At 08:55 AM 3/16/2002 -0800, you wrote: >The thing that surprises me after thinking about it is >that M$ Exchange does not do anything that can't be >replaced. I mean, it seems to me that once Lotus Notes >was crushed in the marketplace, M$ focused it's >attention elsewhere. M$'s attitude at first with >Exchange was that it would be a kickass groupware >platform, but it ain't. As others have pointed out, >there are many features of Exchange and Outlook that >nobody uses.
It has been my experience that people don't want to use multiple applications to accomplish what can be done in a single product via Exchange-Outlook or Notes. (By the way, Notes still has a huge following in the corporate world. Don't count it out yet or in the future.) I'm not backing Exchange, I'm just saying that it does deliver a lot in the groupware arena. I only wish we had something that offered a similar, cohesive package without the problems of Exchange. Again, we have the back-end already. What we need is a strong client application to tie everything together. Basically, here is what is commonly referred to as groupware applications, and what we already have: IM - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: Yes Mail - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: Yes Secure Mail - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: Yes Directory Services - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: Yes Netnews - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: Yes Group Calendar - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: ? Document Management - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: ? Custom Groupware Applications - Exchange: Yes - UNIX: ? We have almost all of the pieces, and most of the pieces we have are more stable and better tested. I think something that puts all of this together can really revolutionize Linux and UNIX as a desktop. >Most of the employees do not use shared calendaring. >We do use Exchange public folders a bit, but it can be >replaced with other tools. What's the status of iCal? >Are there any free iCal servers out there? > >Documenting the process would be the smart thing to >do, though I can't promise anything. I'm already a >year late on documenting another project. :) That's no excuse! I feel a magazine article coming out of this with a nice John Hebert byline. Regards, Dustin --- Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Information Systems Contractor http://members.telocity.com/~dpuryear PGP Key available at http://www.us.pgp.net In the beginning the Universe was created. This has been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams ================================================ BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change your subscription information. ================================================
