Re: Outlook connectors

Pardon my ignorance, but Like it or not, we are stuck with win2k laptops 
for a couple of years.  What open source PIM works on w2k and connects 
to opengroupware?

Helge Hess wrote:

> On 16. Nov 2005, at 15:49 Uhr, Ross Peoples wrote:
>
>> After doing some research, I come to ask why OpenGroupware wants to  
>> use a commercial connector for Outlook.
>
>
> OGo doesn't "want" to use a commercial connector. It just happens  
> that there is no free (and working) connector available (at least I  
> don't know one).
>
> From an OGo point of view it would be best to have a fully  OpenSource 
> Outlook replacement instead of having a free connector to  Outlook. 
> Indeed its probably way easier to write an Outlook  replacement than 
> to write an Outlook connector from scratch.
>
>> The only thing holding us back is that you have to have a  commercial 
>> connector.
>
>
> Not sure why this is holding you back, after all you are also using a  
> commercial client on a commercial OS.
>
>> So back to the point...Would there be any way to use an open source  
>> connector for Outlook with OpenGroupware?
>
>
> Sure. Eg we suggest the GroupDAV protocol to make that work.
>
>> I have found two projects that would work. One is called Brutus  ( 
>> http://www.omesc.com/ ).
>
>
> Brutus is not an Outlook connector, its an Exchange connector. So  
> exactly the reverse (to allow Outlook replacements access MS  
> Exchange, not to allow Outlook access MS Exchange replacements).
>
>> They have actually created a connector that uses MAPI and fully  
>> supports Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, and Exchange 2003. It doesn't  
>> use OWA or WebDAV or any of that...pure MAPI. And the best part is,  
>> it can be used on a Windows, Linux, BSD, or any other platform.
>
>
> Brutus itself only runs on Windows which is a major drawback even for  
> applications who want to use its functionality (it doesn't implement  
> MAPI, it just uses the MAPI client library on Windows).
>
>> Another alternative I found is called OpenConnector ( http:// 
>> openconnector.org/ ). It appears to be written in Visual C++ and  
>> doesn't talk about being cross-platform so I don't know if could  
>> actually be used with OpenGroupware, since it is a Linux-based  project.
>
>
> OpenConnector could be an option once it actually works. But its not  
> in that state yet and still needs a _lot_ of development.
>
>> If anything, I hope this could give the OpenGroupware developers  the 
>> "piece of the puzzle" they would need in order to create a  complete 
>> replacement for the Microsoft Exchange Server. Not to  mention that 
>> this would be the only open source project that would  offer this 
>> interoperability.
>
>
> Honestly I have little hope for a free and working Outlook connector  
> because its quite a complex thing to write and that time is IMHO  
> better spend in writing/porting a full Windows client anyway.
>
> But who knows what people come up with :-)
>
>> I am not subscribed to this mailing list, so it would be much  
>> appreciated if you could direct any feedback directly to my email  ( 
>> [email protected] ).
>
>
> Nope. Subscribe the list you start discussions on.
>
> Greets,
>   Helge


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