One thing that I've thought about, and is *ugly* albeit workable
Its an interesting idea - which would be fairly simple to setup.
If this were all client side, though, wouldn't the copy of Outlook still require the use of an Exchange server?
If it did then there'd not be much justification for making the switch - as presumably people would be happy with it. If there was no need to use Exchange it would be cool though, it would just require the installation of a simple server somewhere and the COM control on each client.
(I should look to see what happens when you setup Outlook to be in the non-corporate mode - I assume that the shared stuff just disappears?)
That's interesting. Maybe you should start a fact-finding project. Just by yourself listing your goals and resources you've identified (RFCs, existing source code, API reference guides etc.) If other developers like what you've put together maybe something'll start from there.
Thats a good approach to take I guess. I was thinking about this just now, looking up the ICAL stuff - which looks pretty cool.
I just realise now, thinking about it under pressure, that a solution would be more complex than I'd originally though...
Basically I was under the impression that it would be possible to test the "appointments/calender" server in isolation, but I now realise that wouldn't be possible. In order the persuade Outlook to use that particular server you'd have to tell it that the calender server was its exchange server - which would presumably cause it to barf + die when it couldn't open the "Inbox", "Sent Items", default folders. (Not to mention 'Notes').
So, I guess it would have to be a case of starting this from an existing IMAP codebase, rather than from the calender basis - upping the entry bar considerably.
A lot of functionality I see when someone says "hey, see what exchange can do", I can attribute to any IMAP or LDAP server
I've been thinking of an open source exchange for the past couple of years. Right now I have access to an exchange + outlook environment where I can play with things.
As my current project is almost feature complete, (and well tested), I'm seriously taken with the idea of starting work on this.
However I have my reservations also: its a huge job for an individual to take on singlehandedly - and having lots of people jump in before any code is reached can lead to a terrible time where nobody agrees + things decend into lots of aimless discussion. I've always though the best open source projects are the ones started by a single individual, which has been released - then incrementally improved upon by others; here I'm thinking of the "biggies" like Apache, The Kernel itself, Samba, and Squid.
The way I see it it would be a lot of work getting a compatible stand-alone calander server working, then there'd be the simplish job of integrating that with an existing open source, assuming I'm not missing anything, right?
If anybody has any serious thoughs on this I'd love to hear them - either here, or via mail...
(OT: Why is it that Squid always seems to be neglected when people are talking about stable, successfull open source projects - Squid rocks!).
PAM module distributed with the samba project called pam_smb. It should work on any PAM enabled UNIX and should allow you to log into UNIX machines using domain usernames
I've used this a lot, to allow several of our Linux servers to share usernames + passwords with our NT domain.
I found it tricky to setup and a little flaky to start with - but once its up + running then
it works wonderfully.
I too use this system for storing all my passwords - I have a single file 'accounts.txt.asc' which stores all the passwords.
This is shared with the other sysadmin at the place where I work, and as a backup measure we both have Palm Pilots which have the accounts on them too - this is insanely handy for fixing things when you're at home, or in a webcafe connected through SSH/a VPN.
One big advantage of having something like this is that it is simple to print out all the passwords, and leave them in the company safe.
(You need to do this in case the you get run over by a bus, or similar..)
Zhaan's (the Blue girl...as opposed to the monochromatic girl)
Now I normally don't care that much about TV characters - but the monochromatic girl, (wonderful description;), is a complete babe.
I try to watch Farscape sometimes, because I occaisonally see clips that look really good - but the whole set design is very dark, and the plots are sufficiently strange that I get confused.
In the end I have flashbacks to Babylon 5, which usually makes me stop watching...:(
Even IBM clones were always more expensive than the home PC brands, though
Thats true, but the fact is that clones were available cheaply, (well cheaper, anyway), which was not the case for any other machines at that time.
None of the other machines available back then were made by more than one manufacturer.
True, but any Amiga or Atari ST fan would have attested ten years ago that those brands were vastly superior to the PC counterpart
Ten years ago I would have agreed - something like the Amiga had stunning graphics, especially when compared to an early PC with Hercules Mono graphics, or CGA.
But "unbreakable" is only true in a certain context
That's true, in fact when most people use the term breakable in crypto they actually mean "Breakable by a faster/different method than just brute force"
Its usually possible to brute-force an algorithm.. I guess the OTP is different, because its impossible to know when you have correctly decoded the message.
Yes that's correct - and it appears to be what they're doing.
Its like the equations they're sending tell
each side how to get the next 'random' number in the sequence.
I've seen stuff like this before - and its not too hard to break - say you have a seed in your random number generator, (eg. Blum, Blum, Shub), you
can then treat the rng's output as a one-time-pad.
This only works if its hard to find your initial seed.. which it usually isn't.
I have secrets.. Things I don't want others to see.
I virtually never use PGP/GPG to encrypt email - but I use them both to encrypt files on my local machine, and the machines I have access to at work.
