Evolution 0.3 Released 199
aleksey notes that HelixCode
announced
Evolution 0.3. With all the Napster-related news flooding us lately, it's nice to see some good news. Evolution is making great progress, and I'm probably not the only one itching for just enough stability to use it for a few days.
Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:2)
Either way it looks pretty damn good.
NEVER (Score:2)
I'm sorry... (Score:3)
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Screenshots? (Score:4)
As I understand it, Evolution will be a Outlook replacement--that is, you can use Evolution on Linux to connect to an Exchange server. You can see your email, your contacts, your schedule, etc.
I'm very very interested in this. From my sig (today and over the past couple of months) you can tell that my company has a server that runs on Linux (and Tru64 and AIX) that you can connect to from Exchange and Outlook on Windows. Unfortunately we can't do the Outlook specific stuff yet (contacts, task list, calendar/schedule, etc). Hopefully being able to use/view/test the Evolution code will help us there.
Actually, all that Outlook-stuff is really done in the MAPI driver. The server doesn't really have to know anything (except for the workgroup stuff like sharing schedules). My question for the Evolution team is: Are you going to release a separate "MAPI driver for Linux" piece?
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File format? (Score:5)
There doesn't seem to be much mention about how this stores mail. One of the (very few) things that was nice about Balsa was that it used libmutt to store mail. So, I could access my email from either Balsa or Mutt, without worrying about one even subtly messing it up for the other, and it working seamlessly from both. Which is nice when I had to ssh to my box from work (and I send most email from xterm -e mutt in X anyway...).
Is there any hope of accessing Evolution's data files from a console-based program with any grace at all? Or, once I start using it, do I always have to have an X session available to use it?
Re:NEVER (Score:1)
First off, you can setup remote X sessions so you can have your X server running at work, and use Evolution at home, from work.
Second, there are interests for Evolution to have a web front-end that would integrate into Evolution. I could see them doing this really well because it would call wombat, the same stuff which Evolution itself calls. From what I know, there isn't development on this...yet. But I'm sure someone will spare the code.
I will switch to Evolution in the future, but I do feel very much the same way that you do about this.
Outlook vs. Evolution (Score:2)
This is wonderful news. Having worked a year at my current job, I can definitely say that anything that replaces Outlook/Exchange with something better is welcome here.
I just want to be sure of one thing: Evolution can show me the full mail headers easily, right? (The main reason, other than server problems, that I don't like Outlook; some versions I can't find the full headers, and other versions make me jump through hoops to get to them.)
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:2)
Re:NEVER (Score:2)
Seriously? Good luck getting an X session through your corporate firewall (you have to be able to access the IP of your workstation from your home machine - not only does this imply that your workstation actually has to have a public IP address (and not just a 192.168 internal IP), but you also have to convince your sysadmin to open up the firewall just so you can use thier bandwidth to run a remote X session from home.).
Just ssh there and use mutt/pine/elm...
Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
Also, no MAPI. I thought Miguel's interview from a while back mentioned that Evolution would support MAPI, but obviously I'm mis-remembering.
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It'll help Linux in the office (Score:4)
Much as Outlook comes in for a lot of flak here on /. thanks to its interesting way of dealing with security, it is a very nice piece of software which makes dealing with work a hell of a lot easier. With all of the "productivity" features that it includes it couldn't fail to be a hit with PHB's everywhere and since it's PHBs that get to buy the software (unfortunately) many of us have to use at work, any alternative is going to need to give an equivalent set of features.
From what information there is on the website it appears as though this is what Evolution provides. What does this mean? It means that it's another piece of software which contributes to the possibility of your boss choosing Linux instead of Windows for their desktop machines. We now have an office suite and a "productivity" mail client, and these are two of the most essential elements of the modern office desktop.
So despite all of Linux's other strengths, this program is likely to be one of the things that gets Linux into offices. Which, in the long run, can only be a good thing.
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:1)
Well if you have never heard of evolution where have you been?
I fully understand the subject of this story but i can see your point. A news article should be easy to read and understood by anybody.
Re:evolution == outlook (Score:1)
We like the Linux clones of MS products though.
