It was only a year or two ago that Ximian finally figured it out.
Ximian hasn't figured out the MAPI, they use WebDAV as their line protocol, I suspect. Could be wrong. Exchange supports WebDAV access.
Trying to reverse MAPI line protocol is insane. What you want to do is write a client-side connector, like all the vendors in the article. I'm working on one at openconnector.org
MAPI, btw, is a semi-documented standard. There are at least two books on it. But still, MS keeps tweaking it and doesn't release the changes, so we have to go back and reverse engineer those changes. In all its just a lot of coding, rather and reverse engineering.
But help is always needed. The code is still in alpha, though I'd like to release the first public Beta in November, in time for the projects 3 year aniversary.
Problem is that this is not a simple piece of software; there's a reason it hasn't been done. Very few people understand MAPI, and those who do, understablely want to get paid for doing it.
We need people experienced in MAPI, funds to offset coding time, etc.
I don't blame them but I think it's a dirty trick by Microsoft. I love OSS and use it at home at work and on project I create. We need to keep our talent.
Shame on you MS.
We need our talent? Who the '*&$%' are you?!!
Dude, people need to make a living. Opensource developers still have bills to pay. Hiring them, for what ever reason, is a good thing for them and their families.
Could you please stop being so damn selfish?!
I have many issues with Microsoft's business practises, but if there is one thing respectable about them is the about of good engineers they continue to employ over the years.
I spend 10-20 hours/week developing opensource on top of my fulltime job.... Simply because it entertains me. But anyone that neglects their career to work on projects for free I think should have their head examined.
I know it kind of goes against the whole portability idea, but no ethernet?
This would be the perfect cheap 'terminal' for bluetooth phones with internet but screens that are too small. With a MSRP of $350 I am sure we will be seeing those for $299 very soon, so it's way cheaper than most PDAs.
I agree that the WiFi only decision is a bit disappointing.
Am I the only one around here that believes a lot of those 'great' anime films are terribely shallow? Is there 'intelligent' anime out there?
Miyasaki's movies are great, I've seen just about every one released in the US. But besides one or two over movies and series ( eg. Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop ), Anime movies quite often suffer from...
Flat Characters - Eg. Isolated loner teenager
Standard Plots - Eg. Isolated loner teenager becomes empowered.
Bad Art - Eg. Static screens that hold for seconds as dialog proceeds.
Bad titilation - Eg. Half naked girls that
look 15 but have supermodel bodies.
Etc, Etc.
I continue to search through those movies, hoping to find gems ( I watch a lot of film ). But not holding my breath.
I have been a netflix subscriber for about 6 months now. They advertise unlimited accounts, but hold your shippments even when they are in stock to slow you down if you start getting too many. This is my last month. Can anyone recomend another?
I've been a Netflix subscriber for almost 2 years, blockbuster for maybe about 3 months now and I am probably the most hated customer at Netflix.com and blockbuster.com
If I send out a movie on say Monday, I get that movies replacement by at least Friday. Everytime.
You see, I have a movie addiction and watch about 6+ movies a week ( never watch television or play video games otherwise though, so this translates to well under 10hrs/week of tube-time ).
I watch and return movies to netflix and blockbuster.com as fast as they send them usually. Overall I get to watch about the same amount of movies from each. That is 3-4 movies per week.
Netflix has always been honest, and blockbuster reasonalbly so as well. Blockbuster has a gimmick price though ( $15.99 is introductory, it's actually $25/mn ), but they give 2 instore rentals per month ( which I need for quick fixes ).
The difference is the web interface. Blockbuster's is clumsy. You don't get your recommendations on the first page like Netflix does. Netflix gives me, personally better movie recommendations but that maybe because have rated almost 700 movies with them. Netflix also gives links of critic links and customer reviews on every movie page. You can even see how many customers have rated a movie. Blockbuster's killer feature to me is that you can search movies by writer. Netflix needs this badly.
For a long time I've thought that a calendar server that integrates with Outlook is the missing killer app for open source.
I thought so too, and started OpenConnector.Org a while ago to fix this.
An Outlook connector would allow the thousands of Microsoft Outlook users to connect to a CalDAV calendar server or something like Hula
Although we've come a long way with the OpenConnector project ( we now have a MAPI Message Store that loads, and lots of code to base the Transport Provider off of...) a full Outlook connector is still a lot more work. Most completed commercial connectors, I've heard are developed by a team of fulltime developers, so help is *always* needed. Even simple things like
the network protocol library, which requires no knowledge of Outlook or MAPI.
At any rate, I think it is a good time for internet calendaring, especially with CalDAV coming out with so much support ( OSA Foundation, Oracle, Mozilla, and many others... ), and on track ( 5 drafts in a few months ).