For example.. I have lots of online accounts with places like slashdot, my bank, etc, all of these accounts have different passwords - I can remember them mostly.
But, in case I forget, I have a file 'accounts.txt.pgp', and 'accounts.txt.pgp', which contains the usernames + passwords for all of them. This is obviously something that I don't want others to read - but the comfort of having it around is big.
Another reason for using GPG is that I can sign software releases I make - I'll be honest I've never done this yet, but the next release of my MP3 streaming server will have its releases signed by my public key. (I'll also add MD5Sums for people who check those..).
I'd love an iPod, but I don't have a Mac, and I don't do Windows. The three machines in my flat all run Debian..
I'm waiting for a Linux program that will allow me to copy tunes to an iPod - then I'll buy one, (and a firewire card to use with it, I guess;).
My ideal MP3 player would be something similar to an ipod, but with an ethernet connection ion it. I can see why Apple went for the firewire, its much faster than USB - and its built in to their hardware, its just a shame that no Windows PC I've ever seen has had one.
Is ethernet so bad? 100Mbs transfer rate, and widely portable..
It's because if they decided to learn to touch-type they would initially be a lot slower than before and would have difficulty doing their job.
True, during the initial transition their net typing speed would be down - but that wouldn't last long.
And we've already accept that coders don't site and type constantly from 11-7 anyway.
I know what I'm like when I'm writing stuff, its pause for a couple of minutes to think, make some notes on the pad in front of me, type for 30 seconds. Repeat.
Slashdot Mirror
Its an interesting idea - which would be fairly simple to setup.
If this were all client side, though, wouldn't the copy of Outlook still require the use of an Exchange server?
If it did then there'd not be much justification for making the switch - as presumably people would be happy with it. If there was no need to use Exchange it would be cool though, it would just require the installation of a simple server somewhere and the COM control on each client.
(I should look to see what happens when you setup Outlook to be in the non-corporate mode - I assume that the shared stuff just disappears?)
Thats a good approach to take I guess. I was thinking about this just now, looking up the ICAL stuff - which looks pretty cool.
I just realise now, thinking about it under pressure, that a solution would be more complex than I'd originally though...
Basically I was under the impression that it would be possible to test the "appointments/calender" server in isolation, but I now realise that wouldn't be possible. In order the persuade Outlook to use that particular server you'd have to tell it that the calender server was its exchange server - which would presumably cause it to barf + die when it couldn't open the "Inbox", "Sent Items", default folders. (Not to mention 'Notes').
So, I guess it would have to be a case of starting this from an existing IMAP codebase, rather than from the calender basis - upping the entry bar considerably.
A lot of functionality I see when someone says "hey, see what exchange can do", I can attribute to any IMAP or LDAP serverAgreed.
Thanks for the reply.
Ooops thats a bit unfortunate - I'd not considered that option.
Originally the project was just 'mp3d' - but then I had the dreaded name collision, so I decided upon gnump3d as that was the licensing terms.
Still it could be worth me thinking about changing it ..
True but its expensive, and unless I misunderstand things no more open than MS Exchange.
I don't think that the cost is a problem, but I do think there's little point changing from one proprietry application to another - where's the gain?
I've been thinking of an open source exchange for the past couple of years. Right now I have access to an exchange + outlook environment where I can play with things.
As my current project is almost feature complete, (and well tested), I'm seriously taken with the idea of starting work on this.
However I have my reservations also: its a huge job for an individual to take on singlehandedly - and having lots of people jump in before any code is reached can lead to a terrible time where nobody agrees + things decend into lots of aimless discussion. I've always though the best open source projects are the ones started by a single individual, which has been released - then incrementally improved upon by others; here I'm thinking of the "biggies" like Apache, The Kernel itself, Samba, and Squid.
The way I see it it would be a lot of work getting a compatible stand-alone calander server working, then there'd be the simplish job of integrating that with an existing open source, assuming I'm not missing anything, right?
If anybody has any serious thoughs on this I'd love to hear them - either here, or via mail...
(OT: Why is it that Squid always seems to be neglected when people are talking about stable, successfull open source projects - Squid rocks!).
Especially with my opensource MP3 streaming server ...
Cheap plug I know, but almost OnTopic.
Its a shame that when its finished the author will be unable to legally distribute it.
(Only registered XBox developers can recieve it; and other users couldn't use it if they got it).
You're (both) quite right, my mistake - I got confused.
That's what happens when I remember the films more than the books ;)
The Land that Time Forgot was written by the Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - of Sherlock Holmes fame.
I've used this a lot, to allow several of our Linux servers to share usernames + passwords with our NT domain.
I found it tricky to setup and a little flaky to start with - but once its up + running then it works wonderfully.
Take a look at it here.
I too use this system for storing all my passwords - I have a single file 'accounts.txt.asc' which stores all the passwords.
