# to groupware or not to groupware...

## ZippyJay

There seems to be more types of groupware out there than I can shake a mouse at!

  My interest in groupware (or similar multi-function web based projects) has been cultivated recently while looking for solutions for these two needs: 1. give my users access to there email through the web, inside and outside of our network.  2.  Set up some sort of web based calendaring system involving different groups and access lists to control them.  

My search of course led me to stumble across the groupware concept again, and it seems like an interesting solution for my goals.  Plus, many of these projects have other interesting features.  Here is a list of project that I have snooped around about

egroupware http://www.egroupware.org/

opengroupware http://www.opengroupware.org

open-xchange  http://open-xchange.org/

phpgroupware  http://www.phpgroupware.org/

horde  http://www.horde.org/ (seems to have good webmail, but calendar is only single user)

phprojekt http://www.phprojekt.com/

more.groupware  http://mgw.k-fish.de

group-office  http://www.group-office.com/

tutos  http://www.tutos.org

lucane  http://lucane.org/groupware/ (JAVA BASE)

kolab  http://www.kolab.org

Hula Project  http://www.hula-project.org/Hula_Server  (this seems to be more of a all-in-one approach.  Includes SMTP, IMAP and POP servers too)

	Of these, opengroupware, open-xchange, and egroupware seem to be toward the top my list. (not to discount others).

I would love to here opinions or information about the following:

1.	Is it better to go with a groupware solution or to just stick with separate web based email (Squirrelmail for example) and  a web calendar (Webcalendar or something similar)?

2.	If groupware is the way I choose to go, which programs have others used and found that it met there needs?  In what ways did they work well and so on?

3.	Any other thought on the subject?

With so many different projects out there, I am looking to get as much information as possible on the subject.  I have gleaned a lot of information from searching the posts and the web, but just wanted to see what your opinions are now.  I apologize if this post seems redundant.  

Thanks for your input!  I appreciate the info that I have gotten so far from the forum.

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## Slurp53

I recently moved from Group Office to phpgroupware.  Phpgroupware offers a lot more stuff, although I can't seem to get some of it to work (chat).  But the really important stuff (email, calander) works great.  The latest releases of Group Office were getting very flakey.  I have no experience with any others.

 :Smile:   :Smile: 

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## vkha

I have used eGW (i.e. egroupware)

Looks very-very nice, but i am unhappy about slow on new releases of eGW.

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## edomaur

I've tryed Open-Xchange (OX), OpenGroupware and Lucane.

OX is a huge monster of an application, and quietly difficult to install. But is really good for the enterprise where an Exchange serveur could be an option.

OpenGroupware is probably the more stable of the lot. I have some reserve against the use of Objective C as a development platform but nothing crippling. Oh, and you will change the theme... The default one is not only ugly, it is also completelly non-intuitive...

Lucane... It comes with its client and all the infrastructure. 5 minutes to install and run. However, as OX, it is written in Java and if I think it is a good thing, this could be a no-no to some persons. (Just to note, I'm a Python person myself).

EDIT : as for the web based approach... A good thing is that your users can access their informations from an intranet or extranet, without the hassle of always having the clients app ready. Another point : https is _more_ secure than POP3 or IMAP4 if you are not in an Intranet...

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## Herring42

I've tried eGroupWare.

I found it slow, and the contacts and calender didn't integrate very well with Kontact (Though Kontact 3.4.1 appears to be a bit better).

I'm currently trying kolab as I have a seperate machine spare, but it does seem to want a dedicated machine.

 :Confused: 

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## ZippyJay

Thanks a lot for your all of your comments.  

Does anyone have any information on how secure these programs are for use on the net?  Internal access is one thing, but access to calendars and email outside of an organization is another.

I primarily would like to allow at least webmail access from outside of my organization, but I just figured that some sort of groupware solution would fill all my needs, inside and outside our network. 

Any info about SSL usage in these programs would great.

Also, does anyone prefer separate programs for each function vs. groupware apps?  Reasons?

Thanks again!

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## SubGenius

Another collaboration project to add to your list:

Zimbra  http://www.zimbra.com/

Its goal is to provide an AJAX based collaboration suite.  

Pros:  Its got a very nice interface.  Check out their demo to see it in action.  Very impressive.

Cons:  Large initial download of the webclient makes it unfriendly to slow connections.  Its packaging doesn't really lend itself to a gentoo install.  For example, its source package includes apache,mysql,postfix,cyrus-sasl, with some source code changes to the cyrus package, and special configuration settings on the other software.  

I managed to get an emerge of Hula working tonight and have been testing it.  So far I'm quite impressed by the ease of administration, and the interface is good.  But, this project is still a ways off from being production ready.  

I've also used phpgroupware and egroupware.  They forked codebases some time ago, but share quite a bit of the same structure.

In both cases, they have a LOT of modules that can be added on, and can do a ton more things than just email & calendar.  But, with such an ambitious approach, many of the modules are underdeveloped.  I decided on egroupware because it looked more active at the time.  I've had this egroupware install for the past 8 months, with about a dozen users. 

Pros:  Nice looking, plenty of modules, No major problems.

Cons: Slow, modules very basic, very time-consuming to setup and configure

As for security, I think the biggest threat are user passwords.  I have had a difficult time enforcing any kind of password policies.  I use my groupware  off-site all the time, and its quite handy to have.   For SSL, most of the programs will have the sign-in page use https, and Apache can redirect all normal traffic to https if you so choose.  Of course it will cause a performance hit.