Not sure why. They're generally an imitation of a half-assed interface, rather than just the original half-assed interface...
It probably has to do with the fact that up until now, Netscape Mail has been the premier X Email client.
I think you can understand why people are looking forward to this.
Re:File format? (Score:3)
Nice but ... (Score:1)
Hang on. Is that all we are doomed to thesedays? Having Linux programs that look the same as Microsofts? What I mean is, can't we go for a different look at all?
Yes, MS have pilfered ideas from other people and applications - but do we have to go writing Linux applications that look *exactly* the same as Microsofts?
Don't we have any good designers of our own that can come up with something a bit more original? Or are we doomed to just following whatever Mr Gates' company does?
At the end of the day I don't mind it looking the same as Microsofts efforts, but sometimes it would be nice to see a bit of originality break through.
--Silver
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For all you Debian fans (Score:4)
Do apt-get update
And apt-get install evolution
(Assuming you have already installed Helix Gnome. Just add deb http://spidermonkey.helixcode.com/distributions/de bian unstable main to sources.list otherwise.)
Have Fun!
Re:NEVER (Score:2)
Re:Outlook vs. Evolution (Score:2)
Re:Outlook vs. Evolution (Score:1)
Talking to Exchange (Score:5)
Critical piece of kit (Score:2)
Out of all the current applications in development, Evolution is probably the one which I'm most eagerly awaiting. In day-to-day usage, I'm stuck with Lotus Notes, which increasingly is a)chewing up my memory (40MB+ at startup) and b) keeping me tied to Windows NT, although I have plans to investigate running it under Wine - I have seen it done successfully so there is hope there.
But that doesn't remove my major gripe with Lotus Notes - that of its rather painful UI. While it manages to provide better functionality under the V5 client, an option to move my calendaring and email off that platform onto something like Evolution would be a godsend. Having played with Unix for the last 10 years or so, and having gravitated from a platform where small was beautiful (RiscOS) before that, the idea of large monolithic everything-in-one packages (like Lotus Notes - database interogator, mail, calendaring and web browser) really doesn't make any sense to me. In my opinion, these large packages are more an excuse to lock the user onto one platform whereas most experienced users simply want their applications to be able to work happily alongside each other and exchange data.
So seeing Evolution supporting RFC 2445,2446 and 2447 looks like being a good start for interoperability. If this can interface seemlessly with MS Exchange and Lotus Notes servers, it will free legions of users to choose the platform they want to use.
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
Re:What's wrong with the Napster News? (Score:1)
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Re:NEVER (Score:1)
I did not know that. But the key question now, is how can I get this working on windows, trying to run a remote Linux application =) Is there an X server app that supports this?
(Forced into using Word and Scrotus Notes...)
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
Sorry 'bout that
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
This might be a mistake. There are many who would finally make the switch from win9x/NT on their desktop to Linux if they could have full access to the Exchange Server. I can get my mail from exchange through POP3, but I have to go to the exchange web gateway to update my calendar manually, when I get meeting requests.
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How about work on GNOME instead? (Score:2)
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
Beyond that, I have no idea. Personally, I use Exchange webmail to access my mail from OpenBSD and Be, so I'm content to wait until they have something worthwhile to download.
Re:Outlook vs. Evolution (Score:1)
Re:Screenshots? (Score:5)
Does this mean it will allow email the ability to delete stuff and make disastrous, system-wide changes, or will this still be based on the Honor System?
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:1)
- Wanna run Linux but gotta support Exchange?
What if my company runs an Exchange server, and I'm looking for an Outlook alternative on my (company imposed) Win32 box?That is, are there any other mail clients for win32 that can understand the Exchange mail protocol? Or, wishfully thinking, will Evolution be ported to Win32 some day?
Alex Bischoff
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VNC (Score:2)
Re:What's wrong with the Napster News? (Score:1)
Simple. You didn't buy the CD those songs came from.
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Unreleased libraries? (Score:3)
Re:Outlook vs. Evolution (Score:2)
I was really impressed with 0.2 (though I never got it to compile..). I just hope some packages pop up soon on helix-update..
