
    Do you have any idea how many companies can not replace windows because they depend on Outlook?
    Another great step on the way to migration.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    1. Re:great news by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 1

      if the companies were trying to get rid of windows, they could have just installed evolution on their brand new shiney linux boxes, rather than wair for evolution to become available on the platform they currentl use, and then move to linux

    2. Re:great news by LWATCDR · · Score: 2, Informative

      No.
      Odds are pretty good that migration is an on going process. It is very hard to move "everything" at once to a new platform. One of the reasons that Windows did so well was that it ran dos apps.
      A company that is thinking of moving will want to do it a step at a time.
      I know my company is trying to do it now. Oh how people complained when we made them dump outlook for Thunderbird. Not to mention how some complained about using OpenOffice because it did not work EXACTLY like word.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  15. Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by biwillia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is great news for GTK+ on Win32, which has always suffered speed and look-and-feel problems on the win32 platform. When a big application like Evolution gets ported from one platform to another, the base libraries such as libgtk, pango, and the like can only benefit. I look forward to the speed improvements and bug fixes in the win32 versions of gtk. This should really bolster the cross-platform nature of gtk.

    1. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by tomreagan · · Score: 1

      i look forward to our new gtk+ win32 overlords?

    2. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by cduffy · · Score: 1

      Being that the GIMP has been officially supported on Win32 ever since the 2.0 release, I haven't considered GTK/win32 support particularly deficient for a while now.

    3. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by AlexMax2742 · · Score: 1

      Try any build of X-Chat for Windows (preferably not the 'official' one maintained by zed, as that has turned shareware. Legal? Probably not, but that's another discussion.). Doesn't feel anywhere near as clean as a native windows app

      --
      I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
    4. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by Why+Should+I · · Score: 1

      I disagree, Xchat linux or windows, is by far the leanest, best quality IRC client I've ever used.

      And by quality I mean 'fit for purpose'.

      Just my opinion anyhow

    5. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by ville · · Score: 1
      irssi.

      // ville

    6. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by Moderator · · Score: 1, Informative

      There are unofficial free Windows builds available here.

      It's such a shame that the official Windows builds cost money. Some of us can't change what OS we use.

      --
      The World is Yours.
    7. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by schumaml · · Score: 2, Informative

      I always found GTK+ to be much faster on Win32 than on other platforms. For the look, there is a theme engine (MSEngine afaik, formerly known as gtk-wimp).

      The feel is probably the only part where noticeable differences can still be found, in particular with the file chooser. Not the fact that there is no file entry, but e.g. the (non-)handling of UNC paths (got some fixes recently) and problems with .lnk files ("symlinks" on Win32).

    8. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by schumaml · · Score: 1

      There shouldn't be a problem with distributing the official build free of charge - if the license for the source is completely GPL, that is.

    9. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by Vitriolix · · Score: 1

      i agree, though gtk+ has been pretty darned decent on windows for a while... gaim has really helped push it forward i think (at least the large amount of gaim win32 users). its come a long way in the last 12-18 months. it could be faster and there are a couple bugs with tooltips that get annoying (the sometimes get stuck on top of all windows until you click around a bunch). definitely good news on the evo front though, i wonder if i will switch to it from thunderbird...

    10. Re:Good news for GTK+ on Win32 by AlexMax2742 · · Score: 1

      No, I love it and use it as my primary client, it's just that it just doesnt feel as responsive to me as native Windows programs.

      --
      I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
  16. Thunderbird/SunBird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd rather see the development of Thunderbird/Sunbird than Evolution.

    TB/SB is already cross platform and has a better framework than Evolution.

  17. Re:Now if only... by johannesg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Last I checked, Beagle 2 was delivered to the general vincinity of Mars just fine. Granted, maybe it was delivered just a few meters too deep, but on a distance of millions of kilometers, who's counting?

  18. Great for Openoffice, etc by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the strongest reasons Microsoft is putting in the table when comparing Office vs Open source alternatives is the availability of Outlook. We've Openoffice, we've firefox, we've thunderbird, but we didn't have a Outlook alternative.

    That was certainly stopping many people from switching to Openoffice. With Evolution ported to windows, it's no longer the case, and having the exchange connector even more. Nice news.

    1. Re:Great for Openoffice, etc by Feyr · · Score: 1

      i just wish they hadn't completly fucked up evolution in their 2.0 rewrite :\

      8 bit support is WORSE than 1.4
      sorting doesn't work properly (did in 1.4)
      interface is uglier (not that 1.4 was pretty)
      it's SLOW (loading the calender is 30-45 seconds, and it's VERY slim with 5-6 events scheduled in the month)
      exporting calendars/tasks lists doesn't work properly (no support at all in 1.4 afaik)

      the only good thing about it is the IMAP that actually work like it should now.

      maybe they should fix those issues before trying to port it to windows...

    2. Re:Great for Openoffice, etc by NotZed · · Score: 1

      What an odd post, nothing you're saying matches reality with any strength.

      8 bit support of what? It hasn't changed.
      sorting is the same
      the interface isn't that much different
      it is a lot faster
      the imap code is identical, a few less bugs perhaps

      --
      _ // `Thinking is an exercise to which all too few brains
      \\/ are accustomed' - First Lensman
    3. Re:Great for Openoffice, etc by Feyr · · Score: 1

      hu no. 8 bit support is completly inexistant for headers. 2.0 simply refuse to process a subject line with an extended character

      sorting is a bit misleading, but i meant switching between folders, your previous position isn't remembered
      the interface isn't much different? maybe you should take a good look, they completly changed it!
      faster, see my comment about calendar taking 45 seconds to load
      imap was completly rewritten, it was in the changelog

  19. Beagle port for Windows? by v3rgEz · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They don't even have a beagle port for Linux yet! Easy jabs aside, why are you porting software that is still in version 0.0.4 that most users can't get to work on their native system? Maybe working on cross-compatibility from the ground up is the idea, but Beagle could really use some full time programmers just getting it to work, period, and then maybe get Dashboard up and running for non-hackers.

