Mozilla Sunbird's First Official Release

jcraveiro writes "MozillaZine announced yesterday that Sunbird, Mozilla's standalone cross-platform calendar project, has reached its first official relase: version 0.2, for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X." This is good news for all of us waiting for decent free calendaring software.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Does it work with Exchange?

[jpmoney]

I know this is setting me up for a'Floggin', but does it integrate with MS Exchange? The only thing keeping me in Windows on my work PC is the need for a calendar system that works with the company's Exchange system.

I've looked at the site, but can't see any mention of it.

Re:Looks like iCal...

[FuzzzyLogik]

You seem to be a big proponent of recreating the wheel. see iCal is pretty sweet for calendaring and _individuals_ plans. it isn't great for collaborative calendaring but i lays a good groundwork for it, it's possible to make iCal a lot better, but the groundwork is there.

sunbird uses the same thing, why fix something that isn't broke? besides the best part of this is, you can export your iCal calendar and load it into Sunbird and it does the exact same thing. it coexists with iCal, unlike Outlook which obviously wants to remain closed and unopen to any outside influence.

it might look ugly but that's easy to fix after the functionality is built in big guy. why not get something working first, then make it pretty? if you're so upset about the ugliness, why not commission someone to go in and make it prettier? or do it yourself. there's only so many people working on it, so why not contribute instead of bitch?

PocketPC sync

[rxmd]

As long as it doesn't synchronise with a PocketPC, it's pointless for me as an iPaq owner.

OK, you can blame MS on not opening the ActiveSync protocol, but it should be possible to synchronize Sunbird or Thunderbird with a small client application running on the PocketPC, similar to how IntelliSync works.

Good job

[Snap E Tom]

Way to be oblivious to the big picture, Slashdotters!!!

The sooner that Exchange is emulated in OSS, the sooner there will be no reason to run Microsoft products on the backend for small and medium sized offices.

* IIS? Gone with Apache.
* File/Print? Gone with Samba.
* Email? Not so fast. We like the groupware functionality of Exchange.

And of course, consultants who don't know any better see that there's no OSS to fulfil the groupware need, and therefore, there's no reason to learn/pitch Apache/Samba. Why bother with those when you can have the "nice integration" of MS products? Once Sunbird/OpenGroupware, et al reaches the ability of invitations, seeing busy/free on other user's calendars, and inviting resources, then Redmond will run real scared.

Good job, Sunbird. You're the missing link and you're looking good.

ScheduleWorld works far better

[MarkSwanson]

ScheduleWorld is free, works on Linux, Mac OS/X, Windows, Solaris. It is by far more standards compliant and interoperates really well with Exchange/Outlook and Notes. Check it out and see for yourself.

Thunderbird integration and the Lightning project

[CritterNYC]

Have they/are they planning on integrating it in to thunderbird? It looks a lot like Outlook's calendar, I think integrating it with Thunderbird (and even Firefox? Maybe let you add items through Firefox?) would be their greatest 'next' step.

The Mozilla Calendar Project is actually a plugin for Firefox and Thunderbird that adds a calendar to either program. Mozilla Sunbird is the standalone version of this.

The calendar plugin doesn't really "integrate" into Thunderbird as most would like, though, which is why the Lightning project [mozilla.org] was begun (it was mentioned on Slashdot [slashdot.org] in December.) The Lightning project aims for "tight" integration with Thunderbird, so you get more of a seamless program to handle all your email, calendar, contact and task needs. Expect to see more about Lightning later this year.

Re:Coming Soon: Mozilla, The OS

[Eriky]

Would it be interesting to write a decent Office suite based on XUL and mozilla? Maybe code can be reused from NVU [nvu.com]

That could ultimately lead to a whole range of Mozilla based products. Sounds cool to me!

Too heavy

[Ecio]

i've found sunbird too heavy for my needs: Thunderbird is already eatin 50MB of my memory and i dont want Sunbird to do the same so I'm currently using EssentialPIM [essentialpim.com] a small (1MB) and free PIM for Windows and it's quite ok for small todos and appointments. I think that Evolution could be the right solution on Linux, but i've not tried it too much...

New GOOD Software is driving me batty

[chia_monkey]

I'm loving the fact that there are so many new alternatives to IE (I mainly use Safari and Firefox), Outlook (I use OS X's Mail and am still dabbling with Thunderbird) and now calendar (I use iCal and am now testing Sunbird) apps. It's driving me batty though...I get used to using one particular app and then new, better ones come out. Not one to be stuck using the old stuff, I gotta try the new releases. The only problem...there's a small learning curve and I have to redo the way I used to do them before.

I'm an early adopter and I admit it. It's one of the things I have to deal with. My concern however is, just how many people in the everyday world are willing to stop using Outlook to learn an entirely new way of doing things. Some apps, such as browsers, don't matter as much. A browser is a browser, with a few features here and there, but the underlying concept is the same. Type in a URL and go. Other things though...aye...

Re:Coming Soon: Mozilla, The OS

[B3ryllium]

I would be far more interested in a Mozilla IDE, capable of handling PHP, C++, Python, and Java. Mostly PHP, in my case. HomeSite-style.

