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Open Source AJAX Webmail
scrasher writes "It seems AJAX webmail is all the craze. Right on the heels of both Microsoft and Yahoo launching beta versions of their new AJAX webmail clients, an Open Source startup RoundCube has released an alpha of a GPLed AJAX webmail client. While there are still many features missing (like search!), the demo they have is completely cross-browser compliant and overall very impressive."
For anyone who wants this fix, I made a q&d change to the folder listing code so that it truncates long folder names in the middle so that they don't run over and screw up your display. I submitted this patch to the author a month ago, but it hasn't made it into the trunk yet I guess.
http://suso.suso.org/programs/roundcube/
Roundcube is pretty neat, but it still has some bugs. The IMAP client caches everything so that it is faster on subsequent tries, but on large mailboxes it can be a real pain the first time. It makes for a good program to hack on though. Its just what I've been looking for to replace squirrelmail on suso.org.
Ajax is the first genuinely new thing I can think of this century.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
When you stay "startup," it makes people think they're trying to start a business around this. They're not, at least not from what I read. It's just one guy's project on sourceforge.
The big question is: Does it run on Lynx and Links?
A new record?
Free, open-source AJAX webmail--it seems we've discovered the secret formula to get slashdotters to read articles!
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Unfortunatly, I can not try the demo because the mac specific Mozilla browser - Camino- is not supported. I may be able to spoof my browser and access the mail client without any problems but isnt that what we are trying to get away from?
When I tried to compose a message the "subject" field was obscured by the remains of the "to" auto-complete window. And when I pressed "delete" I was taken back to the Inbox. Eh?
Still, it looks quite nice.
"AJAX" is a retarded and non-sensical name made up by a consulting company who wanted to make themselves sound important. I can't believe you people are falling for it.
""It seems AJAX webmail is all the craze. Right on the heels of both Microsoft and Yahoo launching beta versions of their new AJAX webmail clients, an Open Source startup RoundCube has released an alpha of a GPLed AJAX webmail client."
So I guess we have a "solution stack" for the problem of reading E-mail?
" the demo they have is completely cross-browser compliant and overall very impressive."
Could it be otherwise?
Does anyone else find it ironic ? The contact email address is : roundcube@AJAXgmail.comREMOVEAJAX
Heh, looks like their demo at http://demo.roundcube.net/ might be a little bogged down by /.
Does it get stains out of your web cache?? http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=726 45&catid=33268&trx=PLST-0-SRCH&trxp1=33268&trxp2=7 2645&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-SRCH
~jennifer.k~
This really looks cool, but is it as extensible as Squirrelmail?
We have found that we can extend Squirrelmail to present a very lite webmail presence, yet keep the functionality simple so that basic features will still work in a syncronized fashion with a heavy remote client (IMAPS).
Roundcube still needs some kind of anti-spam integration and automated signup routines, but we will certainly keep an eye on it.
Slashmail.org "The Open Source Email Company"
AJAX Security
http://roundcube.net/images/screens/mail_compose.j pg
communik8r beat yahoo, hotmail and roundcube with the idea. Sadly it looks like it has stalled. It shows a lot of promise when I played with it, but it was way too unstable for production.
...but am I the only one who still prefers pine?
I just installed it, and it seems pretty slick thus far. I think they still have a few things to add beyond search, namely:
- Server-side sorting so that all messages don't need to be downloaded in order to view, say, the 15 newest.
- Special folder support, such as Junk, Sent, Trash, etc. Currently send mail just goes off into the ether.
Other than that, I'm pretty impressed. I personally currently use Squirrelmail for my webmail needs, but it feels a bit clunky. If they can meet Squirrelmail's features (at a minimum) I can see this being used all over the place. I find the use of a DB for things like user/session/whatever management to be a bit odd, but at least actual files don't have to be used then.
Only the sound isn't that annoying *ding*, it's the sound of their server catching fire.
The less confident you are, the more serious you have to act.
