By coincidence, the kroupware project has just got to version 1.0. I guess that means they think it is stable enough for production (or at least evaluation) use. The packages are available from the efrakon website. (they're one of the companies hired by the german government to develop it). Currently it consists of the kolab server and the KDE kroupware client. screenshots here
As mentioned elsewhere, outlook integration is provided via the (commercial) binari connector. The KDE client will eventually have it's functionality integrated with the new KDE Kontact integrated Mail/Organizer, though whether this will make the KDE 3.2 release is uncertain.
As also mentioned elsewhere, one of the major achievements of the project has been to develop open standards (including several RFCs) for groupware interoperation. The documentation can be found here.
It seems like the server is pretty stable and complete (mostly consists of integration of several other projects). The KDE client seems like an interim solution until Kontact is completed, or until functionality can be added to cross-platform projects like Mozilla Mail. There is also a Web client interface under development.
But, I will say that if you happen to be a fan of the Gnome environment, you're going to feel a bit restricted by KDE. Some major features are missing in KDE:
-themeable login manager KDM is somewhat themeable (look at kde-look.org) I believe 3.2 includes more flexibility in this regard... if you really think this is important.
-flexible bitmap themes that allow you to tweak window behavior into something that you want You can use any window manager with KDE, and kWin supports very advanced theming, even supporting old IceWM bitmap themes.
-granular control over the look-and-feel of the environment (multiple toolbars, drag and drop launchers, etc...) This is all available under KDE
I'm guessing you haven't used KDE in a while. It's different than GNOME, sure, but has pretty much every feature of GNOME and more in the eye-candy and look-and-feel departments
-a more standarized approach to where binaries go: '/usr/local/bin' rather than '/opt/kde' (Of course it would be better if things were more like '/usr/local/kde', but thene again I compile everything I use.)
This is distro-specific. For example, Debian dumps all the binaries into/usr/bin. KDE just needs to know what $KDEDIR is. This can be/usr/local if you want.
Many albumns are not released in vinyl. Should I complain about my rights to get any music I want in the form that _I_ want it??
Similar to the 'Can't play DVD on linux' problem. Just go out and install Windows! If you don't want to, then you can't complain about not being able to play that shiny new DVD on linux.
Ir's up to the content owners to issue in any form they want. This goes for copy-protected CDs as well. So long as they're clearly labeled and can be returned if you buy them inder the mistaken assumption that they'll play in your PC, then there's no problem.
It sucks, but it's only fair.
It's funny how the people who are most against content being distribited in a form that allows them to do what they want with it ("Information wants to be free!") manage to ridicule Microsoft for complaining that they can't use GPL code without GPLing their whole producy? Contradiction here?? Of course, the reverse is also true..
They wrote Kivio - that's how they hope to make some cash out of it.
Re:I'm a disappointed GNOME user...
on
KDE 2.2 Tagged
·
· Score: 1
AFAIK, the KDE libs are licensed under the LGPL (or less restrictive) - the rest of KDE is mostly GPL.
As you point out, QT is GPL or commercial, but once you pay the once-off license fee, you don't have any more restrictions - hardly an issue for most commercial companies, I think.
Have you used KOffice 1.1-Beta2? - KWord has come on leaps and bounds in terms of stability and usability. AFAICS, KOffice was released 1.0 way too early (it really was an alpha release). Ver. 1.1. is much, much better, and I encourage anyone who was disappointed with 1.0 to give it another tty
Kmail doesn't grok IMAP How can I guarantee a good Word format conversion?
I belive StarOffice is pretty good at this - hopefully the code can be analysed and transferred to KWord/AbiWord, although I believe AbiWord is pretty good already.
OS updates need to be better and easier for the average user. To update FreeBSD requires that you write a cvsup configuration file, and run cvsup!
No Offence, but I don't think FreeBSD is for the Average user to administer. If you are looking for a standalone, self-administered box, some of the more user-friendly Linux distributaions (e.g. Mandrake) are pretty good.
Second Final Word: printing.
I have been really impressed with the new KDE print architecture in 2.2 CVS. Especially in combination with CUPS. I believe gnome-print is coming on leaps and bounds too.
In Summary:
Pretty much ALL of the shortcomings you mention are being addressed right now, and should be much improved in a very short time (compare in 6 months). The argument that Linux on the desktop is dead is not really fair. It's in it;s infancy, but maturing quickly. Unfortunately, it has been over-hyped by people with overly-optimistic expectations.
I't like the Apple Newton. First comes out, Apple says it'll change the world, lots of hype. The handwriting recognition doesn't work so well, and it's heavy and power-hungry. Didn't mean there was anything wrong with the idea, but people were pronouncing the PDA dead back then. By the number of Palm and WinCE devices being sold today, you can see how wrong they were.
In short (ok, too late), is Unix/Linux ready for the desktop today? Maybe not. Does this mean it will never be? Not by a long shot.
Have a look at kdenonbeta/kappdock in the KDE 2.1 (HEAD) CVS.