First, Big Blue opens up 500 patents to OSS developers and OSS companies. Then we hear that Tridgell (the guy who makes Linux interoperate with Windows computers) gets a job at OSDL... is it just me or is something BIG about to go down?
IBM opens up a few of their patents ( they have thousands, don't they? ) and Tridgell gets, deservely, funding to continue his work.
How on earth does that spell trouble???
I smell trouble and it smells like Sun and MS;)
Dude, if Sun wanted to give trouble all they have to do is to stop pouring money into OpenOffice and Java on Linux. I'd argue that Linux middleware market is almost entirely due to Java's ubiquitousness.
He is on Mozilla's board for crying out loud. He is simply saying that the battle is far from over. A valid observation.
Kapor's put a lot of time, money, and probably other resources into open source. They are many who just talk a good game, and then there are others like Kapor who put millions into open source.
But hey, don't let that get in the way of a perfectly good lynching.
There needs to be a project initiative similar to what Samba has done for SMB, namely reverse-engineering the protocol used between Outlook and Exchange. That way, full integration without additional drivers would be possible.
Not entirely practical. There is no real protocol between exchange and Outlook traditionally. The whole thing has been done via RPC. Samba did it, but that took an enormous amount of effort. Effort, at least for MAPI, that can be broken very easily.
The best solution I've found, and I am working on, is to write a Outlook connector via Extended MAPI. Our connector is called The Open-Source Outlook Connector Project.
Mozilla plans to use a protocol called CalDAV, which is still in development. We're developing for the same protocol. Hence Outlook and Mozilla would be compatible as far as Calendars go.
"Thunderbird does not offer an equivalent comparison to Microsoft Office Outlook," Microsoft said in a statement. "Customers expect much more than simple calendaring and the ability to send and receive e-mails. The integration of Exchange and Outlook far outweighs any feature that Thunderbird may deliver, and we don't see it as being applicable for serious business use."
Checkout The Open-Source Outlook Connector Project. The project aims to provide a open source connector for Microsoft Office Outlook compatible with other open protocol clients, eg. Mozilla.
So that Microsoft spokesperson will have to come up with something else very soon.
Imagine being a nerdy black kid. I was. The black kids sometimes though that I was "trying to be white" because I was good at math. The white kids often resented that I was "showing off" that I was good at math.
As another nerdy black kid, I have had plenty of time coming to terms with that phenomena. The problem is race perception.
Many very well-meaning people unknowingly sterotype the intelligence and preferences of others. They reserve their limited use the latest "street slang" for you, even if you usually converse with them in near perfect english. They comment that the music at the party sucks and they'd much rather rap hoping to strike a cord. They are nice people, but that attitude is very dangerous when that person needs to interview you for a job or somehow otherwise assess your capabilities.
The sad thing is that after a while people begin to lean towards what is expected of them.
I highly, highly recommend
Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004. The essays in this book cover race and other socio-economic factors affecting pop culture and race perception, amongst over things. Coves all the new trends, eg. What does the Bohemian movement and modern rap have in common? This was a mind-opening book, the best I've read all year.
Didn't Microsoft try to make their own Java implementation(J++) and didn't sun go after them for it because it didn't stick to the java standards? Is that open source?
Sun went after Microsoft because they had a contractual agreement which stated they had to produce a product with certain attributes before they can call it "Java".
Sun has never prevented alternative Java implementation, there are
many.
So I sent an email off, and got a very quick response saying I had to complete this huge form and fax it back and then I may qualify.
Certainly a cathedral model.
Ok, let me get this straight...
Sun's model is cathedral like because you had to fill and fax a form?!
You are only stuck with the JRE for Java because Sun keeps you from having a choice. If Java were an open standard, there would be dozens of different implementations, and those implementations would work out amongst themselves what features were important core features and what features were vendor-specific extensions.
Yeah right! Magical open-source developers will come out of nowhere right?
If you want open-source Java, and feel serious about helping out, then you have GCJ and Kaffe.
Sun has allowed alternative JVMs for a long time and there are now
many other JVMs to choose from.
You have your opportunity you develop Open-source Java, put your time and money where your mouth is, support Kaffe today!
Or do you just want to freeload off Sun's investement in their JVM?... Even if they already provide it for free.
It all comes down to community involvement. And both Linux and Java communities do a very good job at that.
Btw...
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if a more organizationally-minded person ran the kernel development?
Linus is very authoritative, and has yet to form an official public community/legal entity that develops and protects the kernel in the 10 year+ that he has been doing it.
What happens if he gets hit by a bus?