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Ski-U-Mah!
Why is is that. . . (Score:2)
almost microsoft... again (Score:1)
Maybe microsoft really did innovate some stuff, and as much as we hate to admit it, it's not bad (good enough to copy)
hopefully this will end up as a great email program which is better than outlook because it's open source, and has actual security, not just some ripoff made to be "almost" a product everyone claims to hate.
________
Re:http://www.bynari.com (Score:1)
MAPI [was: Screenshots?] (Score:2)
If you want to use Evolution (or pine, or whatever) with an Exchange server, you can spawn the POP3/IMAP/SMTP "connectors" on the server. You can use Outlook this way too.
As for the extra features you might miss, I think it'd be smarter to use other tools.
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Bynari (Score:2)
It might not be a mistake (Score:2)
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Re:evolution == outlook (Score:2)
Secondly, first you copy a program exactly, and then when it works fiddle around with look & feel!
Too much hassle!! (Score:3)
I mean, c'mon! Can't some of these libraries be a little more integrated. It really does get a bit much to wait for all these to compile, not to mention the dependencies that *they* have. This is my main criticism with Gnome. It's just too complicated to compile and install. KDE is much cleaner in this respect.
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:2)
Every time Slashdot posts a software release without even the slightest hint of what the software is, what it does, or where it's from, I laugh. It's like a birth announcement in the paper that looks like this:
"6 pounds, 3 ounces. 11:42 AM. Healthy. Red hair. Missing right index fingernail."
There's something missing there - the name of the kid! That's about useless to me, because I have absolutely zero idea whose kid it is. The software equivalent is NOT the manufacturer, it's the purpose of the software. Don't overwhelm me with useless information.
Speaking of evolution... (Score:2)
Re:Whoops and whoops (Score:2)
Alternately, if it's important enough to you, Fetchmail is GPL, Evolution is GPL, it's a SMOP to port the MAPI code from Fetchmail to Evolution. Go for it
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Re:What part of THEFT don't you understand? (Score:2)
- Evolution, you can attach copyrighted material and route it over the internet to another mail user or a newsgroup.
- Search Engines, they can help you find information on everything from cracking to explosions.
- Baggy clothes, easier to shoplift in
- Bags, easier to carry the takings from the bank job
- Matches, easier to set your boss on fire
- Newspapers, easier to discover where the President will be to assasinate him
Pure and simply, the problem is not about whether it is legal or not (and it is NOT) to download and/or distribute the copyrighted music of an artist with no permission. The problem is whether or not we will let a corporate industry dictate how we can use our computers, the US DOJ is rejecting the concept of Micosoft having this kind of control (and at least they are computer people), why are they considering handing it to a conglomerate monopoly instead? I guess it must be about the money again, either the massive revenues the RIAA members generate or the massive revenues the RIAA's lawyers generate.Some Proof? (OT) (Score:2)
To: All Corporate Employees
Subject: Copier!
Date: Thursday, July 24, 2000 12:48pm
Re:http://www.bynari.com (Score:2)
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Notes support. (Score:2)
Anyway, even at IBM, there are a lot of people on AIX or Linux who need to run some sort of VNC-ish program to access mail through an NT box running somewhere deep inside the building.
Just a thought.
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Ski-U-Mah!
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
--Ben
Re:Why is is that. . . (Score:3)
if (($#tasks >= 4) && ($reads_mail == 1)) {
$program = "project" ;
} else {
$program = "hobby" || $program = "toy";
}
========
Stephen C. VanDahm
Evolution / Exchange (Score:5)
Evolution is a groupware package, just like Outlook, Lotus Notes, et al. It has mail, calandering, contact management, etc... Therefore, some people call it an Outlook replacement... It is. IF you don't use any proprietary Exchange features.
It is NOT Outlook/Exchange compatable any more than ANY POP-3/IMAP and SMTP client is Exchange compatible. It does NOT impliment the "native" Exchange protocols. It WILL NOT import free/busy information, contact lists, network folders or any other "Exchange only" features from an Exchange server. It does NOT interact with Exchange in any way other than as a simple SMTP/POP-3/IMAP client.