    1. Re:Beagle port for Windows? by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Perhaps that'll attract more users?

      Beagle is written in C#, and mono supports windows. Can't be that difficult to port to windows.

  20. Lowered Activation Barrier by 4of12 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    • Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.
    • OpenOffice.org instead of Office
    • Evolution instead of Outlook
    When Windows users can easily move w/o doing any "scary" OS change and try out open source applications "risk free", they'll be more likely to try.

    The last, most significant jump will be made smaller and easier, after new users become comfortable with that suite of applications.

    Namely, Linux instead of Windows.

    Which is down where an OS should be; a standard commodity, interchangeable, free, stable and not full of Innovations® like HTML renderers, special codec media players.

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
  21. We need more of this! by adolfojp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If people use Windows apps at work, and can't use them back at home on their Linux boxes, they will just stick with Windows.

    If people can use the same apps at work and at home on Windows and on Linux, full migration can be done.

    Cheers,
    Adolfo

  22. Why this is exciting by acg6764 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I'm excited because till this day I've not had an alternative to Microsoft Outlook at work. I'm hoping this move will provide me with another choice. Thunderbird is not viable for a lot of corporate users because of :
    • Exchange Server Integration
    • Calendar Integration
    • Bluetooth Integration
    I, for one, will be anxiously awaiting a release.

    http://gatewayink.com
  23. I for one.... by Tragek · · Score: 1

    am quite happy about this. go novell!

  24. Exactly! by sterno · · Score: 1

    If you can get everybody interested in a suite of applications and API's that will work on something other than Windows, then it frees them to switch.

    The problem you have right now is that companies will balk at the notion of going to Linux on the desktop because they don't have Outlook and Office. If you can convince them of the value of alternatives on Windows, it opens the door to move them to Linux down the road.

    --
    This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
  25. OpenOffice by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

    Maybe they could free up some moolah to pay someone to take up the Aqua port of OpenOffice, since they're being so generous of late. *sigh*

  26. End to Groupwise by bayerwerke · · Score: 1

    This is a great alternative for those forced to use Outlook but possibly even better for those forced to use Groupwise.

  27. A Halo port by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    Plus endless vertical market apps which do one or two weird things, so won't yet run under WINE.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  28. This is great! by poofyhairguy82 · · Score: 1
    The more apps that move from Linux to windows, the better! Since most people only want computers for its software (and doesn't know what an OS is), the more people that get hooked on OSS apps the better it is for OSS!

    This will also help Linux as well. As soon as more Windows people start using OSS on windows (such as firefox, evolution, beagle, and open office) instead of Microsoft products (IE, Outlook, .NET stuff, MS Office) the easier it is for them to move onto a new OSS OS! Once they are used to the apps, the switch is as easy as "do you want a new software that runs all of your apps, thats built safer than windows and is free like the apps you are used to?"

    For those that doubt, please note that this IS a way to help Linux. I recently switched because I knew that my most used software in XP (Firefox) worked great in Linux.

    1. Re:This is great! by TrancePhreak · · Score: 1

      I play the latest greatest PC games you insensitive clod!

      --

      -]Phreak Out[-
  29. Er... don't you mean... by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    ..."the left team"? (-:

    Anyway, computers didn't evolve, they were progressively created. Hugh Ross must be fairly happy about that.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  30. Open Source and cross platforms.... by Maxim+Kovalenko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    (Your probably gonna mod this as flamebait for me saying this) Make no mistake about it, cross platform applications are good for the open source movement. They spread awareness of how good Open Source can be, and give people a viable free (as in beer, as in choice) alternative. However, people crying about how certain applications should only stay on "certain" operating systems are hypocrites. This is supposed to be about freedom of choice, right? This isn't supposed to be about the freedom to only work on a "particular, politically correct, operating system."

    1. Re:Open Source and cross platforms.... by Jon+Howard · · Score: 1

      America, fuck yeah! Freedom is the only way, yeah! ;)

  31. Ha! +1 Funny, that coward! by leonbrooks · · Score: 1
    I wish MS would stop putting those "Linux is Just a Theory" stickers on school computers!
    Oh, so that's what the little hologram says. They should've made it bigger so we can read it. Or is this a subliminal thing?

    Actually, if you read the judge's ruling in that case, they'd have to prove that they weren't putting the stickers on primarily for marketing purposes if they wanted to continue applying them.

    I've always thought the holo stickers were a bit of a two-edged sword; after all, if it was "designed for Windows", what else could it have been designed for?
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  32. Big If by fm6 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    That's a big if. I don't think "it doesn't run on Windows" is that big a factor in choosing software. It's rather the other way around -- everybody has a huge lockin on Microsoft products, and they buy Windows because most Microsoft products are Windows products.

    We've had pretty good alternatives to Word and Excel available on Windows for years. But the retraining and file compatibility issues prevent most people from going over.

    Now if people suddenly start abandoning Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet Explorer for cross-platform alternatives, then sure, everybody would start asking "Why are we paying all those licensing fees for Windows when Linux is free?" Don't see that happening any time soon.