Heck what happens today when large factions of kernel developers disagree with him? ( Kernel debugger )
I am not saying Linus is doing a bad job; but couldn't the Linux kernel as an organization be a lot further than it is today?
Disclaimer: This is not meant to be an anti-American or anti-Bush post.
But people seriously... Do you think that the US government ( especially the current go-it-alone administration ) puts much stock in treaties? I mean I am honestly asking here.
There are a lot of people that enjoy either one or both services; But I am beginning to realize XM is more my style.
If you are looking at getting either services, here are a few lessons I learned over the last year and a half....
(i) XM seems to be going for the "deep playlist" crowd whilst Sirius is going for the "I would like to hear my favorite song many times a day" crowd. both approaches are valid. Depends if you are the type of person who likes pounding hits all day or, if you are the type of person who likes to listen to the "B" sides of records.
(ii) XM's pricing approach is to have a cheap base price $9.99 but charge for services after that ( premium channels, online streaming is extra ), etc. Sirius has plans for premium channels, but have so far resisted the effort, they trying to have a hefty base package. I use streaming, but I would like for it to be optional, since I may what to go with yahoo launch ( once they start supporting Mozilla ) or real radiocast.
(iii) Do not depend on the FM transmitter. Those things produce horrible sound. If you live in a city, forget it; you're going to be dodging stations on even short commutes.
(iv) They both have less than CD quality sound and expect it to get worse as they try to cram more and more obscure stations in very limited bandwidth.
A healthy dose of common sense here could really make energy efficiency ideas more popular.
That's the thing about common sense. There's an old quote about common sense that says "For every complex problem there's a solution that's simple... and wrong."
We need more people installing compact flourescent lamps and water heater blankets...not $20,000 solar panel arrays.
Those early adopters are the ones are helping these promising technologies get more and more affordable through their, what basically is, debugging.
I little foresight would help see that those $20,000 panel may one day be a lot cheaper than they are now, and ultimately are much more environmentaly sound than just "slightly reduced" use of coal/nuclear energy.
It proves you don't need violence and conflict to have a great story
You had conflict. I'm sorry bub, you always have conflict.
Totoro was a brilliant movie. The plot was man against nature, or "man vs. forces he can not control". The baby sister getting lost was the climax of the movie. The mother being ill also provides some elements of this type of plot.
comes to mind when I read this quote from the newsforge article...
IBM says it is making the donation to help spur Java database development that will eventually lead more users back to the WebSphere server line. On the other hand, Cloudscape was never a big seller in the enterprise market, and IBM was faced with either releasing it to the open source community or possibly dropping it entirely from its catalog.
IBM did not have to do this, and the product still has lots of value.
Slashdot Mirror
Ximian hasn't figured out the MAPI, they use WebDAV as their line protocol, I suspect. Could be wrong. Exchange supports WebDAV access.
Trying to reverse MAPI line protocol is insane. What you want to do is write a client-side connector, like all the vendors in the article. I'm working on one at openconnector.org
MAPI, btw, is a semi-documented standard. There are at least two books on it. But still, MS keeps tweaking it and doesn't release the changes, so we have to go back and reverse engineer those changes. In all its just a lot of coding, rather and reverse engineering.
Before you choose to critize, the project has over 12K lines of code and proof-of-concepts that work.
Sorry I'm one of the people that project competition in the OSS space is WAY overblown and just spreads the talent thin.
That's the talent's decision, now isn't it? Attitudes like that that give me second thoughts on releasing my code open-source.
The lack of an open source Exchange alternative and the lack of Linux penetration on the desktop are direct results of this.
What does that have to do with me?
Nobody owes you anything.
But help is always needed. The code is still in alpha, though I'd like to release the first public Beta in November, in time for the projects 3 year aniversary.
Problem is that this is not a simple piece of software; there's a reason it hasn't been done. Very few people understand MAPI, and those who do, understablely want to get paid for doing it.
We need people experienced in MAPI, funds to offset coding time, etc.
I don't blame them but I think it's a dirty trick by Microsoft. I love OSS and use it at home at work and on project I create. We need to keep our talent. Shame on you MS.
We need our talent? Who the '*&$%' are you?!!
Dude, people need to make a living. Opensource developers still have bills to pay. Hiring them, for what ever reason, is a good thing for them and their families.
Could you please stop being so damn selfish?!
I have many issues with Microsoft's business practises, but if there is one thing respectable about them is the about of good engineers they continue to employ over the years.
I spend 10-20 hours/week developing opensource on top of my fulltime job.... Simply because it entertains me. But anyone that neglects their career to work on projects for free I think should have their head examined.