Went ahead and tried it out, it's not bad looking at all. Has a way to go to replace some of the other webmail clients I've used (currently using squirrelmail on my server. Nice, simple, straightforward) but the install was quick and easy and it does look pretty. Might could use a howto on the mysql part for newbs, but I didn't have any trouble and I'm still pretty new to mysql myself. Does seem a bit slow on low-bandwidth servers like mine, but might be my fault.
Definitely keeping an eye on this, though. I'd not mind a friendlier webmail interface.
Ajax is the first genuinely new thing I can think of this century.
<inigo-montoya>You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.</inigo-montoya>
I use pine + screen for 99% of my email needs. Works great! Long lasting taste satisfaction. (And I have squirrelmail installed for the rare occasion that [a] I'm on a computer that doesn't have ssh, or [b] I want to view an attachment.)
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
My God, it's like sex with MacOSX but through the power of AJAX, it's better!
Whats commonly confused in the community, if there is no client-side xsl transformations using the browser, their is still interface load. This is not a true AJAX imap client, it is an AJA, and the xml is rendered server-side to xhtml standards.
If you are interested in a pure implementation that has been around longer thats true ajax, check out http://www.communik8r.org/
Anyone got a somewhat comprehensive list of AJAX Webmail packages? Doesnt have to be only OSS.
For a while now I've been using the web server interface on eMule, which is designed very nicely and really adds functionality.
Ultra-light hand held clients.
Like a lot of other people, I do use my Palm to surf the web.
Some browser for Palm don't have all the bells and whistle like full Javascript etc.
For some application, like E-Mails, there's (thankfully) still alternate ways to use content that are handheld friendly : E-Mail POP/IMAP software.
But there other application that are only accessible from the website, like train timetables. And if the website is "Best viewed with Explorer, Optimized for 1024x768", or only tested against mainstrem browsers (FireFox, Safari, IE), you're out-of-luck when you need to quickly check when you next train arrives. (I have luck, our nationnal train company has a light-browser friendly website).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I'd love to use roundcube, however, without LDAP support I'm fubared. Like hell am I going to recreate 2000 user accounts with no syncing of passwords!
Why just webmail? There are several open source web applications with ajaxified interfaces. Feed readers, calendars, you name it. Gregarius is exactly like roundcube and simply does to your feeds/news what roundcube does for email.
another thing it's missing is alt tags. it has a bunch of pretty buttons at the bottom of the screen, but i have no idea what any of them do. i'm guessing one of them is the logout button (as i can't seem to find one) but i have no idea.
Depends who you target with your Web site. I am in the biotech field and there are lots of companies and not too few large University hospitals having ultra-paranoically configured firewalls and Web proxies that just strip your nice javascript code from the Web request. So if you target a population like that you have to have a reasonable fallback or it means using and pissing off lots of visitors/customers etc.
From the Demo:
Too many users!
Please check back later!
I love how simple it is to navigate! The features leave something to be desired though. Hey check me out, I just wrote a CNet review!
I ask for a car and I get a computer. How's about that for being born under a bad
Excellent work, I will definately try out this mail client on my web site!
Stephen
> Does GMail use AJAX ?
Yes
> Does GMail use AJAX ?
No
- sigs are for wimps.
Well, seeing as how Microsoft invented ("innovated"?) XMLHttpRequest specifically for Outlook Web Access, I'd have to say it should be first on your list.
Software sucks. Open Source sucks less.
Is it just me or does the 2.355 line rcube_webmail() function bother anyone else?
i l/roundcubemail/program/js/app.js?rev=1.4&view=aut o
http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/roundcubema
You don't think enough... therefore you better not be!
"Well, I wanted to use Sychronized Exchange of XML, but SEX was already taken."
Not by this crowd.
Gmail has everyone beaten with its conversation grouping feature.
If the demo site is currently overloaded, has it changed significantly from the way it was a month or so ago (when I first saw it posted in a /. comments thread)?