  33. clarification by bersl2 · · Score: 1

    I meant to ask about first-party Microsoft products. I could list a ton of Windows-only client-side programs from third parties.

  34. Evolution the Samba of e-mail? by SunFan · · Score: 1


    It works on all the popular platforms, giving it an real edge over Outlook.

    --
    -- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
  35. Define it in terms of what it is not by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    He says, Grinning, ducking, running.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  36. Re:GroupWise mail support on the server by bayerwerke · · Score: 2, Informative

    The beta part is having Evolution connect to a Groupwise server, which is rather unlike servers that Evolution was originally intended to connect to. If you are running Linux and want to connect to a Groupwise server you can use Groupwise client for Linux. Groupwise server supports the Outlook client so what it appears they may be actually doing is making a transition of the groupware client from Groupwise while retaining the server component, cross-platform. It would be a lovely thing indeed. Novell server products tend to be excellent. Client products like the Groupwise client historically blows dogs.

  37. This turns the OS into a shim by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    So once your MS-Windows users are all using FireFox, OpenOffice, Evolution it's not such a big deal to swap the expensive, unreliable and difficult-to-maintain virus flypaper for an OS which is stable, easy to maintain and free of spyware.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
    1. Re:This turns the OS into a shim by 0racle · · Score: 1

      I don't know about you, but my Windows systems have no spyware, are easy to maintain, reliable and virus free. The OS was included in the cost of the cheap desktop.

      Maybe you need better admins.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  38. Re:How about making evolution work on Linux first by BanteringCTO · · Score: 1

    I've used it every day for more than a year. It has been consistently reliable. Dozens of my friends / co-workers have had the same experience, and we all run KDE on Mandrake (various versions). Perhaps you should examine your configuration?

    --
    The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist. -- J. Harold Wilkins
  39. Evolution to Windows by Magickcat · · Score: 2, Funny

    and after that his main task is to port Evolution to Windows."

    An obscure company called "Microsoft" have already beaten him to it.

    --

    Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

  40. Beagle on Linux by mab · · Score: 1

    Just wish I could run Beagle on Linux it requires an inotify enabled kernel and the patches haven't made it in to the mainline kernel yet.

  41. Open Source Necessary but Not Sufficient by sjbe · · Score: 1

    I'm really pleased to hear that Evolution is moving towards becoming cross platform. If it makes its way to the Macintosh as well I might finally have an alternative to Thunderbird. I'm a huge open source advocate but I do not (indeed cannot) just use linux. I use Windows, OS X, linux (SuSE) and some other systems from time to time. If an application isn't cross platform, it's generally not much use to me and I think I'm not alone. All other things being equal (and sadly they rarely are) I'll always pick an open source app over a close source one but for me at least it has to be cross platform as well to receive serious consideration as an addition to my desktop toolkit. It's also a heck of a lot easier for me to promote open source software if I don't have to convince people to switch operating systems or work methods in the process.

    I use Firefox, Thunderbird and GIMP regularly. Now and then I use OpenOffice, though I need to use MS Office still most of the time for compatibility reasons. There are a few applications I haven't been able to replace on one platform or another. I'm still stuck with Quicken on Windows/Mac. GNUcash just isn't there yet as it is still stuck on linux and doesn't have all the features I need either. I'm also stuck with Palm Desktop which is Windows only as there is no cross platform syncing capability for my Tungsten T3. Thunderbird despite being a great email application isn't good enough at syncing for addresses and it can't handle calendars, notes, memos, voice memos, pictures or anything else I need to sync.

    I'm hopefuly too that someone will solve the calendar compatibility problem in a platform independant manner. I'm REALLY tired of having separate and incompatible address books for Thunderbird, Palm Desktop, Gmail, etc. Why this hasn't been an "itch" to anyone with some mad programming skilz (not me sadly), I cannot fathom.

  42. Kontact works for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Kontact works for me - much faster than Mozilla calendar, and doesn't require a webdav server (shared IMAP folder works.)

  43. I believe the PC term is by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "modern day commie".
    Hippies has feeling too you know!

    1. Re:I believe the PC term is by cshark · · Score: 1

      Open source communists? I was under the distinct impression that communists believed in centralized control and secrecy (you know, like Microsoft). Calling the open source guys communists is like calling George Washington a communist. It's non sense.

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    2. Re:I believe the PC term is by CdBee · · Score: 1

      Dot Commie, perhaps?

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  44. this is great news by suezz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    this is great news - this will help the migrations later when users finally get sick of paying microsoft for viruses and spyware.

  45. For those who don't know (like me)... by Txiasaeia · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...what the heck Evolution is, you can find more info on it here, but it's basically an email/address book/calendar program, a la Outlook, for Gnome. A link in the article itself might have helped, especially since Novell seems to be targetting Windows users like me, who also (coincidentally?) haven't heard of the program.

    --
    Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
  46. Your not the only one by bogie · · Score: 1

    "till this day I've not had an alternative to Microsoft Outlook at work"

    The whole Small business world has wanted an Outlook alternative on Windows for years now. Evolution is a excellant Outlook clone and finally brings a solid Outlook alternative to Windows not to mention the fact that its OSS. I really really really hope they bring PDA sync over as well. We can't keep waiting around hoping that someday Sunbird gets finished and Thunderbird actually becomes more than a basic pop3 client for home users(a still important role btw).

    btw Beagle, on windows...falls over...
    A top quality OSS search engine which unlike Google's shitty app might actually work with Firefox and other OSS apps like OO.org? Say it isn't so...

