Karl Bowden wrote:
If a company was to use this (OGo) as an exchange server and evolutionFor that combo, currently yes. However if you were happy with mozilla calendar I think it can talk to http:// iCalendar files which (according to the diagram) are covered:
as the client, does this mean that one would still have to purchase the
Evolution Connector?
http://www.opengroupware.org/en/devs/docs/SxArchitecture.html
I would have prefered if they had implemented CAP (http://www.calsh.org) and written client plugins for them but there you go.. Maybe later. Another alternative might be GLOW which is the OOGW GUI Client written in Java.
BTW This news also made /. With the usual bunch of interesting opinions expressed.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/10/1240242&mode=thread&tid=185
Stu
-Karl
On Fri, 2003-07-11 at 10:19, Stuart Guthrie wrote:
For the uninitiated. This project replaces MICROSOFT EXCHANGE (in collaboration with your favourite mail server/imap server/ldap server that is). Something a lot of sluggers and others have been after for a long time (me included). It has definately been a stumbling block on the way to moving larger exchange-dependent companies to Open Source.
This project looks very, very cool to me. Considering it has been tested in the field ie live installs by a German company (Skyrix) who have now open sourced lots of the code. I can not implement for customers an LGPL Group Ware Server.
It does server-based calendaring to Outlook, via a plugin to Evolution (ie on a linux desktop) and has a webclient, an XML-RPC client and a Palm Sync Client. This diagram will give you an idea of the scope of this offering:
http://www.opengroupware.org/en/devs/docs/SxArchitecture.html
I think if you are a sysadmin looking to extend the leap of Linux into organisations this really ought to be looked at.
I'll be doing the download and testing this software. It could make a great talk @ slug if it all hangs together.
As to code quality, who really knows. I've heard sendmail, gnome, kde, mailman, openldap and many other open source products lambasted for code quality in their time but from the end-user prespective they are out there and doing their job. As we all know, exposure to open source sets of eyes will (probably) improve the code base rapido.
Stu
Jeff Waugh wrote:
Unfortunately, it's been reviewed to me as a "end-of-life unmaintainable pile of dung product", but here's the media release. :-) It's a good kick start, if nothing else.
- Jeff
-----
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW PROJECT FORMED: OpenGroupware.org, AS SKYRiX OPEN SOURCES ITS GROUPWARE SERVER
July 10, 2003 - OpenGroupware.org ('OGo') project announces its formation and the release today to the worldwide open source development community of its groupware server software. The software provides the server components necessary for full office collaboration with the OpenOffice.org suite and various other Linux and Windows groupware clients. OGo software runs on Linux and Solaris (www.OpenGroupware.org)
The OGo project is a fully independent open-source project, but will inter-operate with the OpenOffice.org software and other similarly open clients via open standards.
The OGo software is based initially on the contribution of the code of SKYRiX 4.1 Groupware Server, a mature product that has been in development for 7 years, and one of the earliest groupware products for the Linux operating system. The contributor, SKYRIX Software AG, is well known in Germany as a leader in Linux groupware (www.SKYRiX.com).
"We are extremely excited to form OpenGroupware.org and to collaborate with OpenOffice.org to serve the open source community worldwide," said Jens Enders, president and CEO of SKYRIX Software AG. "By configuring the OpenGroupware.org server together [after install] with the OpenOffice.org office suite and other leading groupware clients, our customers will be able to implement a comprehensive and integrated collaboration environment wholly composed of free software."
The OGo software provides document sharing capabilities for OpenOffice.org documents and will enable users of MS Outlook (97/2000/XP), Ximian Evolution, Mozilla Calendar, OOo Glow (OpenOffice.org Groupware Project's client product), Apple's iCal and other standards-based groupware clients to collaborate.
OGo software will enable users to share calendar, address book and e-mail information; they can communicate via instant messaging, share folders, exchange documents, track changes, share a whiteboard, and browse the Web all at the same time -- all upon open Internet standards and without paying or managing cumbersome licensing fees.
Says Gary Frederick, Leader of the OpenOffice.org Groupware Project: "Just to be perfectly clear, this is an MS Exchange replacement. OGo is important because it's the missing link in the open source software stack. It's the end of a decade-long effort to 'map' all the key infrastructure and standard desktop applications to free software. OGo offers users a free solution for collaboration and document management that, despite being free of charge, will far surpass the quality and level of collaboration found on Windows (through integration of MS Office, Exchange Server and SharePoint). Today marks the completion of 'OpenStack'."
