On Wed, 2005-07-27 at 18:41, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-07-27 at 18:23 -0500, Les Mikesell wrote:
> > Maybe... Most 'groupware' doesn't do quite what the Exchange/Outlook
> > combination does. One feature that is important to the group I
> > work with is that emailed meeting requests show up in the outlook
> > personal calendar whether the email is opened/accepted or not, and
> > that public calendars can accumulate and show what a group of people
> > will be doing. For example we use one for 'scheduled maintenance'
> > for a large group of people making changes on any network equipment
> > or servers so it is possible to notice potential conflicting changes
> > and back out things if problems are found later.
>
> A _true_ server-side scheduling system will do quite a bit more.
> Whether or not Outlook is able to represent it is a combination of
> the MAPI Service Provider or other add-on, and Outlook itself.
The recipients don't have to use the same server for meeting requests
to work, although when creating one you only see the availability
of the people that are.
> The reality to remember if you are going to move away from Exchange:
I don't really foresee that happening but I still would like to
know about possible alternatives.
> 1. Get an open server backend (99% of Exchange Replacements are _not_)
>
> 2. Your primary driver should be non-Outlook support -- e.g., Evolution,
> Palm.NET, etc...
What I really want is interoperability among clients, not leaving
outlook behind. When outlook is used in a smtp/pop/imap environment
some versions will interoperate with evolution calendar when meeting
requests are sent. However, when using pre-2000 exchange server and
evolution working with it in imap mode, all the attachments show
up as non-standard tnef's instead of mime vcal/ical format.
> If you're looking for a Freedomware product to remove the fact that you're
> using a Hostageware client, I think you're not looking at the problem
> correctly.
I'm looking for something that will eliminate the need to keep a
windows box on my desk just to beep at me when I'm supposed to join
a conference call. However I expect most of the other people
involved to keep using outlook.
> Going back to the _original_ post, the reason why Microsoft tied all
> 2000+ Services to ActiveDirectory Server (ADS) was to corner everything
> into a Microsoft-only back-end/front-end.
But, exchange2000 will probably work right with evolution as the
client. Does anyone know if the notifications and updates get
into the evolution calendar when received even if you don't
open/accept the request?
--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell at gmail.com