    You know I'm still not sure how I feel about Novell's longterm impact on Linux. Being a CNA from a while back my main memories of them are being a big proprietary technology company who screwed up everything they did after Netware 4.11 came out. I will say that in the last year they have finally started to win me over with what they are givning back to the community.

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  47. Moneydance by Master+Of+Ninja · · Score: 1

    I use MoneyDance. Although its pay for, its Java so cross-platform to an extent, and is good for basic money management. I wish the Gnucash people would at least make some steps to become cross-platform, but nobody seems to be interested in taking the challenge.

  48. Here's my question by scaryjohn · · Score: 1

    Why bother porting Beagle to Windows first? Practice? I'd figure Novell would want to prepare a polished application they can sell, instead of Yet Another Google Desktop Search Alternative.

    --
    One might ask the same about birds. What ARE birds? We just don't know.
    1. Re:Here's my question by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      I dunno...perhaps because he was working on the port before Novell hired him?

  49. Can't wait! by rscrawford · · Score: 1

    I use Kontact on my FC3 box at home for all my communication and calendaring needs. My wife, however, is a Linux-phobe: she approves of the concept, but doesn't trust her ability to learn a new OS, and has too many OS-specific applications on her computer. She's been bemoaning the fact that she's stuck with Outlook for her e-mail/calendaring needs, since there is no OS equivalent available on Windows. Finally, though, there will be an option!

    --
    -- The reason it's called the right wing? Irony.
  50. Sunbird is not a corporate calendar by Mustang+Matt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sunbird is a personal calendar. It doesn't support or have goals of being an Outlook Calendar replacement.

    For one thing sunbird's events are events they aren't tied to users, etc.

    It works great for a single person or a small group of people (i use it!) but it would never work well in a situation where events need to be tied to a user.

    --
    The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
  51. Open-Xchange by Erik_ · · Score: 1

    And it's sure will connect to the nice Novell Open-Xchange implementation.

  52. Desktop email/office doc search by CdBee · · Score: 1

    Google Desktop can't index the content of emails in anything other than Outlook / ~Express as it doesn't understand the MBOX mail format. Beagle will presumably index ones documents and the contents of their email inbox. If it's really sweet it'll index my OpenOffice docs the same way Google Desktop does my MS Office files.

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    1. Re:Desktop email/office doc search by scaryjohn · · Score: 1

      I didn't mean to suggest Beagle wasn't a worthwhile endeavour in itself. Just that Evolution has passed the 1.0 milestone (by a lot) and there's probably more pent-up profit potential in a feature-complete Outlook replacement.

      So why put the moving target that's less valuable first?

      --
      One might ask the same about birds. What ARE birds? We just don't know.
  53. Will other developers quit? by plumpy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At least one Evolution developer has said he would quit if Evolution was ported to Windows.

    He's now in a the tough spot of deciding whether to eat his words or actually quit.

    1. Re:Will other developers quit? by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 1

      "I would seriously quit", in this context, seems to be more of a emphatic statement, rather than a promise.

      --

      ---
      Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
      (I read with sigs off.)
    2. Re:Will other developers quit? by plumpy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, also, it seems like he was referring to a full port to the Win32 interface and stuff. It seems like what Tor Lillqvist does (thought I might be wrong) is just a GTK+, port, which would be far less intrusive and obnoxious to maintain.

      So, nevermind, maybe.

    3. Re:Will other developers quit? by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 1

      Yeah, maybe. Still, with an attitude like that, who'd want the twit to stick with the project?

      --

      ---
      Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
      (I read with sigs off.)
    4. Re:Will other developers quit? by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      To have half the project inside #ifdefs, make it very hard to maintain...I can understand his feelings.

      Now if they just built in an abstraction layer everything would be fine.

    5. Re:Will other developers quit? by Pecisk · · Score: 1

      AFAIK, Miguel talk about it somewhere last summer in the blog - that it will be a simple GTK+ port, which will use special GTK+ theme for Windows (forgot how it was), but that was all. I guess if we have already good system of ports of GTK+ and other libs, so why not port all what is left and do it in native GTK+ style. Support it would be much easer, too.

      --
      user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
    6. Re:Will other developers quit? by NotZed · · Score: 1

      I can tell you it will be more work than that, the code heavily uses and relies on a posix environment.

      --
      _ // `Thinking is an exercise to which all too few brains
      \\/ are accustomed' - First Lensman
    7. Re:Will other developers quit? by fejjie · · Score: 1

      If you fully read the message I sent and what I was responding to, you'll notice I only threatened to quit if we decided to do a native win32 port (e.g. not using GNOME libs).

      Since Tor is the one doing all the effort to port to win32 (non-native, e.g. depending on GNOME libs), presumably this will limit the amount of #ifdef's in the code. However, based on a recent patch I received to allow building my MIME library (GMime) over to win32, a lot of POSIX functionality is missing in the win32 environment... things like fsync() (which is useful for being able to guarentee things like data integrity on disc - without this functionality, it'd be hard for Evolution to be sure data was actually written to disc)

      According to Tor, Win32 also treats sockets and file descriptors differently (e.g. you can't use socket functions on a file descriptor or vise versa)

      Oh, and to add to the fun - socket/file descriptor ids overlap - e.g. it's possible for both a file descript and a socket descriptor to have an id of 33.

      He's also noted that each of sockets and file descriptors have different subsets of POSIX functions available.

      Go Win32! Go!