Adds Stu Green, Managing Director of Open Source Professional Services, "The release of OGo means the OpenOffice.org suite is ready for the enterprise complete with full-featured and mature groupware solutions. These capabilities once and for all show how free software betters proprietary solutions that require licensing payments on both the client and server sides. Also, OGo provides multiple file format filters for creating, storing and sharing data in an open and flexible fashion. It's possible now to completely avoid proprietary file formats and non-standard XML throughout the desktop stack and infrastructure. Licensing fees and license management are gone. And with OOo + OGo, no remote activation is required." (www.OSPSnet.com)
OGo has extensive and broad support for XML based APIs:an XML-RPC 'Webservice' API, support for SunONE XML based WCAP, support for HTTPMail/MS Exchange-based WebDAV, and finally for iCalendar files in XML notation (according to the xCal drafts). Given the XML based storage format of OpenOffice.org the OGo document storage will be able to perform feature rich team based collaboration and content management. OGo uses a WebDAV-accessible relational database management system to make document storage accessible from the OpenOffice.org office suite.
OGo is licensed under the open source dual licenses, Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and the General Public License (GPL). Libraries and components are licensed under the terms of the LGPL and applications are licensed under the GPL. For users, this means in part that the OGo software can be used, improved and redistributed at no cost. For developers, the licensing implications vary depending on the type of code contribution that is contemplated.
If you would like to join OpenGroupware.org to contribute code, development or marketing resources to the project, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
About OpenGroupware.org
Mission: To create, as a community, the leading open source groupware server to integrate with the leading open source office suite products and all the leading groupware clients running across all major platforms, and to provide access to all functionality and data through open XML-based interfaces and APIs (www.OpenGroupware.org).
About SKYRiX
SKYRIX Software AG, the contributor of the OGo code, is a leading developer of Linux based groupware solutions in Germany. The product OGo is based on, SKYRiX 4.1 Groupware Server, is a mature solution being in development for about seven years. OGo consists of about 600,000 lines of object oriented C code and about 100,000 lines of reusable Web components (www.SKYRiX.com).
The original author of the OpenGroupware.org reference server software was MDlink GmbH, founded as an Internet service provider (ISP) in Germany in 1994. The company started development on the LSOffice application server in about 1996 to extend it's Internet offerings with a powerful collaboration platform usable over the Internet. Some years later LSOffice was renamed to SKYRiX 3 and finally in 2000 a separate company, SKYRIX Software AG, was formed to concentrate on the further development of the product.
About OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org is the home of the open source project and its community of developers, users and marketers responsible for the on-going development of the OpenOffice.org product. The mission of OpenOffice.org is to create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format. OpenOffice.org 1.1 runs on FreeBDS, Windows (98/2000/XP), Linux (x86 & PowerPC), Mac OS X and Solaris; while ports for other operating systems and hardware platforms, including IRIX, HP-UX, Tru64, Linux (Alpha), Linux (ARM), Linux (Itanium2) and others, are in various stages of development. OpenOffice.org 1.1, soon available in over 60 native languages, is written in C++ and has documented API's licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL) open source licenses. The founder and sponsor of the OpenOffice.org project is Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun markets an office suite based on the OpenOffice.org code called StarOffice. Download OpenOffice.org 1.1 at http://www.openoffice.org.
About OpenOffice.org Glow Project
Glow is an innovative OpenOffice.org project to create a rich full-featured and integrated groupware client for communication and collaboration to complement the OpenOffice.org office suite. Glow is written using Java which has enabled the rapid development and release of the first internal milestone supporting core calendaring functions, both online and offline. Contacts, mail, instant messaging; P2P and web whiteboard features are planned. Glow is designed to integrate with and complement OpenOffice.org but can also be used as a standalone cross-platform application running everywhere that J2SE does (http://groupware.openoffice.org/glow/).
Links:
Evolution http://ximian.com/products/evolution/ OpenGroupware.org http://www.opengroupware.org OpenOffice.org http://www.openoffice.org/ OpenOffice.org Groupware Project http://groupware.openoffice.org/ OpenOffice.org Glow http://groupware.openoffice.org/glow/ OSPS http://www.OSPSnet.com Mozilla http://www.mozilla.org/ MS Outlook http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/outannoy/ SKYRiX http://www.skyrix.com/en/products/index.xhtml StarOffice http://www.sun.com/staroffice Sun Microsystems, Inc. http://www.sun.com
MEDIA RELEASE CONTACTS: Helge Hess SKYRIX Software AG [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gary Frederick OpenOffice.org Groupware Project [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sam Hiser OpenOffice.org Marketing Project [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PUBLICITY CONTACT:
Jacqueline McNally
Community Contact, Australia/New Zealand
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project
Tel: +61 8 9474 3021 (GMT +0800)
Fax: +61 8 9474 3405
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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