It lets you dock any application in a seperate dockbar. It's a panel applet, but you can just hide the panel and it's still visible. It lets you dock all those old applications like XBiff, Xload just like you could in KDE 1.1.2, as well as windowmaker applets. Don't know about GNOME.
Very similar is the kdockbar panel extension added recently to the KDE 2.1 (HEAD) CVS. kdebase/kicker/extensions/dockbar. Some info can be found
here
These might be good starting places for what you want to do.
I'm using the HP/UX port of IE5 - and I must say it's pretty impressive. At least as stable as Netscape (not saying much admittedly...) - there are still some rough edges in areas such as java support and PNG displaying, but overall, it's almost as good as IE5 for Windows, which is IMHO (please don't flame me!) currently the best browser out there.
Implementation-wise though, it's a complete mess. Lots of random files, most of which I'm clueless as to what they do.
It doesn't seem to interface at all with.mailcap for mimetypes, but there are shell scripts you can change to select newsreader, mailer etc, and you can configure "Helper Applications" a la Netscape.
It does use a Windows registry for it's settings, so hacking config files to make it do what you want is nigh-on impossible.
I've heard that it's terrible as a remote X-server application (uses X at the lowest pixel-by-pixel level only), but running locally it's pretty good.
(1) ftp to the ftp.netscape.com directory in the config file supplied.
(2) download all the files
(3) unzip the ones you need (they are zip files)
(this puts everything in a./bin directory)
(4) run bin/netscape
btw - PR2 sucks - It's incredibly slow under Linux and doesn't even display the About page correctly!!
Hence, only ISP's might be liable to the usage of this patent. IE, people using a 'modem' as it was in those days, MOdulation-DEModulation. Those of us on ISDN, cable, ADSL, and com-grade services are not affected. `8r)
ISDN, cable and ADSL still use modems, they're just faster versions using more bandwidth rhan that traditionally allocated for voice. As far as I can see, this patent would apply to them too. However, since the patent writer had no idea about the WWW, I'm sure this patent is to specific to it's purpose to be enforced today. IMHO, BT are just chancing their arm and hoping for an out of court (enormous) settlement.
But you *could* have a black pixel behind a white one. It seems to me that you could use stacked LCDs to get a 3-D effect. You just use white (clear) as the transparent color. It's no different than the real world, where opaque objects obscure our view of other things behind them.
Slashdot Mirror
Hate to be a pedant but:
.
chmod -R a+rX
will do the same things quicker...
As mentioned elsewhere, outlook integration is provided via the (commercial) binari connector. The KDE client will eventually have it's functionality integrated with the new KDE Kontact integrated Mail/Organizer, though whether this will make the KDE 3.2 release is uncertain.
As also mentioned elsewhere, one of the major achievements of the project has been to develop open standards (including several RFCs) for groupware interoperation. The documentation can be found here.
It seems like the server is pretty stable and complete (mostly consists of integration of several other projects). The KDE client seems like an interim solution until Kontact is completed, or until functionality can be added to cross-platform projects like Mozilla Mail. There is also a Web client interface under development.
But, I will say that if you happen to be a fan of the Gnome environment, you're going to feel a bit restricted by KDE. Some major features are missing in KDE:
/usr/bin. KDE just needs to know what $KDEDIR is. This can be /usr/local if you want.
-themeable login manager
KDM is somewhat themeable (look at kde-look.org) I believe 3.2 includes more flexibility in this regard... if you really think this is important.
-flexible bitmap themes that allow you to tweak window behavior into something that you want
You can use any window manager with KDE, and kWin supports very advanced theming, even supporting old IceWM bitmap themes.
-granular control over the look-and-feel of the environment (multiple toolbars, drag and drop launchers, etc...)
This is all available under KDE
I'm guessing you haven't used KDE in a while. It's different than GNOME, sure, but has pretty much every feature of GNOME and more in the eye-candy and look-and-feel departments
-a more standarized approach to where binaries go: '/usr/local/bin' rather than '/opt/kde' (Of course it would be better if things were more like '/usr/local/kde', but thene again I compile everything I use.)
This is distro-specific. For example, Debian dumps all the binaries into
What about if I don't own a CD player??
Many albumns are not released in vinyl. Should I complain about my rights to get any music I want in the form that _I_ want it??
Similar to the 'Can't play DVD on linux' problem. Just go out and install Windows! If you don't want to, then you can't complain about not being able to play that shiny new DVD on linux.
Ir's up to the content owners to issue in any form they want. This goes for copy-protected CDs as well. So long as they're clearly labeled and can be returned if you buy them inder the mistaken assumption that they'll play in your PC, then there's no problem.
It sucks, but it's only fair.
It's funny how the people who are most against content being distribited in a form that allows them to do what they want with it ("Information wants to be free!") manage to ridicule Microsoft for complaining that they can't use GPL code without GPLing their whole producy? Contradiction here?? Of course, the reverse is also true..