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## LordKimbote

Is there a possibility of someone packaging an ebuild for zimbra?  I would like to use this suite of software for my budding company, but I am kind of daunted by the way it needs to be set up.

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## cdemers

It looks quite impressive, this application could be a potential "enterprise class" MS Exchange replacement.  On the other hand, I'm not shure that it fits with the Gentoo DIY philosophy, and their intents on the licensing scheme is not very clear.  Still, I can't help but having high hopes in this product (Zimbra)... We'll see how it goes.

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## Martz

Yep, Zimbra looks great - its been posted on the front page of Slashdot today - so as typical I've come to the forums to see if its hit GentooWorld yet.

I would love to see an ebuild for this - the Zimbra forums have a "What OS Next" poll, and quite a few people are voting for Gentoo - which is encouraging to see!

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## Dark_Hunter

If you want some help with Open XChange try the NEW ebuild in portage  :Wink: 

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## Dark_Hunter

 *ZippyJay wrote:*   

> I primarily would like to allow at least webmail access from outside of my organization, but I just figured that some sort of groupware solution would fill all my needs, inside and outside our network. 
> 
> Any info about SSL usage in these programs would great.

 

Open XChange is accessed through the apache webserver  - if you enable ssl support in apache you get a secure access. Also webdav is handled through apache ssl. 

Some nice additional information. Calendar (read and write) can be accessed also through fatclients like Kalendar from KDE or evolution contacts (just read through ldap). There is also a commercial plugin for Outlook up to 2003 where you can access your Open XChange server. OX can be used as a replacement for Exchange.

Hope that helps you a little bit.

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## SubGenius

I installed an Open Xchange system using the new 0.8.1.3 ebuild on a new gentoo install.  I also used: http://www.mikefetherston.ca/OX/html/index.html as a guideline.   Most of the steps were already done, but needed some oversight/geusswork.  OpenLDAP gave me a lot of problems.  I downgraded to 2.1.30-r5, and it started working better, but I can't say for sure whether the version was the problem.  I tried mysql but got some error messages, and switched to postgres 8, then postgres 7.4.8. 

My OX had problems with the +SSL use flag, so I changed it to -ssl and it lets me login now.  I can goto https://my-ox, and get a secure page over apache that keeps the entire session encrypted with no problems.  

I haven't gotten the webmail portion to run yet, I'll work on that tonight.

edit:  Got it to work with Postrgres 8.0.3 and openldap 2.2.28 after remerging and cleaning up my config files and db's

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## jkomar

 *LordKimbote wrote:*   

> Is there a possibility of someone packaging an ebuild for zimbra?  I would like to use this suite of software for my budding company, but I am kind of daunted by the way it needs to be set up.

 

I'd love to see an ebuild as well. There is an ebuild request in bugzilla, but no takers yet. I have only done one ebuild in my life and I don't think I am up for the task on something as complex as a groupware suite.

Cheers,

Jason

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## michelle778

I'm still looking for a good P2P (no web-based) groupware, but I'm not happy yet with any.

On my way I found another one, pretty german and you have to pay for it: http://www.alphaagent.de/ and of course, Java crap again  :Sad: 

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## Dark_Hunter

Have you tried OX, it is realy good - but Java.

But you should give it a try  :Wink: 

What are your needed requirements?

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## sourceview

Hey Guys, I am impressed with your attention to groupware and applications in general on Gentoo.  I am the editor of SourceView Open Journal, a new and startup venture to provide articles, reviews and ratings to Small to Medium Businesses, for their adaption.  We are also looking to build a list of sharp persons who can assist small businesses in the implementation of open source software.  We compile a list of consultants for each software package we review and recommend.  

We are a Gentoo house since 2002, all runs on Gentoo except our review machines for Solaris (we think not ready for prime time, especially its breaking upgrades), BSD and other distros like Ubuntu.  We are searchjing for authors who will write articles on various software packages relevant to small to medium businesses.  You write for fame and glory, get a major mention in our consultants section, and most probably make some Bucks in services in your areas of expertise.

If you are interested, we are adapting Linux Magazines' methods of working with authors, so until we get our site up and running we want you to go their, click on authors, and use their outlines and methods.  Email me of your interest at           mdean@sourceview.com and I will put you on our mailing list for authors.

Thanks

Michael

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## Albert_Alligator

Well, I'm emerging dotproject right now to see how well it works. I'm also in need of a good web-based project tracking and team usable software.

Cheers,

Al

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## bugg_tb

@sourceview

Well you should probably wipe away the hackers comments before you get anyone to write for it  :Very Happy: 

Just a suggestion

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## Albert_Alligator

Sorry it took so long to get back. 

Well, dotproject worked really nice. Didn't work with PHP5, didn't work with MySQL 5+, but with PHP4 and MySQL 4.* it worked really well.

The security log on part was nice and granularity in controlling who could access what functionality using the same interface.

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## maiku

Well, I have a qmail server with courier-imap installed and usermin.  I'm pretty much setting up a really neat solution for the office around here.  I was looking into eGroupWare and PHPGroupWare because they both seem to be in portage and readily available.  The main factor in choosing one is compatability with Outlook.  I know eGroupWare has Outlook sync compatability and compatability with Kontact (apparently) but does PHPGroupWare?  PHPGroupWare seems to have more features.  Does anybody have any insight on using either of them with syncing contacts and mail and whatnot?  I also would like to still use qmail with it and have virtual domains.

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