...Guess skipping all those reading and comprehension classes in high school wasn't such a good idea after all.
I know it kind of goes against the whole portability idea, but no ethernet?
This would be the perfect cheap 'terminal' for bluetooth phones with internet but screens that are too small. With a MSRP of $350 I am sure we will be seeing those for $299 very soon, so it's way cheaper than most PDAs.
I agree that the WiFi only decision is a bit disappointing.
Am I the only one around here that believes a lot of those 'great' anime films are terribely shallow? Is there 'intelligent' anime out there?
Miyasaki's movies are great, I've seen just about every one released in the US. But besides one or two over movies and series ( eg. Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop ), Anime movies quite often suffer from...
Flat Characters - Eg. Isolated loner teenager
Standard Plots - Eg. Isolated loner teenager becomes empowered.
Bad Art - Eg. Static screens that hold for seconds as dialog proceeds.
Bad titilation - Eg. Half naked girls that look 15 but have supermodel bodies.
Etc, Etc.
I continue to search through those movies, hoping to find gems ( I watch a lot of film ). But not holding my breath.
I've been a Netflix subscriber for almost 2 years, blockbuster for maybe about 3 months now and I am probably the most hated customer at Netflix.com and blockbuster.com
If I send out a movie on say Monday, I get that movies replacement by at least Friday. Everytime.
You see, I have a movie addiction and watch about 6+ movies a week ( never watch television or play video games otherwise though, so this translates to well under 10hrs/week of tube-time ).
I watch and return movies to netflix and blockbuster.com as fast as they send them usually. Overall I get to watch about the same amount of movies from each. That is 3-4 movies per week.
Netflix has always been honest, and blockbuster reasonalbly so as well. Blockbuster has a gimmick price though ( $15.99 is introductory, it's actually $25/mn ), but they give 2 instore rentals per month ( which I need for quick fixes ).
The difference is the web interface. Blockbuster's is clumsy. You don't get your recommendations on the first page like Netflix does. Netflix gives me, personally better movie recommendations but that maybe because have rated almost 700 movies with them. Netflix also gives links of critic links and customer reviews on every movie page. You can even see how many customers have rated a movie. Blockbuster's killer feature to me is that you can search movies by writer. Netflix needs this badly.
I thought so too, and started OpenConnector.Org a while ago to fix this.
An Outlook connector would allow the thousands of Microsoft Outlook users to connect to a CalDAV calendar server or something like Hula
Although we've come a long way with the OpenConnector project ( we now have a MAPI Message Store that loads, and lots of code to base the Transport Provider off of...) a full Outlook connector is still a lot more work. Most completed commercial connectors, I've heard are developed by a team of fulltime developers, so help is *always* needed. Even simple things like the network protocol library, which requires no knowledge of Outlook or MAPI.
At any rate, I think it is a good time for internet calendaring, especially with CalDAV coming out with so much support ( OSA Foundation, Oracle, Mozilla, and many others... ), and on track ( 5 drafts in a few months ).
IBM opens up a few of their patents ( they have thousands, don't they? ) and Tridgell gets, deservely, funding to continue his work.
How on earth does that spell trouble???
I smell trouble and it smells like Sun and MS ;)
Dude, if Sun wanted to give trouble all they have to do is to stop pouring money into OpenOffice and Java on Linux. I'd argue that Linux middleware market is almost entirely due to Java's ubiquitousness.
Kapor's put a lot of time, money, and probably other resources into open source. They are many who just talk a good game, and then there are others like Kapor who put millions into open source.
But hey, don't let that get in the way of a perfectly good lynching.
Not entirely practical. There is no real protocol between exchange and Outlook traditionally. The whole thing has been done via RPC. Samba did it, but that took an enormous amount of effort. Effort, at least for MAPI, that can be broken very easily.
The best solution I've found, and I am working on, is to write a Outlook connector via Extended MAPI. Our connector is called The Open-Source Outlook Connector Project.
Mozilla plans to use a protocol called CalDAV, which is still in development. We're developing for the same protocol. Hence Outlook and Mozilla would be compatible as far as Calendars go.
"Thunderbird does not offer an equivalent comparison to Microsoft Office Outlook," Microsoft said in a statement. "Customers expect much more than simple calendaring and the ability to send and receive e-mails. The integration of Exchange and Outlook far outweighs any feature that Thunderbird may deliver, and we don't see it as being applicable for serious business use."
Checkout The Open-Source Outlook Connector Project. The project aims to provide a open source connector for Microsoft Office Outlook compatible with other open protocol clients, eg. Mozilla.
So that Microsoft spokesperson will have to come up with something else very soon.
