WARNING: Lotus Notes is not free software
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| wind0wsr3fund Jul 11, 2006 11:42 AM EDT |
There's no need to taint your free GNU/Linux systems with this bloat. Plenty of free software solutions exist for groupware. Check out Open Xchange and the many php based solutions like phpgroupware. |
| jdixon Jul 11, 2006 11:49 AM EDT |
wind0wsr3fund: > There's no need to taint your free GNU/Linux systems with this bloat. Some people are forced to use Lotus Notes at work. For these people, having Notes for Linux means they can use Linux instead of Windows. |
| wind0wsr3fund Jul 11, 2006 1:28 PM EDT |
In that case, consider my post to be targeted toward the decision makers that are forcing their employees to use the freedom-restricting solution. |
| Libervis Jul 11, 2006 1:37 PM EDT |
I join that vote. Just consider the yesterday's big story: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1666 ("Pay a little now, pay a lot later"). Lack of freedom can have its long term ramifications for your business as well. So not using a proprietary option here would be a smart choice worth considering, even from a pragmatic point of view. |
| tuxchick2 Jul 11, 2006 1:53 PM EDT |
Haranguing is very easy, anyone can do that. So let's get all radical here and examine the practical issues. Suppose you support 250 Lotus Notes users, and you are considering migrating to OpenXchange. Should you do it all at once, or in stages? What tools are available to translate an Exchange data store into an open format? What format(s) do you recommend? What's a reasonable timetable? Is it going to require new hardware, and how do you know what to get? Can in-house IT staff do it, or should you look to hire it out? How do you find someone with the requisite skills? Can you run Notes and OpenXchange side-by-side? Is OpenXchange, or some other Free groupware, really a Notes replacement? Can you give a feature-by-feature comparison? What happens if the migration fails and management decides to rollback to Notes- can the data migration be done in reverse? |
| wind0wsr3fund Jul 11, 2006 4:34 PM EDT |
Glad to hear you're considering Open-Xchange. In all honesty, it sounds like you would benefit from a free software consultant. Would you like a quote? |
| dinotrac Jul 11, 2006 5:10 PM EDT |
tc - Darn it! Almost spit drink out all over the keyboard. W3 offering his services to you? OTOH, I'll bet lots of cabbies are willing to offer Jeff Gordon a day or two off from the grind. |
| dcparris Jul 11, 2006 5:14 PM EDT |
This I *gotta* see. ...runs off for popcorn and coke |
| tuxchick2 Jul 11, 2006 5:28 PM EDT |
Good one, Dino. :) Hey, I want some popcorn. With milk, please. I've done a number of MS Exchange-to-OpenXchange migrations. I had a friend who was the data migration deity. He had written some custom conversion tools, plus I think he did a bit of voodoo. Customers were always happy with the change, the one thing that I could never understand was the Outlook fans who did not want to give it up. With OpenXchange you get complete functionality in any web browser, so there's no hassling with standalone mail/groupware clients at all, and OpenSSL is dead easy to set up for security over the wires. But I swear that really good drugs must come with Outlook the way people cling to it; it's completely inexplicable. So a part of OpenXchange development has gone into Outlook connectors, which IMO is such a waste. |
| dinotrac Jul 11, 2006 5:33 PM EDT |
tc - I don't understand it either. My significant spouser is begging me to get her off of Outlook. Absolutely cannot stand it. Of course, she doesn't make much use of the groupware features. A friend showed me his copy of Thunderbird. Looks like that's come a long way since I last looked. Maybe I'll carve out some time to spend with her notebook... |
| grouch Jul 11, 2006 7:04 PM EDT |
wind0wsr3fund: Congratulations on discovering a way to turn a report involving non-free software into an opportunity to: a. Promote free software. b. Offer assistance. c. Get others discussing free alternatives to non-free software You did this instead of inciting a bitter debate. Thank you, sincerely. |
| jdixon Jul 11, 2006 8:05 PM EDT |
Tuxchick: > Is OpenXchange, or some other Free groupware, really a Notes replacement? I think it's safe to say that no single Linux groupware solution is an exact feature set replacement for Notes. Ditto (perhaps fortunately, since one of it's main features is virus magnet) for Outlook/Exchange. However, as I'm sure you've found and demonstrated, it's possible to weave a solution which is an effective replacement. I'm not speaking from personal experience, though, unlike you. I've merely researched the matter some over the years. |
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