First of all, it's a good idea to move users away from exchange and
outlook and their "standards" to something that's entirely based on true open
standards.
However, if your users are particularly cantankerous, below are some
options.
About MAPI
- Apparently there is "MAPI the API" and "MAPI the protocol".
- MAPI is what gives Outlook its souped up features, relative to
your typical SMTP+IMAP server.
- MAPI the API is apparently poorly documented
- MAPI the protocol appears to be undocumented
Interesting development in OSS MAPI support: Brutus
is an opensource implementation of MAPI. It's Corba based, pretty
platform independent, and appears to be client-side only (?). Great
name, too. :)
client - MAPI capable
- otlkcon -
Affiliated with Kroupware. Probably MAPI the API, not MAPI the
protocol
- Lotus Notes
- Ximian
- Connector is
a commercial plugin for the free Evolution mail program. The
plugin enables MAPI I believe. Rumor has it Connector doesn't
speak the MAPI protocol, but seems
like it because it parses microsoft's HTML (WEBDAV) interface to get
comparable functionality. Further, evo's "connector" for exchange
reportedly also uses LDAP on the exchange server. This
Slashdot article indicates connector is now GPL'd, and will be
included with future versions of Evolution. Sadly, even though
Connector is free now, OWA (Outlook Web Access, which connector
uses instead of MAPI) still costs money
beyond a default exchange install.
- samsung
- contact - the
server can do MAPI, so I'm guessing the client can too.
- More
about contact from newsforge, with some comments at the end
that touch on other products as well.
- These guys claim that they have more MAPI experience than
anyone outside of microsoft - possibly even more than at
microsoft
- They also claim to have made more of a dent of the Fortune 500
than any other Exchange replacement
- centrinity
- firstclass -
probably MAPI, probably have a client
server - MAPI capable
- openchange
- OSER - a bunch of
FLOSS stuff, but then there's qmail... :(
- SuSe is apparently planning an "
Openexchange" to be released in
mid-November of 2002.
- Lotus Domino - need Lotus Domino Designer Release 6 for MAPI
- SCO
- formerly volution
- only supported on Caldera OSes?
- SCO
Office
- Basically just don't buy their stuff. These are the guys who
are trying to kill linux
- samsung
- contact
- Nov 7, 2002: Reportedly doesn't work with the Ximian Connector
Plugin, but they plan to talk to Ximian about making a version
that does. Jul 9, 2003: Reportedly has full Outlook/MAPI
compat
-
Communigate Pro by Stalker Software reportedly works, drop-in,
with Outlook or Evolution with the Connector plugin. Jul 9, 2003:
Partial MAPI support?
-
billworkgroup - server code is opensource, mapi plugin is
proprietary.
- centrinity
Not MAPI capable, but that doesn't mean it can't be interesting,
right?
- fetchexc - a
java program that can, in the spirit of fetchmail, retrieve e-mail
from exchange via WebDAV.
- sherpath: opensource, web
thing
- easygate: gets MAPI API
(outlook compat) through exchange4linux (full compat with
outlook?)
- Oracle Collaboration
Suite - formerly Steltor CorporateTime
- Kroupware (KDE). Not MAPI,
but see otlkcon above
- phpgroupware
reportedly includes webmail, a calendar, and a number of other
interesting things.
-
MailStudio
- works with outlook, includes a web interface, doesn't do MAPI
(?), but it does do iCal (!) and apparently outlook supports
iCal
- citadel is
reportedly headed in the direction of outlook compatibility
-
netscape calendar
Cross platform they say. Opensourced, rumor has it. Is it
ICAL?
- Amphora has commercial and
gpl versions. Probably just offers comparable functionaity to
MAPI
-
Suse Linux e-mail server - I doubt this interoperates with outlook,
but it does include e-mail and calendaring
- OSAFoundation
is apparently working on something kind of like exchange, that
doesn't require a server. Huh? Anyway, it's something to keep an
eye on.
- Chronoss - just a
web calendar
Unclear where it fits in the picture
- OpenChange - to be an
opensource exchange clone.
- netline open xchange
- Affiliated with SuSE
- Opensource
- Bynari
has a variety of products that may help linux users talk to
exchange and/or outlook users talk to linux servers. However, Bynari's
product descriptions are so steeped in marketing-speak that I can't
always tell how the products help. I wish they'd just say "does
IMAP, SMTP, MAPI, client side or server side".
Instead they have a lot of inspecific stuff about how great their
products are.
- This article
is an example. Clearly they think they have something good here,
and it's pro-linux, but just exactly what does the product
really do?
- This one's clear though: It's an
exchange client for linux and solaris. I suspect
that it does SMTP and IMAP, and then there's an Outlook plugin for
some proprietary protocol only spoken by Bynari for MAPI
like functionality.
- Jul 9, 2003: Reportedly has partial Outlook/MAPI
support
- May 11, 2004: Rumor has it they're no longer offering an
exchange client
- OSAF
Slashdot
thread about replacing exchange
Making Outlook sort of useful. Why doesn't microsoft provide this
kind of functionality?