As another nerdy black kid, I have had plenty of time coming to terms with that phenomena. The problem is race perception.
Many very well-meaning people unknowingly sterotype the intelligence and preferences of others. They reserve their limited use the latest "street slang" for you, even if you usually converse with them in near perfect english. They comment that the music at the party sucks and they'd much rather rap hoping to strike a cord. They are nice people, but that attitude is very dangerous when that person needs to interview you for a job or somehow otherwise assess your capabilities.
The sad thing is that after a while people begin to lean towards what is expected of them.
I highly, highly recommend Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004 . The essays in this book cover race and other socio-economic factors affecting pop culture and race perception, amongst over things. Coves all the new trends, eg. What does the Bohemian movement and modern rap have in common? This was a mind-opening book, the best I've read all year.
Sun went after Microsoft because they had a contractual agreement which stated they had to produce a product with certain attributes before they can call it "Java".
Sun has never prevented alternative Java implementation, there are many.
As far as open-source there is Kaffe, GNU Classpath, GCJ, Jikes and others.
All those projects need help. And I am sure Sun is not the reason they are not getting it.
Put your money and time where your mouth is and support open-source Java
Ok, let me get this straight...
Sun's model is cathedral like because you had to fill and fax a form?!
Yeah right! Magical open-source developers will come out of nowhere right?
If you want open-source Java, and feel serious about helping out, then you have GCJ and Kaffe.
Sun has allowed alternative JVMs for a long time and there are now many other JVMs to choose from.
You have your opportunity you develop Open-source Java, put your time and money where your mouth is, support Kaffe today!
Or do you just want to freeload off Sun's investement in their JVM?... Even if they already provide it for free.
Why select a name that has a specific meaning in your own sector?
This creates unnecessary confusion. A marketing faux pas that could have been easily avoided by simply choosing a lessor known acronym.
It all comes down to community involvement. And both Linux and Java communities do a very good job at that.
Btw...
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if a more organizationally-minded person ran the kernel development?
Linus is very authoritative, and has yet to form an official public community/legal entity that develops and protects the kernel in the 10 year+ that he has been doing it.
What happens if he gets hit by a bus?
Heck what happens today when large factions of kernel developers disagree with him? ( Kernel debugger )
I am not saying Linus is doing a bad job; but couldn't the Linux kernel as an organization be a lot further than it is today?
But people seriously... Do you think that the US government ( especially the current go-it-alone administration ) puts much stock in treaties? I mean I am honestly asking here.
Remember Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? Also http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/newnuclearwe aponsissuebrief.asp
Why is this even news?
If you are looking at getting either services, here are a few lessons I learned over the last year and a half....
(i) XM seems to be going for the "deep playlist" crowd whilst Sirius is going for the "I would like to hear my favorite song many times a day" crowd. both approaches are valid. Depends if you are the type of person who likes pounding hits all day or, if you are the type of person who likes to listen to the "B" sides of records.
(ii) XM's pricing approach is to have a cheap base price $9.99 but charge for services after that ( premium channels, online streaming is extra ), etc. Sirius has plans for premium channels, but have so far resisted the effort, they trying to have a hefty base package. I use streaming, but I would like for it to be optional, since I may what to go with yahoo launch ( once they start supporting Mozilla ) or real radiocast.
(iii) Do not depend on the FM transmitter. Those things produce horrible sound. If you live in a city, forget it; you're going to be dodging stations on even short commutes.
(iv) They both have less than CD quality sound and expect it to get worse as they try to cram more and more obscure stations in very limited bandwidth.
(v) Do check xmfan.com and siriusbackstage.com to find the problems current users are having.
A healthy dose of common sense here could really make energy efficiency ideas more popular.
That's the thing about common sense. There's an old quote about common sense that says "For every complex problem there's a solution that's simple... and wrong."
We need more people installing compact flourescent lamps and water heater blankets...not $20,000 solar panel arrays.
Those early adopters are the ones are helping these promising technologies get more and more affordable through their, what basically is, debugging.
I little foresight would help see that those $20,000 panel may one day be a lot cheaper than they are now, and ultimately are much more environmentaly sound than just "slightly reduced" use of coal/nuclear energy.
You had conflict. I'm sorry bub, you always have conflict.
Totoro was a brilliant movie. The plot was man against nature, or "man vs. forces he can not control". The baby sister getting lost was the climax of the movie. The mother being ill also provides some elements of this type of plot.
IBM did not have to do this, and the product still has lots of value.
How is Linux suppose to be ready for the desktop if developers/users continue with 'patents be damned' attitude?
Xine and MPlayer aren't legal in many major markets. That rules them out for many of us.
Helix is legal and backed by RealNetworks legal department.