It uses it's own OPEN protocols to deal with the groupware functionality.
It also happens to LOOK a lot like Outlook.
Again, Evolution is NOT "Exchange" compatable any more than ANY POP-3/IMAP/SMTP mailer.
So... If you want a good standards based groupware suite, Evolution will be a good bet. If you want an Exchange client, your gonna hafta stick with Outlook till someone reverse engineers the proprietary protocols.
Re:Talking to Exchange (Score:2)
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Re:Nice but ... (Score:2)
You mean, like Enlightenment? Or the GIMP? Or CSCMail? Or Blackbox, Mozilla, or numerous other Free Software projects? Give me a break. There's plenty of innovation.
At the end of the day I don't mind it looking the same as Microsofts efforts, but sometimes it would be nice to see a bit of originality break through.
Is it much of a surprise that many GNU/Linux apps close MS ones when tons of people say "I'd switch to Linux, except I need (Word|Outlook|Excel|IE5|Dreamweaver|Quicken)". Besides, it's much easier and faster to clone existing technologies than to invent something yourself. Last but not least, if you think Linux needs more innovative applications, get off your ass and go code them yourself! That's what I'm doing!
I'll be surprised if it works with Notes (Score:3)
Re: Talking to Exchange (Score:3)
Might I point out that if it indeed does go the way of the Macarena, it will start appearing at wedding receptions everywhere?
Of course, it might fare better in the hands of drunken revelers than it does in the hands of MS programmers . . .
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My #1 Absolutely-gotta-have-it mail feature (Score:5)
Here's what I want:
1) Store all my mail PGP encrypted in the mail file. If I get unencrypted mail, then encrypt it BEFORE it hits the hard disk.
2) When I start the program, prompt me for my pass phrase, and cache it for this session or for a user-definable timeout period.
3) PGP sign all outgoing mail
4) Add public keys to my keyring as seamlessly and invisibly as possible.
5) If I send mail to someon for whom I have a public key, encrypt it BY DEFAULT.
The biggest problem with using mail encryption is that the interface is such a pain in the ass. If Evolution hides all the dirty details, then I can start encrypting my mail on a regular basis - and if the encryption support is really good and enabled BY DEFAULT, then we get the "fax machine effect".
Are you listening, Evolution developers?
Re:File format? (Score:2)
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Ian Peters
Re:File format? (Score:2)
But you should still be able to use a console-based program: Evolution is totally componantized, and should eventually have a console front-end to the backend componants (there are already people looking into creating one, although I only heard about this from a previous slashdot post so who knows).
It might be smarter to use other tools (Score:2)
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Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
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Ian Peters
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
I apologize if I'm wrong about this but -- isn't that possibly part of what's going on here? Gnome needs to be excessively difficult to install now that Helix, the project's leader's company, has built a business model around providing an easier installation. Certainly, there's no incentive for Miguel to make basic Gnome installation easier.
Re:File format? (Score:2)
All it means, if I remember correctly, is that mut opened the mailbox and did not find any new mail there.
So, I guess you may say that you successfully proved the inter-operability of Evo and mutt.
Re:Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:2)
For more information, please read the website at http://www.helixcode.com/apps/evolution.php3
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Ian Peters
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
Re:Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:2)
Integrated programs are like Swiss Army knives - convenient, sure, but the saw on my SAK is not as good as the big-ass saw in the tool cabinet, the screwdrivers don't compare to the dozens of different sizes and shapes in the toolbox, the knife isn't as big or sharp as the chef's knife in the kitchen. Tools which do only one job can be much more powerful.
Good programs do one thing and do it well.
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:3)
Unfortunately, we do have to use development libraries from time to time. Evolution is in many ways a test of the basic bonobo architecture, which will be used increasingly in the future. By heavily testing it, we can find flaws in the design, and fix them, before large numbers of applications run into the same problem, and thus produce a better product in the end.
Some of the other libraries, although written with evolution in mind, are useful for other projects (I'm thinking of GtkHtml when I say this). Thus, it makes perfect sense to develop it in parallel, but make it available in a separate package, which allows other application authors to use it during their development, without having to track evolution.