Kivio is python scriptable, contains built in stencils and more can designed or purchased. (From whom?)
The Kompany
They wrote Kivio - that's how they hope to make some cash out of it.
AFAIK, the KDE libs are licensed under the LGPL (or less restrictive) - the rest of KDE is mostly GPL.
As you point out, QT is GPL or commercial, but once you pay the once-off license fee, you don't have any more restrictions - hardly an issue for most commercial companies, I think.
KWord and co. still crash far too often
Have you used KOffice 1.1-Beta2? - KWord has come on leaps and bounds in terms of stability and usability. AFAICS, KOffice was released 1.0 way too early (it really was an alpha release). Ver. 1.1. is much, much better, and I encourage anyone who was disappointed with 1.0 to give it another tty
Kmail doesn't grok IMAP How can I guarantee a good Word format conversion?
I belive StarOffice is pretty good at this - hopefully the code can be analysed and transferred to KWord/AbiWord, although I believe AbiWord is pretty good already.
OS updates need to be better and easier for the average user. To update FreeBSD requires that you write a cvsup configuration file, and run cvsup!
No Offence, but I don't think FreeBSD is for the Average user to administer. If you are looking for a standalone, self-administered box, some of the more user-friendly Linux distributaions (e.g. Mandrake) are pretty good.
Second Final Word: printing.
I have been really impressed with the new KDE print architecture in 2.2 CVS. Especially in combination with CUPS. I believe gnome-print is coming on leaps and bounds too.
In Summary:
Pretty much ALL of the shortcomings you mention are being addressed right now, and should be much improved in a very short time (compare in 6 months). The argument that Linux on the desktop is dead is not really fair. It's in it;s infancy, but maturing quickly. Unfortunately, it has been over-hyped by people with overly-optimistic expectations.
I't like the Apple Newton. First comes out, Apple says it'll change the world, lots of hype. The handwriting recognition doesn't work so well, and it's heavy and power-hungry. Didn't mean there was anything wrong with the idea, but people were pronouncing the PDA dead back then. By the number of Palm and WinCE devices being sold today, you can see how wrong they were.
In short (ok, too late), is Unix/Linux ready for the desktop today? Maybe not. Does this mean it will never be? Not by a long shot.
Have a look at kdenonbeta/kappdock in the KDE 2.1 (HEAD) CVS.
It lets you dock any application in a seperate dockbar. It's a panel applet, but you can just hide the panel and it's still visible. It lets you dock all those old applications like XBiff, Xload just like you could in KDE 1.1.2, as well as windowmaker applets. Don't know about GNOME.
Very similar is the kdockbar panel extension added recently to the KDE 2.1 (HEAD) CVS. kdebase/kicker/extensions/dockbar. Some info can be found
here
These might be good starting places for what you want to do.
FYI
Kylix is a Linux port of Delphi + C++Builder, so you WON'T have to program in pascal.
I'm using the HP/UX port of IE5 - and I must say it's pretty impressive. At least as stable as Netscape (not saying much admittedly...) - there are still some rough edges in areas such as java support and PNG displaying, but overall, it's almost as good as IE5 for Windows, which is IMHO (please don't flame me!) currently the best browser out there.
.mailcap for mimetypes, but there are shell scripts you can change to select newsreader, mailer etc, and you can configure "Helper Applications" a la Netscape.
Implementation-wise though, it's a complete mess. Lots of random files, most of which I'm clueless as to what they do.
It doesn't seem to interface at all with
It does use a Windows registry for it's settings, so hacking config files to make it do what you want is nigh-on impossible.
I've heard that it's terrible as a remote X-server application (uses X at the lowest pixel-by-pixel level only), but running locally it's pretty good.
I had the same installadtion problem:
./bin directory)
Solution:
(1) ftp to the ftp.netscape.com directory in the config file supplied.
(2) download all the files
(3) unzip the ones you need (they are zip files)
(this puts everything in a
(4) run bin/netscape
btw - PR2 sucks - It's incredibly slow under Linux and doesn't even display the About page correctly!!
There is slightly more info in this story on BBC news. (that was quick) 1.5GHz would be nice though...
Hence, only ISP's might be liable to the usage of this patent. IE, people using a 'modem' as it was in those days, MOdulation-DEModulation. Those
of us on ISDN, cable, ADSL, and com-grade services are not affected. `8r)
ISDN, cable and ADSL still use modems, they're just faster versions using more bandwidth rhan that traditionally allocated for voice. As far as I can see, this patent would apply to them too. However, since the patent writer had no idea about the WWW, I'm sure this patent is to specific to it's purpose to be enforced today. IMHO, BT are just chancing their arm and hoping for an out of court (enormous) settlement.
Hmmm...
But you *could* have a black pixel behind a white one. It seems to me that you could use stacked LCDs to get a 3-D effect. You just use white (clear) as the transparent color. It's no different than the real world, where opaque objects obscure our view of other things behind them.