On Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Mike Blancas wrote:
> Evolution looks very much like Outlook (in terms of look and feel), I
> don't know with regards to bugs =). Try imp and the other stuff provided
> by the horde people. I think your co-workers are looking for outlook is
> because they're accustomed to the program.
The odd thing is, we haven't officially deployed Outlook, neither have we
deployed MS Exchange (we don't have any NT servers at enterprise level).
So they can hardly be accustomed to it. I suppose that what they are after
is email with file attachment integration and scheduling (individual and
group) features. I may have come from outside the third rock from the sun
in a sense since I don't know what Outlook has been marketed as being able
to do. I am inclined to believe that my colleagues read the ads and
marketing material and swallow hook-line-and-sinker. Or perhaps they've
tinkered with Outlook Express behind my back. :)
I have already deployed IMP, but the other Horde project applications
haven't really matured enough. Though I'm considering adopting the Horde
framework for developing groupware type applications, I want to know what
the office crowd is really clamoring for before I sink my teeth into
writing for anything.
The other strong candidate for web based groupware apps is phpgroupware.
But like I just said, I really need to know what the horde is after. :)
I've installed Evolution but it just wasn't ready when I tried it. Same
with Balsa. I really have little need for a GUI email client since pine or
mutt meets those needs adequately. Yun nga lang talaga, hindi para sa akin
yung hinahanap ko.
I visited the bookstores early this evening to see what titles there are
about the topic and I noted that there seems to be a strong dependence
between Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server (siyempre). Is this yet
another case where you have an embrace-and-extend scenario shutting out
competition. I understand that Outlook can work with IMAP or POP servers,
but to make the most of it, you will have to deploy at least one MS
Exchange server. The talk on other lists tells me that the licensing
schedule for deploying this might be beyond the budget of money-strapped
institutions or even small offices. Or am I mistaken?
HP had dumped continuing development on their Exchange Server workalike
and I recall Bruce Perens writing that it would have been difficult to
open source that product because of all the licensing entanglements (this
is the sense that I got) that have to be straightened out before it could
even be released. The cost-benefit did not make any good business sense,
so HP dropped the product.
It will be a long way before Linux makes real inroads into the desktop of
the average office. The applications have to be there before the end-user
will take to it. In the meantime, I will continue to search for server
based apps that help "tie" people together and meet their needs. Which is
basically what this job is all about.
Disclaimer: This post was written without thorough research and may
contain erroneous facts. It is based primarily on the author's current
state of craziness.
___ eric pareja ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ~-=[O]=-~ Here, have a clue. Get the picture.
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