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Ian Peters
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
Re:Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:3)
I understand where you're coming from, because I've had to use far too many large, bloated programs in the past that attempted to do and be everything for me, and it sucks.
Where Evolution is different is its use of the bonobo component architecture (something that more and more GNOME programs will begin to do). With Evolution, the different features are actually separate components, which communicate only through a well defined interface. If you only use the mail features, and not the calendar and addressbook, those components aren't loaded. However, when you're writing a mail message and need to look up an email address, an address book is a logical place to look, and a component architecture gives the level of integration required to let the two communicate, without forcing bloat onto users.
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Ian Peters
Re:I'll be surprised if it works with Notes (Score:2)
Lotus has apparently never been particularly interested in making their crappy software interoperate with anything.
I'd normally agree with that whole-heartedly. But intriugingly the main proponent of the RFC's mentioned is from the Lotus Development corporation. So I'd guess that Lotus Notes will almost certainly speak this RFC. Which makes the hopes for a client to communicate with the Lotus Notes servers that much more likely.
If you were an internal UNIX user, your only choice was Notes 4 for AIX, which has an even worse interface than the Windows and OS/2 versions.
Don't get me started on Notes AIX ...
Also I'd like to see a native linux program speak to Lotus Notes servers in order to send a metaphorical rocket in response to the lack of a native Lotus Notes client for Linux.
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Re:Screenshots? (Score:2)
Look at the handshake icon for the Contact list! What the hell is that?
Re:Talking to Exchange (Score:3)
MAPI is not an over-the-wire protocol. It is an API that Windows software uses to hook in with the MS Windows Messaging dlls.
The thing is, the only current implementation (AFAIK) of the Exchange Server wire protocol is in a gaggle of MAPI dlls, so for Windows apps you have to use the MAPI (Mail API) to get to any Exchange Server.
Anyway, the Exchange Server wire protocol is RPC-based (MS seems to be following this pattern for a large number of things now, SMS, most remote admin through the MMC, etc...).
RPC-based protocols aren't exactly easy to figure out, they're basically a set of function calls that you'll have to snoop on and reimplement one by one.
Blame Sun :)
Re:For all you Debian fans (Score:2)
deb http://spidermonkey.helixcode.com/evolution/distri butions/Debian/ ./
Re:It'll help Linux in the office (Score:2)
Re:Screenshots? (Score:2)
If you actually looked at the Evolution website, you'd have the answers to your questions. NO, Eveolution will NOT allow you to connect to an Exhcange server (at first). It is NOT just a mere replacement for Outlook.
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Re:Talking to Exchange (Score:2)
BTW, if someone has coded an open version of NTLM, it sure would be nice if they submitted it to Mozilla.
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Re:My #1 Absolutely-gotta-have-it mail feature (Score:4)
LetterRip
I just did.... (Score:2)
Re:Talking to Exchange (Score:2)
Re:It might be smarter to use other tools (Score:2)
Beneth the skin, the mail functionality is only so-so, the search engine sucks eggs, it's virtually impossible to effectively customize Outlook or develop your own applications, the security is braindead, and the server is unstable and doesn't scale worth crap.
Unfortunately, because of the lack of calendaring software options (NetWare-specific Groupwise, "legacy" iPlanet/Netscape, and expensive/complex/ugly Lotus, and nothing from the open protocol world), lots of shops end up *having* to buy Exchange.
But the only way you can cost-justify any of these things is to effectively use the groupware functionality, which is so braindead in Ex/Out as to almost be worthless. Microsoft has lots of big plans for this market, but to date, they've really delivered squat.
Anyway, lots of people use Exchange, but it's just one of those things that nobody is totally happy about, except for Microsoft who gets an easy sale in many shops.
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Re:Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:2)
With the VM system in Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, BSD/OS, OpenBSD, and pretty much all the comercial Unixices code pages that are not touched are not loaded (or at least give way to other pages that are touched). Making that pretty much a non-issue.