This is shared with the other sysadmin at the place where I work, and as a backup measure we both have Palm Pilots which have the accounts on them too - this is insanely handy for fixing things when you're at home, or in a webcafe connected through SSH/a VPN.
One big advantage of having something like this is that it is simple to print out all the passwords, and leave them in the company safe. (You need to do this in case the you get run over by a bus, or similar..)
Zhaan's (the Blue girl...as opposed to the monochromatic girl)
Now I normally don't care that much about TV characters - but the monochromatic girl, (wonderful description;), is a complete babe.
I try to watch Farscape sometimes, because I occaisonally see clips that look really good - but the whole set design is very dark, and the plots are sufficiently strange that I get confused.
In the end I have flashbacks to Babylon 5, which usually makes me stop watching ... :(
Lets hope he doesn't get sued
By asking here you've probably told everybody anyway ;)
Would now be a good time to mention that I too am looking for a job? Sysadmin for hire, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Even IBM clones were always more expensive than the home PC brands, though
Thats true, but the fact is that clones were available cheaply, (well cheaper, anyway), which was not the case for any other machines at that time.
None of the other machines available back then were made by more than one manufacturer.
True, but any Amiga or Atari ST fan would have attested ten years ago that those brands were vastly superior to the PC counterpart
Ten years ago I would have agreed - something like the Amiga had stunning graphics, especially when compared to an early PC with Hercules Mono graphics, or CGA.
There is little evidence that cheaper wins out. A classic example is the IBM PC (and clones) which were substantially more expensive than home PC'
Thats true to a point .. but half the reason that IBM PC's came to rule the world is that they were open systems.
IBM released all the specs to things, which allowed other companies to build compatible "bits", which eventually allowed prices to come down.
(Obviously I'm ignoring the fact that an IBM PC was massively more powerfull than machines like the C64).
That's not encryption. Encryption should be reversable by somebody with the correct key/knowledge.
What you've done is erase the message in such a way that it can never be reconstructed.
That's true, in fact when most people use the term breakable in crypto they actually mean "Breakable by a faster/different method than just brute force"
Its usually possible to brute-force an algorithm .. I guess the OTP is different, because its impossible to know when you have correctly decoded the message.
Yes that's correct - and it appears to be what they're doing.
Its like the equations they're sending tell each side how to get the next 'random' number in the sequence.
I've seen stuff like this before - and its not too hard to break - say you have a seed in your random number generator, (eg. Blum, Blum, Shub), you can then treat the rng's output as a one-time-pad.
This only works if its hard to find your initial seed .. which it usually isn't.
I have secrets.. Things I don't want others to see.
I virtually never use PGP/GPG to encrypt email - but I use them both to encrypt files on my local machine, and the machines I have access to at work.
For example .. I have lots of online accounts with places like slashdot, my bank, etc, all of these accounts have different passwords - I can remember them mostly.
But, in case I forget, I have a file 'accounts.txt.pgp', and 'accounts.txt.pgp', which contains the usernames + passwords for all of them. This is obviously something that I don't want others to read - but the comfort of having it around is big.
Another reason for using GPG is that I can sign software releases I make - I'll be honest I've never done this yet, but the next release of my MP3 streaming server will have its releases signed by my public key. (I'll also add MD5Sums for people who check those..).
Well obviously there'd have to be some upload protocol - something like Samba, or rsync would be an obvious place to start..
Granted the setup would be a bit trickier, you'd have to give it an ip address, or have it us DHCP...
I'd love an iPod, but I don't have a Mac, and I don't do Windows. The three machines in my flat all run Debian ..
I'm waiting for a Linux program that will allow me to copy tunes to an iPod - then I'll buy one, (and a firewire card to use with it, I guess ;).
My ideal MP3 player would be something similar to an ipod, but with an ethernet connection ion it. I can see why Apple went for the firewire, its much faster than USB - and its built in to their hardware, its just a shame that no Windows PC I've ever seen has had one.
Is ethernet so bad? 100Mbs transfer rate, and widely portable ..
Like usenet, you mean?
It's because if they decided to learn to touch-type they would initially be a lot slower than before and would have difficulty doing their job.
True, during the initial transition their net typing speed would be down - but that wouldn't last long.
And we've already accept that coders don't site and type constantly from 11-7 anyway.
I know what I'm like when I'm writing stuff, its pause for a couple of minutes to think, make some notes on the pad in front of me, type for 30 seconds. Repeat.
"People who type a lot don't even have to look at the keys"
Actually that should be true, but I know that it isn't.
At the place where I work there are maybe 40 developers, and 10 salesy/marketting people.
Despite them being in front of a computer all day the vast majority of them cant type, and look at the keyboard.
This amazes me. I can't see why they can't type properly - surely it would be the pragmatic thing to do to learn.
Granted coding isn't a sit-and-type-continuously occupation .. but sending email is ;)