      These are the sorts of things that make me cringe when talking about a Win32 port (native or not) of Evolution.

      The maintainance of Evolution after a win32 port might (s/might/will certainly/) also become a nightmare. Imagine, if you will, that a user submits a bug report to me saying it crashes or misbehaves in some fashion and it turns out the problem is because of a bug in the Win32 POSIX implementation? It's bad enough when we find bugs in Glibc and the Linux Kernel, nevermind adding this whole new stack of problems that I'm sure we'll encounter once a win32 port has been done.

      So to summarise: the win32 port of Evolution will not be a native win32 port which reduces my nightmare considerably so unless Tor submits a patch to me which adds a considerable number of #ifdefs all over the place that make my head scream, I will likely not be quitting.

      For the most part I like my job, I like my coworkers, and... well, I like being payed (even tho I wish I got payed a lot more than I am - rent isn't cheap in Cambridge)

    8. Re:Will other developers quit? by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 1

      So he's a useful twit, is what you're saying?

      --

      ---
      Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
      (I read with sigs off.)
    9. Re: Will other developers quit? by fejjie · · Score: 1

      If by twit you mean someone worth far more to society than you, then yes... I am a twit.

      But what does that make you?

      Grow up.

    10. Re: Will other developers quit? by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 1

      No, by twit I mean someone who feels his own personal desires should outweigh the overall good. At least, in this case. "If you don't play by my rules, I'll take my ball and go home" is 3rd grade bullshit, and grown up people of talent playing by that mantra are, as I've said... twits.

      Him being a talented programmer (is it you we're talking about? - I stand by my statement either way, man is a twit for acting the way he has) has nothing to do with it. He may be a bright person, but he remains a twit.

      And I am, as I've said more than a few times on Slashdot, a rabblerouser, a muckraker, and an all around asshole. I admit it, though. Is he (you?) willing to admit that he's a complete twit?

      --

      ---
      Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
      (I read with sigs off.)
  54. MS Access by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    I agree totally. MSAccess often gets an undeserved bad rap. Its not designed for enterprise level IT apps, its desigined for end-users to create what they need, now.. and without expensive help.

    It is REAL common out there in the business world. It also does quite a bit more then most people will admit to ( or realize ). Its the 'silent member' of MSO and has to be directly addressed.

    Until you have something that a *non IT* user can use create forms/queries/reports as easily, then MSO wont be replaceable on a grand scale.

    I do see that OO 2.x will have something, but after playing with the betas, its still not going to be for the 'average user'.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  55. That's all very well, but by edxwelch · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's all very well, but when are they going to port Wine to Windows?

  56. Aqua port of OpenOffice IS being done. by dwheeler · · Score: 1
    I think you misunderstood the OpenOffice.org announcement. The Aqua port is being done... just not by the OpenOffice.org people. The OpenOffice.org folks have decided to continue to maintain the X11 port for Mac, because they think they can get their results faster (and trying to do the Aqua port in-house was problematic). See the earlier story about this.

    Yes, it'd be great if it were done faster. Volunteering?

    --
    - David A. Wheeler (see my Secure Programming HOWTO)
    1. Re:Aqua port of OpenOffice IS being done. by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Awesome news!

      Yes, it'd be great if it were done faster. Volunteering?

      If I were a programmer, hell yeah.

  57. Re:How about making evolution work on Linux first by BenjyD · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think most of the stability issues are sorted now - they certainly are on my FC3 box. I'd buy a pizza for whoever fixes Palm syncing, though. It's currently horribly broken syncing to my Tungsten E and has been for years.

  58. Migration is more than just the app by syntap · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everybody keeps saying "great, now all my users can move off Outlook". One reason why I personally haven't moved my entire desktop over to Linux is that I can't easily and reliably move all my years' worth of Outlook email, calendar, task, and notes data into Evolution.

    So a port of the app is nice, but we also need de-mensa'd data migration tools.

  59. One more time... by gdav · · Score: 1

    What we need is a really decent GPLed calendaring and groupware backend/server, which supports Outlook as a frontend.

    What we don't need is yet another spiffy skinnable GPLed frontend, that supports bloody buggering bastard Microsoft Exchange as a backend!

  60. Re:How about making evolution work on Linux first by anewsome · · Score: 1

    Well I have my doubts that the Exchange Global Address book has ever worked. It just flat out does not work. It's never worked for me and I know my configuration is set properly. Exchange support for mail is intermittent as well. Some days connecting to Exchange just stops working - app locks up and I have to go to a command line and kill it. Let's see,... what else - responding to meeting requests from Outlook senders doesn't seem to work right as well. There's no way to schedule a meeting with other exchange users since the global address book doesn't work. Matter of fact, I just checked my Evolution app and Exchange calendar support has stopped working all together. Trying to check the box next to my calendar on the Exchange server causes the checkmark to immediately uncheck itself for some unknown reason. The WebDAV calendar support also does not work worth a damn either. My WebDAV enabled calendar doesn't seem to want to work - at least Sunbird does this right, and yes I do know how to configure a WebDAV enabled calendar. Crappy experiences as well with the LDAP support. Sometimes address lookups on my LDAP server just flake out, while pine is able to do lookups on LDAP just fine - ALWAYS.

    All I'm saying is, this app has a *long*, *long* way to go before it is usable on Linux so wtf are they porting it to Windows?

