[Fedora-directory-users] Calendar server

[Kevin M. Myer]

Quoting Jeff Clowser <jclowser at unitedmessaging.com>:

> It's not that I see caldav creating any kind of relationship between 
> FDS and Calendar.  It's more along the lines that I want to deploy a 
> FOSS messaging solution around FDS, based on open standards - 
> something feature wise comparable to Exchange, but using 
> non-proprietary protocols so that I can pick and choose clients (and 
> everyone seems to want integrated mail and calendar groupware).  That 
> requires at least a directory server, email server, and calendar 
> server, implementing SMTP, POP, IMAP, LDAP, and something for 
> calendar (caldav).  The one piece that is missing in the FOSS world 
> is a true enterprise Calendar server (other than web cals...).

I'll put a plug in for a piece of software that might do the trick, 
depending on your needs.  The Horde Project (http://www.horde.org) is 
an overall framework for web applications.  For the most part, the 
modules developed for it are essentially web-based clients for existing 
services (for instance IMP is a mature webmail module).  It has a 
calendar module (Kronolith), which moves beyond simply being a 
web-based calendar client and essentially has elements of being a 
full-fledged calendar server, at least in development versions.  This 
bug tracks WebDav integration: http://bugs.horde.org/ticket/?id=3032 
and there has been thoughts/discussion about CalDAV and GroupDAV.

I agree that a FOSS "groupware" solution is much needed, to break the 
hegemony of the current state of affairs.  A calendar server has 
definitely been the missing link for some time, probably due to a lack 
of standards.  But being able to couple an email server, LDAP server, 
and calendar server together, to provide non-propietary, open-protocol 
access to data from any client (fat, web-based, handheld, whatever) 
opens up a whole new market for FOSS, one that Red Hat has already 
identified, judging from John's post about a small-business product 
(the K-12 education market would probably be pretty happy too).

Have a preference for one mail server over another?  Plug in your 
preference.  Like OpenLDAP over FDS?  Use that instead.  The point 
being that control goes back to the user of the software.  You have a 
bunch of blanks that you can fill with the modules of your choice, both 
server and client side.  Want a monolithic fat client?  Well, as long 
as it supports standards well, you could use that.  Or a pure web-based 
client.  Or mix and match..  With a calendaring server, I see almost a 
generic groupware infastructure emerging, for creating groupware 
solutions, using FOSS, in much the same manner as LAMP/WAMP did as a 
stack for creating web applications.  Maybe its just one of the next 
layers in the LAMP/WAMP stack - MAC (Mail, Addressbook, Calendar) - not 
catchy enough though.

Kevin

-- 
Kevin M. Myer
Senior Systems Administrator
Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13  http://www.iu13.org