What I'd *LOVE* is for such a PHP IDE to have code-folding and a tree view that actually checks my *includes* for functions and objects that will be used. Not to mention, the potential for live-testing would be neato. :)

Re:Good job

[Micah]

I think there are already reasonable alternatives to Exchange on Linux, though they are not necessarily free.

My organization will in a month or two migrate from our #^$#@% Exchange 5.5 server to Bynari Insight Server [bynari.net]. It uses open source components (Postfix, OpenLDAP, etc) and some proprietary components to put together a pretty good set of features. Our IT director did a TCO study, and Bynari (along with all the other Linux options) costs a small fraction of what Exchange would cost. And we think it will do what we need.

Also, this is supported software. Their tech support rocks. They've gone way out of their way to accommodate our demented testing and questions, before we spent a cent! Try that with anything Microsoft.

At first, we'll likely use their web client for calendar/groupware functions, but eventually they say it will support iCal support, which would enable using it with Sunbird. I'm certainly looking forward to that.

There is reason to believe that there will be a truly Free/OSS groupware server on the level of Apache in the next couple years. Until then, Bynari is a very good choice IMHO.

Rainlendar

[katharsis83]

I just tried out Sunbird, and it's pretty nice. It's also a bit too complex/takes up too much screen estate. Not saying it's a bad program, but just that I don't need that much functionality in a day-to-day environment.

I like to keep my to-do list on my desktop constantly along with a small calendar, and I think Rainlendar is the perfect tool for that. Takes very little memory and is Open Source. You can only run it in Windows though. Skinnable too so it looks pretty.

Here's a link to the website:
http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=pr ojects&pro ject=rainlendar

(I'm not affiliated with the author in any way...just like the product.

Re:Another impending naming debacle?

[rah1420]

ISTR you aren't necessarily infringing on the name if it's not the same kind of product. There's probably lots of legalese wrapped around this, but Ford's gonna go after someone who makes a vehicle named "Thunderbird" but there's damn little they can do if someone names a piece of software "Thunderbird."

IIRC there was a "Mustang BBS" way back when, and Ford didn't pester Mustang Software overmuch about that either.

Re:Does it work with Exchange?

[BenRussoUSA]

"The days of 'I stay with windows because of outlook+exchange are over'"

I'm a UNIX SysAdmin, I've been using Linux on the Desktop (not exclusively)
for many years. None of the solutions you mention works well... Believe me,
I have tried them all. They aren't anywhere near as easy to use as a mail/calendar interface as OUTLOOK+Exchange on a native Windows system.
Nor are they as good as using Outlook2000 with CodeWeavers CrossOver office on a Linux box.

Maybe you are right about "don't need", but I would say that if you spend a lot of time using Outlook for E-mail, calendar, tasks, forms, and shared-folders, it could very well still be a day of "I stay with windows because of Outlook+Exchange".

Of course I would love to replace Exchange with an open source, open standards server platform that joined SSL enabled SMTP/IMAP/NNTP/LDAP/ACAP with a cross platform client that was fast, stable+robust, easy to use.

Firefox+Thunderbird+Sunbird is getting there! Go MOZILLA.

Re:Coming Soon: Mozilla, The OS

[zemoo]

Already been done!
OEone HomeBase.
Check out this screenshot:
http://www.linux.org.ru/gallery/bigbBdSgP.jpg [linux.org.ru]

Although it's hard to find info about it, the product integrated OpenOffice into a Desktop written entirely in XUL.

There's an even larger picture....

[LionKimbro]

There's an even larger picture being missed here;

When iCalendar [ietf.org] support is built into everything, it'll be very easy for public groups to see each other's meetings, and for individuals to participate.

I easily lose track of when the Seattle XP programmers, Seattle Perl programmers, Seattle Python programmers, Seattle Robotics Society, Seattle Cosmic, Seattle Wireless, Seattle Java, Seattle C++, Seattle Wikipedia, Seattle FreeBSD Users group, Greater Seattle Linux Users Group, Seattle Bloggers, East side Bloggers, Seattle Futurists, etc., etc., etc., ...I easily lose track of what's going on when. With automatic calendaring, when we can subscribe to calendars as simply as we subscribe to RSS feeds- we're going to see a surge in awareness of what groups are meeting when, and how to meet up with them.

Right now, I can only track 1 group at a time. "Is Seattle Python meeting this weekend?" "No?" "Guess there's nobody to see this weekend."

But, as you can see from my short list above (compared to how much activity is actually going on,) there's actually a whole lot going on that I might be interested in visiting.

As Automatic Calendaring picks up, the public will recognize the power of its ability to communicate and organize.

Previously, this is something that only people who could afford secretaries could experience.

Is it Too Much To Ask

[rcjhawk]

that a calendar program be able to figure out when Easter is? There are civil as well as religious uses for this -- e.g. in Maryland, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter are school holidays.

Once upon a time I had a program which knew Easter, Yom Kippur, Ramadan, the start and end of Daylight Savings Time, the phases of the Moon, and could convert all it to the Mayan calendar. One could Easily Manipulate and Add CalendarS. Can't think of the name, though. It will come to me presently.

In the meantime, I'm using Sanjay Ghemawat's old ical program [mc.edu].