Kerio MailServer is a nice Exchange replacement that runs on Linux and Mac OS X. It has a really nice AJAX webmail app that is a feasible replacement for a desktop app. It's not free, but it is cheap, and it's not Exchange :-)
Fortunately, it is MySQL-based. Imagine what might have happened to the poor thing if it was SQL-server based instead...
I love the use of AJAX these days. I added an AJAX powered shoutbox to my blog and people are using it like a IM client. The power of reading things real time without reloading is amazing. It's funny watching your Roundcube inbox and just seeing new e-mails pop in place. It makes me feel like I'm using a desktop application. This is where web applications are going these days... Easy to learn, easy to use. Hell.. even my grandma is using it.
People have been writing javascript-based webmail clients and other applications for YEARS. So here is another one to add to the gargantuan pile. AJAX is just a buzzword for Javascript.
Why not just use gmail. There is enough storage, and they have the money and people to take care of security, cross-platform issues, and bandwidth. Unless you have money like Micro$oft, you won't beat gmail.
A while ago xul-based pages was supposed to be the Next-Big-Thing. What happened to that? Is it being left behind because too few browsers are supporting it?
:-)
How does xul compare to ajax?
(Anyway neither is supported in konqueror so it's not like I care so much
This makes me wonder (quite on the other side of the coin) if Google will ever sell a stipped down version of Gmail for deployment on private systems. I know I would love to secure a gmail-type AJAX mail client. Luckily now it looks like that will happen for free before too long. Still, I think there is a lot of money to be made for Gogle if they sell the software.
This software just uses "XML"HttpRequest to download javascripts which it will subsequently run eval() on - no XML involved. It'd be real nice if people would wake up to the fact that AJAX is most often AJA.
-
sig sig sputnik
I've been somewhat looking for a similarly free POP webmail client that is this nice. Is there something like this for POP? I'm a mac guy, so a mac interface is a bonus. My current webmail client blows.
Wow, I used to love playing "ladders" as a kid.
ajax (start)
ajar
alar
alan
plan
pean
peat
pent
rent
rest (end)
9 steps isn't elegant, but works.
This discussion has prompted me to look into other apps... anyone use Citadel? Looks extremely cool.
Gmail clone, I'm not interested. IMO, while Google is still struggling a bit to follow the success of Gmail in other areas(Chat, RSS, etc), there still has not been single web application that has had a more positive effect on my internet activity than Gmail. Gmail was a revelation, and all that I've seen from Yahoo, MS, Zimbra, etc leaves me wanting. It's as if they can't think of a better user experience, and thus their innovation is to bring traditional desktop apps to the web. Boring. And NOT innovative, and possibly not the best solution. I would kill to have an open source version of Gmail. I can use it for my personal/freelance work, and map it to a domain, but my work won't allow me to use it for business due to privacy/security reasons. It's a shame, really.
If Roudcube had an interface to Sieve server-side filtering (that's used by Cyrus IMAPd), I would start using it today.
Without server-side filtering, it's really nasty to subscribe to high-volume mailing lists and use more than one IMAP client. If you use just one client, it's OK, just perform the filtering on the client. But single-client IMAP is like having a fast sportbike but only ride it around your house at 30 mph.
And they also need to fall back to printed paper for people without computers. And spoken word for people who can't read.
Well, it should be able to fall back to spoken word actually. It should be readbale with a screen reader for people who can't see.
Anyone know if this, or any other webmail client, is capable of handling multiple email boxes from different domains or webservers (like a local mail app)?
I guess I'll stick with Mutt.
Long Live Mutt!
I always thought it had one or more activex controls lurking around -- because of its other-browser incompatibility. I'm glad to know that there is more than one way of making my web app utterly incompatible with anything but IE.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
if RoundCube is a startup.. and their product is openSourced, how can they make money?? Same goes for Zimbra..these programmers obviously need moolah to live.
Also, is it possible to run the Zimbra webclient, without the Zimbra web server?
