Scalix Forums

I am curious why Scalix decided on a connector for Evolution but not for Thunderbird. Evolution is very dependent on the correct version of Gnome etc so recompiling a supported version of evolution has always been a bear. Thunderbird by comparison is easily download and installed Mac, Linux and Windows, so it would seem a more logical choice for development efforts.

Currently, many of the linux users I support would rather run Thunderbird, Scalix Web Access or even Outlook via Citrix rather than Evolution+Scalix connector.

Hi Echelon,

the primary deficiency of Thunderbird has been its lack of calendaring function. Evolution is really a full-fledged groupware client. Thunderbird hasn't been one until recently, with the addition of the lightning plugin.

Looking toward the future, the next version of Scalix will support Cal-DAV, reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV.

That will allow calendaring clients to connect via the open Cal-DAV protocol, so we don't need a connector for each one. Evolution supports Cal-DAV, Thunderbird/Lightning support Cal-DAV, Mozilla Sunbird supports Cal-DAV and OSX 10.5 Leopard with include iCal 3.0 which supports Cal-DAV as well.

So with that step made, we'll truly be able to server Clients of Choice on an open interface.

Hope this info helps,

Chris

The other notable deficiency of Thunderbird is its addressbook system. I've heard that you can access your personal scalix contacts folder via LDAP, but I would imagine that's a read-only implementation.

On the plus side, I can read and write to scalix public folders in Thunderbird via IMAP already, but the lack of calendar and read/write contacts is an issue. I downloaded lightning and it was kind of clunky. It demands too much screen space in Thunderbird.

I agree, Lightning is very much still a beta product. I am a Thunderbird fan, but you can't deny that Evolution is better in providing the Outlook like features of Scalix.

Sunbird/Lightning appears to work with Scalix over ical, but in my initial testing it appears to be giving me read-only access to my calendar. New entries added via Sunbird receive an error 500 response from the server with the follownig error reported by Sunbird



In my view Sunbird/Lightning is well behind all the other calendaring clients supported by Scalix, yet it appears to be important to our organisation. Therefore I am required to get it working as well as I can.

I've read through many forum postings that mention Sunbird/Lightning so far, but have not yet found the answer. Any clues where to look?

The url I am using for my calendar connectivity is



A related article somewhere on the forum (lost the link now) suggests that iCal may be insufficient for write access, but is this still the case? The article was a year old. It suggested the functionality would be provided via CalDAV, in late 2007 (Scalix 11.3?)

Cheers
thecowster

viewtopic.php?p=41445

..seems to be conclusive.

Scalix 11.3 will support CalDAV, which should enable Thunderbird/Lightning write access to the Scalix calendar.

And bring Outlook 2007 support too.

All before Christmas 2007.

Very, very good news

Cheers
thecowster

I want to support Scalix in their decision: I think Evolution is a very good choice.

It is the favorite Email client for most of the Linux users I know. And it provides very good Outlook compatibility.

Of course CalDAV support is also great: This will allow Thunderbird/Lightning users and Apple iCal users (Leopard is out now and supports CalDAV) to connect.