  61. It's STILL the server, stupid... by samdu · · Score: 1

    Until there's a drop-in, OSS replacement for Exchange Server, with all of the functionality (more would be nice), Microsoft will continue to own the groupware arena. OpenMail was shaping up nicely before HP dropped it (I think Samsung(?) picked it up, but they haven't done anything public with it AFAIK, and it sure as hell ain't free). Why is the OSS world so averse to creating a drop-in replacement for Exchange? Almost everything else in the business world has been tackled. Exchange is the last big target.

    1. Re:It's STILL the server, stupid... by SparklingClearWit · · Score: 1

      It's spelled Microsoft, or MS if you're abbreviating. The 12-year old "M$" makes you look stupid. Microsoft DOES own the groupware arena - Lotus Notes/Domino has a ways to go.

      Obviously, you have not seen even used a 'true groupware.'

      Yup, sure have. Was a Notes/Domino administrator for some years, actually. Give me a Linux client for Domino, then. No, no, iNotes doesn't count. I want a full client that does everything the Windows fat client does.

      Domino ... sigh. What potential, what a fucking nightmare to implement and keep running cleanly. Not that Exchange is a cakewalk - each have their foibles. Notes/Domino "wins", however, for having the worst UI design, and unconventional keybindings (F9 to refresh?!). The THREE clients - Notes, Notes Developer, and Domino Administrator (yes, I'm aware they use the same framework) - all share the same bloat and unfriendliness.

      Exchange has become the defacto standard. Most Domino organizations don't use the groupware features beyond resource & calendar sharing. I've seen very few use Domino.doc or SameTime.

      If Lotus/IBM could build a better interface - basically, start over - it would be great. Perhaps they could include Notes support in the Windows port of Evolution, which could then be ported back to the Linux side...

    2. Re:It's STILL the server, stupid... by rkhalloran · · Score: 1

      Ah, but if you're already using the not-MS client, it becomes that much simpler downstream to swap out the backend with Groupwise/Lotus/whatever that uses a straight POP/IMAP + iCal interface without the masses rising up in protest.

      Once you pry the MS apps off the desktop (IE -> Firefox, Office -> OO.org, Outlook -> Evolution), migrating the backends becomes simpler by an order of magnitude.

    3. Re:It's STILL the server, stupid... by raind · · Score: 1

      Yep, not only that but Blackberry/Exchange support would be the whip.

      --
      Get up!
    4. Re:It's STILL the server, stupid... by cbreaker · · Score: 1

      And I'd like to know what the difinitive answer to the question of "What is groupware?"

      Notes and Domino are really great applications. You can design a whole business with custom applications, messaging, databases, you name it. All nicely replicated and portable.

      But it's a disaster. The Notes UI is, as you mentioned, terrible. It's so bad that there's a whole section about it in the Worst UI hall of fame web site. It's got an incredibly unconventional design that makes using Notes a chore. No matter what's on the back-end, the notes client is what everyone uses and it sucks.

      Exchange on the other hand offers very simplistic features in comparison but very serious advantages as well. Outlook is a great e-mail client. I don't care what people say about Microsoft; Outlook 2003 is great. While I believe that the only reason Microsoft has finally really upgraded Office with Office 2003 is because of growing competition, it doesn't take away from the fact that it's really good, very usuable, software.

      Exchange on the backend is stable and very hands off. If you run it on decent server hardware, it basically runs itself. We had uptimes of 99.99% last year with Exchange; the only downtimes being an upgrade to the anti-virus software and a few post-sp3 roll-ups. It's fast and it Just Works.

      People get shared calendaring, schedules, tasks, and public folders. Most people don't want more then that anyways - and if you want a custom application, most shops elect to use a web server, ASP, and a SQL database - tied into AD.

      Let's not forget one important thing about the Outlook/Exchange combo. When I send a co-worker an e-mail, he gets it instantly. No waiting 2 minutes for the client to POP or IMAP in and check mail, no delay in a web client refreshing. While this might not be important to everyone, it's a big deal for a lot of people.

      Exchange is a big application that holds people to Microsoft. Replace that and you're a good deal closer to Freedom of Microsoft.

      --
      - It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
  62. And it's a non-starter by anomaly · · Score: 1

    I love the idea of Evolution being available on more platforms. It's a nice tool.

    It's a non-starter to talk about this being a step toward moving away from Windows desktops because of the licensing agreements entrenched with the Exchange licensing.

    It's the exchange CAL that drives the costs. Let's say that you throw Outlook out on its ear. You still get to pay the MS tax as long as you use the MS back end.

    You want to get rid of the Windows desktop? Get rid of the Exchange server, then get people weaned from Outlook.

    --
    But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
  63. Put their money where their mouth is...? by dantheman82 · · Score: 1

    As you may know, Novell has been sponsoring the Mono project to port .NET over to *NIX. Maybe if they port this app for use with, they can kill 2 birds with one stone.

    More info on the Mono project here:
    Mono

    --
    This sig donated to Pater. Long live /.
  64. Not Mac? That's unfortunate. by dwheeler · · Score: 1

    Evolution is great, and a port to Windows sounds great too. But if Macs aren't included then that's unfortunate. Both Firefox and OpenOffice.org are available across Windows, Mac, Unix, and Linux. It'd be great if a good OSS/FS Email/Groupware combo were cross-platform too.

    --
    - David A. Wheeler (see my Secure Programming HOWTO)
    1. Re:Not Mac? That's unfortunate. by burnetd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In order to port GIMP to win32 Tor had to port GTK+ to win32. I would imagine that is why Novell hired him more than the GIMP part.

      The lack of a Native GTK+ port for the Mac is probably a major brick wall to a native port of Evolution to the Mac.

