[CentOS] mail tools preferences?

Sun Jan 19 01:46:13 UTC 2014
Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com>

On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 4:58 PM, Rob Kampen <rkampen at kampensonline.com> wrote:
>
> I now have an Android phone after an iPhone.
> I have always struggled with the Apple lock-in infrastructure - works real
> well if you're using Apple's OS on the PC.

That's not the case in the mail/contact/calendar realm.  You can
configure an iphone/ipad/mac to sync with google.   I set that up for
my wife - don't remember the details but they weren't hard to find.

> Along comes my big new Android phone - not too many problems converting -
> imported all my contacts just fine, but somewhere along the way, not sure
> when or how, maybe a result of the continual application updates, my contact
> list no longer feels like mine.
>
> When I add new contacts or try to edit old ones - I only have google
> contacts available - the "people" app and the funambol app have just faded
> into the background.
>
> I now have no idea how I can access "all" my contacts and export them should
> I want to shift. Also, my integration with Thunderbird is gone - the app I
> used is no longer supported for later versions of Thunderbird.

Log into the gmail web page, flip the top-left 'Gmail' drop-down to
'Contacts'.  Then from the 'More' dropdown at the top, you can export
in an assortment of formats.  You can also set up groups to control
the visible list.   Your phone will probably also export the whole
list to a nearby bluetooth receiver.

> Question for the list:
> What level of integration do you have for your contact list?

My phone connects separately to my work exchange server and to gmail
but it has access to both sets of contacts and merges the calendars.

> I need something that makes my workstation and laptop (both CentOS 6.5)
> using Thunderbird and IMAP mail servers (mostly CentOS postfix/dovecot +
> some gmail) and android phone share all contact info ......

There is some sort of sync protocol - and a thunderbird plugin to do
it - don't know if it works on Linux or not.  Using the gmail web
interface avoids the need to set up all that stuff and it is always in
sync with your phone.

> Let's not get started on calendars.

There is a sync protocol for that too - but again your phone and the
google web interface will always be in sync with no extra work and you
can configure apple devices to use it too.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
      lesmikesell at gmail.com