The real issue is, how hard is it to make a new component that has the address book's interfce, and make Evolution use it? And is the interface loose enough that that address book can be signifigantly diffrent from the default one?
I'm guessing the answers are "Yes", and "We hope so". But it would be nice to have something other then my guess...
There are many kinds of bloat. A big memory image is only one of them. Big source code is another (having well defined interfaces helps this a lot - not by making the code smaller, but by reducing the amount you need to understand to fix a little bug that's been bothering you, or add a feature you really want). Large numbers of little clicky widgets up on the screen that one might feel they need to klnow about, or lots of docs to read to find where they document the "delete messages with duplicate Message-IDs feature".
Bloat also has it's upside. Like having that delete dup messages feature. Or having fewer features one feels the need to add.
Re:Evolution looks pretty good... (Score:2)
The main reason, is that it gives context to your appointments and todos. Thus, you email me a request to add feature foo to project bar. I schedule a todo and due date for it, with action needing to be taken one month from now (scheduling a reminder in calendar...). One month from now a reminder pops up to work on foo. With a single click, the original message pops up, giving me complete information on what I am supposed to do.
If you only have one or two tasks, deal only with a few people, and they are all fairly long term, then your method works fine. If you coordinate with a couple of hundered people a month (or more), tasks are scheduled days, weeks, months and even years in advance, and the time commitments for tasks varies from half an hour to weeks or months, then a more advanced and integrated methodology is prefered.
LetterRip
Do It Yourself: CFD (Score:3)
Illustrating:
- Install CFS.
- You'd then decide on a directory in which to store the encrypted data. Let's say
/home/cbbrowne/Mail/ - Turn it into a CFS directory, via cmkdir
/home/cbbrowne/Mail . - Then, mount it, via cattach
/home/cbbrowne/Mail Mail - Modify your mailer to use
/crypt/Mail as the place to store data rather than /home/cbbrowne/somewhere
This methodology is not entirely flawless;You'll be asked to make up a password.
Use the password you made up.
This mounts the directory on /crypt/Mail If you look in /crypt/Mail, you'll see plain text. If you look in /home/cbbrowne/Mail, you'll see gibberish.
But the overall result is that by having the encryption take place in the separate layer, the mail client doesn't need to have a "security layer," you don't need to debug it, and you don't need to worry about it getting breached.
Re:Evolution / Exchange (Score:2)
Unfortunately, there are organizations that disable POP/IMAP/SMTP functionality (well, I know that IBM, for instance, doesn't run POP or IMAP on their Notes servers). What should people in such organizations do? I suppose someone could make an intermediary program to translate between protocols, such as POP<->Notes or IMAP<->Exchange, but that requires Yet Another Dæmon running on your system..
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Ski-U-Mah!
Re:Notes support. (Score:2)
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Ski-U-Mah!
Re:Public Announcement and no frigin rpm's availab (Score:2)
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Independence is GOOD, albeit perhaps not yet... (Score:4)
If they were "more integrated," then what you would actually have to do is not to "get the latest versions of these libs," but instead "get the latest version of MondoGNOMElib (version 2000.07.28) " which would involve compiling the same, entire set of code.
By not integrating the libraries, this allows them to "evolve" independently towards stability.
Thus, if GConf gets stable pretty quickly, then it can do so, the version numbers can stop changing, and you get at least one component that is visibly stable.
In contrast, by "integrating" them all together, the whole thing becomes a jumble of instability, and you can't tell which pieces are stable and which aren't, because all you know is that the program demanded that you install MondoGNOMElib version 2001.04.01
KDE is not terribly much cleaner; with the "not quite stable ABI" of G++, you're left with potentially needing to recompile the whole tool chain any time either:
- G++ gets bumped a version level;
- libg++ changes versions;
- libstdc++ changes versions;
- STL changes version;
- Qt changes versions;
- libkde changes versions.
There is potential that GCC 3.0 will resolve some of this by providing some additional promises as to the ABI interoperability, but that's not there yet.File formats are obselete. Use IMAP (Score:5)
For more information on IMAP, you can read this Linux Gazette article [linuxgazette.com] I wrote two years ago on the subject. It's a bit dated but still mostly relevant.