  65. This is great news by betelgeuse68 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    MS' Office suite has a stranglehold in corporate offices but while many people are used to Outlook, using a different email client is not out of the question. It's often Excel and PowerPoint and Word documents floating around that causes business people to have little choice (because like 95+% of their peers use it - inside/outside the company).

    Email on the other hand is a different story. I was very impressed with Evolution on LINUX. Having a Windows port would at least pry one finger on Microsoft's stranglehold in corporate offices... maybe.

    I know the /. crowd is very anti-MS but the reality is, most business people really don't care about this stuff. As long as it gets the job done they're cool. Business people who might raise an eyebrow are CIOs who want to cut costs but MS could easily give away Outlook and see the situation as a "we got take it in the gut to keep Word, Excel and PowerPoint entrenched." Do not be surprised if MS were to take such a stance.

    If they did, the motivation for CIOs to use Evolution disappears.

    There's also the security argument but many larger companies have wised up and your Joe Average User runs in a limited account to stop their desktop from becoming a festering pool of viruses.

    The /. crowd may also laugh at "retraining costs" argument (since invariably companies do consider this) since we're talking "email" here. However, given the amazing inflexibility I've witnessed with the average person during my lifetime (even among the tech ranks), there's some teeth to this argument.

    Home users often fall in a few buckets:

    1) Web based mail
    2) AOL mail
    3) Still blissfully ignorant and using Outlook Express
    4) Have a geek friend who has proselytized open source and are now running an open source email client, e.g., Mozilla's client.

    That leaves primarily the third group (and some segment of the fourth group) as candidates for Evolution. Assuming NOVELL doesn't expect to charge people for this. This will have some impact but nothing dramatic.

    I personally, gasp, went back to Outlook. I liked the changes they made in Office 2003 and they eliminated some of the annoyances I had with previous versions of Outlook. I operated with the Mozilla email client for quite some time having eschewed Office 2000 and Office XP.

    I would be happy to go to Evolution if for no other reason than I discovered that MS is as usual thwarting my attempt to run securely. Being a super savvy user (as well as a developer/security person) I happen to run Outlook in a stunted account, i.e. I run it in a different account (Windows "runas" command) and played with ACLs so that sensitive areas such as C:\WINDOWS and "C:\Program Files" can't be written to). You might ask why I didn't create a limitd account and run Outlook with that. Turns out if you do, Office will not leverage Windows XP's themes. Stupid. I don't like the "classic" Windows motif and prefer the default that comes with Windows XP. Anyway,
    I discovered much to my chagrin that despite running Outlook in this fashion if I were to run Word (under my normal desktop account), save a document, then try to reopen that document later, Word simply cannot find the document. It will repeatedly stick up an error dialog on each attempt UNTIL I close Outlook, which happens to be running under a different user!!!

    I've done Win32 development. It would seem the moronic MS Office development is generating a cookie, alias, moniker, etc., based on the window station I am logged into. They are probably using the Win32 handle and are keying into some shared memory. God for all you know they could be generating strings and putting them into the Global Atom Table.

    Why would they do such a thing? Because *no one* would EVER think of running desktop apps in a secure fashion... right? What they have done is simply architecturally unsound.

    If you are curious about Window stations:

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?u

  66. The last reason to keep Linux.... by Conor+Turton · · Score: 2, Funny
    Woohoo. Evolution on Windows. Now I can truly ditch Linux forever.

    Or is that the wrong way round?

    --
    Conor "You're not married,you haven't got a girlfriend and you've never seen Star Trek? Good Lord!" - Patrick Stewart
  67. Older Evolution in Fink by bach37 · · Score: 1

    I use Evolution with Fink in OS X, but yes I agree I'd like a current Evolution release that runs native in OS X.

  68. (correction) by Sleepy · · Score: 1

    most open sourced Windows apps have already been ported to Windows.

    Meant to say:
    most open sourced Windows apps have already been ported to Linux.

  69. Wrong Direction by tacocat · · Score: 1

    Novell is going to screw the pooch on this one. First they bought up SuSE, which got a lot of people hot and bothered about potentials for Linux Desktop becoming a reality. Then they kind of sat on their ass and starting talking about how great it will be when SuSE/Linux incorporates all the Novell technologies. Now they're looking at porting Linux applications to Windows.

    It's the wrong direction for Novell

    It's the wrong direction for SuSE

    It's the wrong direction for Linux

    1. Re:Wrong Direction by schumaml · · Score: 1

      Maybe they discovered that Open Source is more than Linux and that narrow-mindedness isn't limited to the Microsoft World?

      One by one, Microsoft Windows is taken away from Microsoft this way, and that's a good thing.

    2. Re:Wrong Direction by C_Kode · · Score: 1

      This couldn't be more right.

      Users of windows start using Evolution instead of Outlook. All the sudden they see that they don't require Microsoft and start evaluating other operating systems too...

      The point isn't to be anti-Microsoft, it's to be pro choice.

    3. Re:Wrong Direction by tacocat · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately as long as you are working on the Microsoft Operating System you are subject to the whims of the Microsoft corporation. If Evolution is released on Windows, how many weeks will it take before Microsoft releases security critical patches that also accidentally break Evolution? How many times has this same pattern happened already?

