[plug] Opensource groupware STILL SUCKS!

[Mr Shayne]

Man. Excuse me this dummy spit, but it needs to happen.

Out of the zillion odd linux developers on this planet, half of whom have 
there own "Joes bargain basement web groupware package", have ANY of them 
ever actually SPOKEN to an end user?

CONSTANTLY I am asked "Hey, how come I cant figure out how to book a 
meeting on outlook with bill nextdoor like they can up in admin".

Heres the problem. Every few weeks, someone announces the latest and 
greatest open source groupware package. It'll have email, a calendar, an 
address book, a flipping rss newsreader (cant miss that feature!) and 
maybe a pokemon trading card database.

BUT NOBODY WANTS ANOTHER F$*#@ING WEB CLIENT.

We want to use outlook on the desktop. Yeah , I agree its a pain in the 
ass, and we should be using open source, but lets be honest here. Look at 
the alternatives for the winblowz platform

Aethera: Buggy piece of shit, that hasnt been updated in ages. Lost all 
your data? rofl. But hey, you can buy a IM plugin. wheeee!
Chandler: Even buggier piece of shit, and at least one proof that release 
early release often is a BAD move when its still a millenia away from 
completion
Evolution: Vaporware on the windows platform.

Ok, so then theres the "slightly more advanced" versions that have 
"Outlook connectors". Now , dont get me started here. If your 
top-to-bottom open source solution requires a $70 plugin to use a piece 
of software you already bought, then it (A) aint open source, and as ergo 
(B) Will start sucking badly when it becomes clear its a bit broken and 
(C) when I add all the costs up its cheaper just to roll out friggin 
exchange.

Well.... I just watched the zimba flash, and the first thing that pops up 
is "MAPI". So I do a happy dance, track down the FC3 linux install, grab a 
binary, set it up. So far so good. Hmm wonder where the mapi connector is.

So I post a note to the forum, and get told "Its planned for the 'network 
edition', btw, read that as the edition you pay $30 a seat for. And most 
of the other features it advertises as being what makes it better than the 
rest. Yeah.. planned too.,

Dejavu?

So guess what, Zimbra , other than some AJAX smoke and mirrors, still 
sucks!

So regardless, its back to citadel. The only one that at least is HONEST 
about the fact that its not an outlook speaking beast yet.

COME ON OPEN SOURCE WORLD. I AM CONVINCED THIS OUTLOOK PROBLEM IS THE #1 
BARRIER TO FOSS SERVER ADOPTION. Either our staff get to talk to each 
other or they dont.

Frusturated after trying to crack this issue for OVER 2 YEARS.

I swear, when Im old and move on to the next dimension, my grave stone 
will read "TRIED TO REPLACE EXCHANGE. WAS HIS DOWNFALL".

Suck an egg microsoft.

Shayne.

--
Freedom's just another word for something new to regulate