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Lotus Notes For Linux To Be Released By IBM
gamigad writes "According to ZDNet, Lotus Notes 7.0.1 will be released for Linux. Availability is expected to be on July 24.
It ain't gonna be a free lunch, tho" It's going to be based mainly on the Eclipse framework, and it does appear that you'll be able to swap a Linux version for a Windows or Mac version if you so choose.
I'm glad to see a native version, but Notes always worked very well under WINE for me. See what can happen when you write only to the published API?
since a lot of Companies have refused to switch to Linux because of the perceived lack of software in this type of area.
I know of several IT Department heads for Fortune 500 Companies that have asked for software that matches MS Echange / Lotus Notes for Linux before they would concider switching to Linux desktops.
This is also the first step in IBM actually putting their product line behind their public stand of supporting open source operating systems, not just their money into open source projects.
The biggest drawback is the eclipse framework. Eclipse's java requires sun's jvm which conflicts with gjc. Open Office requires gjc in linux for 100% functionality, sun's jvm won't cut it.
J. Henager: If the average user can put a CD in and boot the system and follow the prompts, he can install and use Linux
I am speculating here, but I think this might have big consequences inside ... IBM.
AFAIK, Notes was the single big piece missing to allow desktop transition to Linux inside IBM. I would bet that the more geeky IBM employees that were stuck on Windows because of Notes will change.
And maybe in the future the company will encorage this.
If you consider the sheer size of IBM its no small deal for Linux deskop usage...
Just speculating though... Is there any IBMer wanting to comment?
I was a Lotus Notes administrator for Duke University - and even though I can see how at first glance the end user and IT admin would hate it - I don't I really like it actually. Great account management and features. It's all proprietary, but I think Notes is a great technology, and now runs on more platforms than Exchange.
It represents a decent answer to the "oops, someone stole my laptop at the airport" problem in that it offers both a quick recovery process and some protection that the stealers should not get at your data.
I'll be very curious as to what happens with respect to document management, whether they'll be supporting OpenOffice.org, or if there's either some other strategy (SmartSuite for Linux???), or a lack of strategy...
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Say what you will about Notes/Domino, but it is a very powerful platform than most realize. I look forward to the MS-Exchange vs. Notes/Domino wars. Thus Linux (and OS X) become more available platforms in many corporate settings which is good for everyone. And please remember, when you 'dis' Notes/Domino, you 'dis' some highly-intelligent programmers at Lotus/IBM who probably make you look like a script kiddie! I can't wait to see the evolution when Notes/Domino 8.0 arrives on the scene..I think MS is going to feel more heat from the competition.
Good god man, if you are only using it for email then you are wasting space. Lotus Notes is for COLLABORATION! It allows you to create workflow apps which are truly quite impressive. Something I have not seen done with SharePoint or anything else. The security and encryption features are impressive. I'm not a huge fan of Lotus Notes but I can seen the advantages.
Bottom line it comes down to what you are trying to do.
..and have been on design review teams and other sorts of preview programs for the "Hannover" release which is the thing that generated the work itself. This isn't Hannover (which is Notes/Domino v8) but it stems from that work.
What most people don't know is that Notes was always built to be ported. It is MOSTLY portable code. Only the user interface calls themselves -- which have always been kept apart from the rest of the code -- is platform specific. This concept of a "Separation Layer" has been in the server and client since the earliest days of the product back in the early 90's. The UI port to run within the Eclipse framework (which IBM has been a huge part of) was much easier than anyone expected.
The best news -- for those who run the product anyway -- is that this isn't a "Port" or a "reworking" of the code. This is the same secure, stable, code. It's not just "compatible" its the actual code so there won't be problems of compatibility between versions running on different operating systems. The only potential issue will be that locally stored applications will be case sensitive on Linux but not on other platforms. Sloppy programming practices then will be highlighted if users run local applications that haven't been tested on a case sensitive operating system. This has long been true on the server side.
You may or may not like the product -- that has no value in this discussion. About 120 million people use it every day, and for those people one major barrier to moving toward a linux workstation has been lifted.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
I don't have time to deal with all your problems, but I'd like to make a point about reliability...
Restarting your Domino servers once a week is not right. Domino doesn't require that. That needs to be looked at.
So - do you actually know why they require restarts?
It might not be Domino.
Seriously.
I manage a number of Domino servers in my job. Some of them have to be restarted at least once a month, often because they've begun to degrade massively in their performance - or worse, they've crashed.
The other servers are fine, and will run for months before they get restarted - and they're restarted because of OS patches or other maintenance, not because of problems on the Domino server.
Why is this? Well, one word - McAfee's Groupshield. The servers which run it require careful care and occasional kicking. The servers that don't need Groupshield on them don't have it, because it's a PITA which causes us grief.
We'd like to move away from Groupshield, but it requires lots of evaluation/testing/piloting, and we have other projects to be getting on with.
And don't think I'm singling out Groupshield. I've seen some abysmal backup programs, content security programs, and other third party add-ins in my time. Don't even think about mentioning ArcServe, for instance. Basically, lots of 3rd party software talks to Notes/Domino via the C/C++/COM/Java APIs it exposes - and not all of them are particularly well written.
Your experience with the Domino servers is not typical of others. There may be a specific cause for that - if not technical, then management or procedural. But I do find it very difficult to give your grievances ANY credit when you espouse rubbish like this that can so easily be explained, yet is related with so few details that it is difficult for anyone to easily check the facts.