  70. Wrong. by sp0rk173 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Communists believe in communal control over communal resources, where there is a planar social heirarchy - that is, everyone is on the same level. There are no consumers, producers, or managers - just people. The controls are all artifacts of human nature taking over human intellect. In communism there are no instant-gratification, tangible incentives (namely capital, be it money, land, or equipment) to perform at a higher level. Thus, in Soviet Russia the incentives to work became not being whacked by the secret police, not being thrown into siberia, etc. But, in pure communism, no one owns anything and government, money, capital in general are not needed. Everyone works for the common good.

    Much of the centralized control and secrecy came out of Stalin and his...well...he was just fucked in the head. He brought the facism and violence to post-revolutionary Russia

    Microsoft, on the other hand, would be an example of the evils of US capitalism - incentivising the destruction/consumption of competition in the name of worldly success, with very little thought to the long-term consquesnces to the consumer. This brings your walmarts, starbuckses, the destruction of small business and the uniform feel of department stores.

    But, hey, I could just be talking out my ass.

    1. Re:Wrong. by aussie_a · · Score: 2, Funny

      But, hey, I could just be talking out my ass.

      Don't worry, Bush has that problem too

    2. Re:Wrong. by Skinny+Rav · · Score: 1

      It is getting offtopic, but I'll bite.

      Much of the centralized control and secrecy came out of Stalin and his...well...he was just fucked in the head. He brought the facism and violence to post-revolutionary Russia.

      Popular myth. Lenin's Russia was no less violent than Stalin's, although I must admit, violence was not so obscene and "random" then (like these Stalin's era "commitments" on executions - yes, local rulers were declaring how many reactionists they will execute in the following year!).

      For communism to work one has to change human nature: by brainwashing, tortures, indoctrination and what else. The problem is the same as with the tragedy of commons: everybody thinks "what does it matters if I don't work? Who am I in comparison with millions working for the common good? Noone will notice". And noone does, for sometime. And then more and more people start doing the same, and the system starts to fall apart. So instead of "corrupting" direct payment you have to find other means to make people work for common good: whacking, siberia and so on. But it is still not enough, as shown in many examples.

      So violence and terror is built into the very core of every implementation of communism. And, had I the choice, I would always choose to live in the world of Microsofts than in the world of politruks, gulags and so on.

      Seems I have too much time at work today ;-)

      Raf

  71. Lucky you by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    Your experience is not typical.

    However since 2000 and XP at least the reliability front has been much better. Still not up to snuff, but probably 1/10 of the effort involved with 9X/ME and to a lesser extent NT.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  72. Where are we going by adeydas · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is what non-geeks would do to shift to Open Source:
    Replace Windows search feature with Beagle, browser with FF, Office suite with Oo, Paint with GiMP, etc.

    This is what geeks would do to shift to Open Source:
    Install Linux.

  73. Congrats! by Pecisk · · Score: 1

    Congratulations to Novell about this great step! All the time when I install or support Windows machines (which cannot be converted yet/wound't be due of various software), I dream about version of Evolution for Windows - because Outlook is big, fat security hole and unsecure as hell (from my own expierence).

    So it is just GREAT.

    And ohh - no one wants to convert Evolution to OS X? :)

    --
    user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
  74. Awesome!!!! by msew · · Score: 1

    Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!!

    Finally windoze gets the goodness!!!!

  75. Evolution's fatal flaw.... by flacco · · Score: 1
    ...is its name. you can just write off huge swaths of the south/central US right now.

    maybe novell needs a localized version for Jesusland called Creationism.

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    pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
  76. And Evolution will propagate! by SFSouthpaw · · Score: 1
    God willing........

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    ---southpaw
  77. Offline mode by vginders · · Score: 1

    I think this is a good thing fo a start. But this won't be enough as an Outlook killer in Exchange environments.
    The one nice thing about the latest Office 2003 is Outlook's cached mode, which is an big improvement on usability for people who connect from remote offices, home, etc.
    Microsoft even advertises it as a plus in the sense that you can put one big mail server centrally and let everyone conect remotely to it, whereas before you generally wanted a local office Exchange server for responsiveness.
    Now when you now that the current Exchange connector in Evolution totally lacks any offline capability, I'm rather sceptic about how fast Evolution will get the next killer app - on Windows.

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    Serge
  78. The actual announcement text by Uukrul · · Score: 1

    Why submit a link if no body cares to read the links? The moderators that had modded you up for sure don't have read the link neither!

    It's easier if you make the work for them:
    I am thrilled to announce that we recently hired Tor Lillqvist into the Novell Desktop group. Tor is famous for his work to port Gimp and the Gtk+ toolkit to Windows, and these days he helps keep Gimp running on Windows.
    For Novell, Tor is working along the same lines, making Gtk+ and various parts of the Linux desktop stack run better on Windows to improve the experience for cross-platform developers. He is currently working on a dbus port to help complete Fredrik Hedberg's port of Beagle to Windows.
    Beagle running on Windows
    After that is done, however, his major project will be to port Evolution to Windows. The scope and difficulty of this work is currently unknown, so we don't have a timeline (or even a "development plan" to speak of), but you will be able to follow his work on the various mailing lists and on Tor's blog (once he starts one). The Evolution porting will be discussed along with all Evolution development topics on e-h.
    If you're interested in helping, I'm sure Tor would welcome you with open arms. It's a big project.
    Good luck, Tor! We're all really happy you joined! :-)

    Nat Friedman

    --
    My city: Barcelona.
  79. Hurray by skrowl · · Score: 1

    Finally a SERIOUS open-source competitor to Outlook (no offence to the Thunderbird fans out there)! Cheers Novell!

    --

    Prevent linux based DDOS's!
    http://linux.denialofservice.org/