It's not necessary to build a 3rd party mail client.
As has been pointed out, you can use any mail client you like with Notes. The server supports: IMAP and POP as well as having a plug-in application for Outlook. So if your only complaint is about Notes as a mail client, there's no reason not to move onto a different client.
Also, Notes has a full-featured webmail interface.
That said, there is a group out there creating open-source apps for Notes: OpenNTF.org. They've created their own version of the mail template used by the Notes client. IBM has recently added some of their features back into the official mail client.
Speaking of which, the mail template, and every other Notes template from IBM, is released along with the source code. I don't know of a Notes shop out there that hasn't made customizations to the default mail design.
I almost hate to point this out, knowing Slashdot's general attitude toward Lotus Notes, but the new version (8) is going to have a native Linux client. IBM says they're commited to releasing full-featured clients for Linux and OSX as well as Windows. That gives about 45% of the corporate world a valid option.
This new version is based on the Eclipse platform and seems to be a complete rewrite of the Notes client. Looks pretty shiny:
http://edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/hannovers creenshots.html
Let the flaming begin....
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It's not necessary to build a 3rd party mail client. As has been pointed out, you can use any mail client you like with Notes. The server supports: IMAP and POP as well as having a plug-in application for Outlook. So if your only complaint is about Notes as a mail client, there's no reason not to move onto a different client. Also, Notes has a full-featured webmail interface. That said, there is a group out there creating open-source apps for Notes: OpenNTF.org. They've created their own version of the mail template used by the Notes client. IBM has recently added some of their features back into the official mail client. Speaking of which, the mail template, and every other Notes template from IBM, is released along with the source code. I don't know of a Notes shop out there that hasn't made customizations to the default mail design.
I almost hate to point this out, knowing Slashdot's general attitude toward Lotus Notes, but the new version (8) is going to have a native Linux client. IBM says they're commited to releasing full-featured clients for Linux and OSX as well as Windows. That gives about 45% of the corporate world a valid option. This new version is based on the Eclipse platform and seems to be a complete rewrite of the Notes client. Looks pretty shiny: http://edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/hannovers creenshots.html
Let the flaming begin....