Evolution, of course, supports IMAP. I switched to mutt after the 1.2 release added decent IMAP support. I urge you, if you are at all concerned about getting at your mail, to switch to IMAP today and put all those worries behind you forever.
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
Gnome is excessively easy to install. Just to helixcode, get helix updater, and it automagically does it for you. Even installing by hand (via
as I've been writing this, a bugfix release of evolution has been put out -
LetterRip
Re:How about work on GNOME instead? (Score:2)
Re:MAPI [was: Screenshots?] (Score:2)
Exchange uses it's own protocol for it's groupware and email functionality, but that protocol is not called MAPI.
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
Evolution is a mail/calendar/addressbook Gnome app (Score:2)
I find it really frustrating to have slashdot articles saying "FoobarWare Version 0.0.2 Is Now Available!" without saying what the FoobarWare project is. By the time something's been out on the street for a while, most people know what the name is (e.g. you don't need to explain what GNOME is), but for early development releases, the developers probably haven't done a big PR campaign and word-of-mouth hasn't spread much beyond the initial crowd of developers and their friends, so nobody knows if FooBarWare is a calendar program or a dessert topping synthesizer.
So either you skip over the article, or read the first few comments (invariably about the need to fix the bug in the frobnifier routine), or you go slashdot the development site to find the one sentence summary that'd tell you whether you care about the two-paragraph description that gives you a good idea whether you want to read the detailed docs or download the code and start hacking on it.
Re:Nice but ... (Score:2)
Now, when projects start copying the M$ "Damn-the-stability-we-need-features" attitude is when I'll have problems.
What is it that should get encrypted? (Score:2)
I would consider that approach less than safe; it is vulnerable to someone deciding that they need to write Yet Another Config File, or otherwise writing out a message in plain text form, thus destroying the would-be security. That's a mere fd = fopen("./tmpmsg", rw); away.
Furthermore, this does absolutely nothing about securing your AbiWord documents unless the developers thereof go through a separate process of building APIs that integrate in PGP or GPG. Ditto for Gnumeric, and GNote, and Dia, and GnuCash, and, and, ...
It is quite possible that making your system secure will require doing some things to all of these applications, at some point.
But it seems to me that it is a wiser move to use encryption at the filesystem level, so that once you log out, access goes away, and where protection is pervasive.
Re:Evolution / Exchange (Score:2)
We realize this is important and there are a number of ways to fully support Exchange that can be done. We will implement the one that makes most sense. We are aware that the lack of support for Exchange protocols will hinder the adoption of Evolution.
Miguel.
Re:File formats are obselete. Use IMAP (Score:2)
Re:Too much hassle!! (Score:2)
Isn't it fair enough? If you want *very* easy installation, you use packages. If you want to compile stuff yourself, you live with the difficulty of that process. That sounds like a reasonable choice to me.
Or, why don't you try *BSD? Don't they have a "make world" that can automatically update *everything* from source in one go?
UGH... sorry but this is wrong. (Score:2)
Other than this is sounds really good, but PLEASE rethink that crap. HTML is not a suitable or legal format for email. It's bad enough to have all these windows lusers flooding the net with this crap, the absolute LAST thing we need is *nix users doing it too! Come on, we should be setting an example, NOT mindlessly adopting every screwed up so-called "feature" that MS decides to tack onto their bugware!
Even in the windows world the better email programs (Eudora and Pegasus Mail for instance) do not encourage this nonsense! If you really must have email that is formatted beyond the capabilities of text/plain, the proper way to do this is by sending text/enriched (see RFC 1896 [ohio-state.edu]) NEVER by sending HTML.
Please, please, reconsider this "feature." This is BAD. For whatever it's worth, I personally, and many people I know, do not think this is a joke. This is a very serious matter. I've been a supporter and a user of the GNOME project and the software it's produced for over a year now, but I will definately have to rethink things if you continue with this, and I know for a fact that I am far from the only one that feels this way. Text/enriched is bad enough, but at least with it the output is still readable in standard mail readers like PINE (if barely.) HTML is over the line.