I wouldn't bother basing a security decision on a field whose value is supplied by the client you're not trusting in the first place. ;)
Gabriel Ricard
Wow, you're on crack.
Why do people think that GMail and AJAX are the second coming?
GMail is just webmail with a few UI enhancements.
AJAX is just an old technology that finally received a buzzword.
Parse error on line 1:
It seems AJAX webmail is all the craze.
_________________________________^
Expected "rage" at col 34
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Roundcube follows the lousy Outlook-like way of quoting messages when replying to mails. TOFU. This is really, really, really annoying, especially with mailing-lists.
Bells and whistles are fun, but please start with implementing the base of an email client : proper quoting and bottom-posting.
{{.sig}}
if you look in screenshot # 5 in the Roundcube screenshots page, the mail attachment in the message being composed is "fuckadies_bunny.jpg"
I dont know how bad I really wanna know...
Why not just use gmail. There is enough storage, and they have the money and people to take care of security, cross-platform issues, and bandwidth. Unless you have money like Micro$oft, you won't beat gmail.
Fuck that.. Why would I want to use GMail, with its false positives on non-spam, when I can have an IMAP solution which allows me to use any front end to access all my e-mail from anywhere? I can use Mozilla Thunderbird, Evolution, Outlook, Squirrelmail, or this not-ready-for-real-use RoundCube an day of the week and switch at any moment, why would I give that up for GMail which doesn't even have IMAP. Sorry, POP3 simply doesn't cut it. Nice try, though.
Then there's the spam filtering. Using SpamBayes, I haven't had a single false positive in the years that I've used it. Compare that to GMail, which not only doesn't have an option to turn off spam filtering, will file away perfectly legit messages to your spam folder.
No thanks.
GMail falls back to basic HTML.
The Javascript support in OperaMini is way too much limited.
Opera mini like almost every other light web browser that do reformating (with the notable exception of Mozilla) uses a proxy server.
Said reformating takes place on the proxy. The proxy itself implements only very basic Javascript : just enough to get a static page rendered (can support things like redirection, document.prints, or encrypted-source-with-embed-javascript-decrypter)
The browser itself may further provide a couple of other function, but it is usually limited to "alert()" popups. Nothing interesting, and specially not enough functions to get complexe dynamic stuff like AJAX working.
Add also the fact that the browser seldom comunicates directly with the server (the proxy is communicating, but for AJAX to work, the script in the page on the browser must communicate with the server), and is seldom capable of reformatting it self.
Finaly most light application like mobile phone have very limited memory and processor speed, and full standart compliant Javascript is out of question. (Most of ressources are already taken by the Java VM on which the browser is running. And the Java VM it self is usually a light VM and not a full J2EE).
Software designers must realise that they really cannot target "IE-running-on-Windows" anymore.
Even if people running other browsers and other OS are'nt new stuff, it's taking huge proportion as more and more platform get internet enabled : Handheld, wireless mobile phones, handheld game consoles, webtvs, pvrs, home gaming consoles (I did use my DreamCast a lot), public phone booths, cars,
Developpers must start considering standarts and gacefull fallbacks, because it is impossible to test all different solutions. And as these weird browser become more common, people will use them more, because they like to access some information "on-the-go".
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Opera Mini is an alternative for people with low-end phones, and for content delivery solutions.
Clever signature text goes here.
Try this in your main.inc.php:
$rcmail_config['sent_mbox'] = 'INBOX.Sent';
My Courier IMAP server wasn't saving the Sent messages with the default setting of 'Sent' but this seems to have done the trick. I'm pretty sure I did nearly the same thing in Squirrelmail with the $sent_folder value in config.php
- Jason
Well, at least linux certainly is not meant for multi-tasking; I only have 6 virtual terminals, 4 GDM-flexiservers each running KDE with screen flipping enabled and 9 virtual desktops each. That works out to 42 workspaces, and the only window open is slashdot. I guess that makes it zero-tasking, but what ever.