Hi all

Not strictly Locost related, but I wondered whether anyone would be interested in a 'group buy' so to speak on a Zimbra server.

If you've never heard of it, it's basically a third-party version of MS Exchange, except it'll run on Linux, and supports (desktop) platforms other than Windows.

That means you get push email and calendars to iPhone/iPad/Android, proper syncronisation between desktop/laptop/webmail/phone, and all that other nice stuff, but without someone filling it with ads and searching your mail for keywords (ie gmail!)

I suspect it's one of those things that 'if you want it, you'll know you want it' but if not, have a read here: http://www.zimbra.com/learn/

A 15 user licence is about £260 ($400 US) per year, plus we'd need a server to run it on at around £600 per year. For 15 of us going in that would be something £56/year each.

I'm already involved in a group of 4 that chip in for a *cough* seedbox, all of which are up for this, so we could possibly roll that in too.

I'm currently downloading a 60 day, 50 user trial to see if it's really as good as the website claims. If anyone is considering this and wants an account to have a go with just drop me a line. Email is best - look for the 'contact' button on this site's homepage.

Cheers, Chris

[Edited on 9/2/2010 by ChrisW]

have you looked at the Suse equivalent also?

also oracle beehive - I would suspect you are in a position to run a free version for yourself....

As far as I'm aware, Zimbra is the only one that really works without having to upset your whole OS. What I mean is, it plugs straight into Outlook, iPhone, etc with no custom apps or anything like that.

Chris

PS Mail2Web do hosted solutions which can provide most the above, too....but I do admit it goes against the grain to buy off the shelf for what you can build...

The tricky bits are the calendar integration....email is the easy bit...

[Edited on 2/9/10 by stevebubs]

I'm not bothered about calendars really, it's email I want. I've been (sort of) spoilt by having an Exchange system at work where email 'just works' and now want it for my personal stuff (including LB mail!). However, I hate having to pay the M$ licence fees, it sucks up server resources, wastes a box that could be otherwise useful for other apps (what else useful runs on Windows lol!!) and we are constantly having to reboot the box because it's decided to throw it's toys out of the pram yet again.

Fingers crossed Zimbra is the platform to go for, and that I can get enough people together to make it affordable for personal use.

Chris

PS You're a git - I was about to go to bed, but you've piqued my curiosity now.

Looks like things have moved on a bit since I last looked at things like this.

CalDav seems to have brought the open source calendar sync protocols into alignment.

If it's just email you want, there's a plethora of opensource projects to choose from that "just work"...

I ran "toy" servers for things like this in my loft for ages when I was a bit younger and on the road less, but got fed up with them overheating (loft gets bloody hot)

I now just pay godaddy a small sum each year for email and that works with all the family's various devices - blackberry, Windows phone, Outlook, iPod etc...

[Edited on 3/9/10 by stevebubs]

What is wrong with gmail? Yes they do search your emails for keywords, but only to display some adds at the side of your screen. Most of they time I don't even see them, although these adds are sometimes even usefull. I think gmail is great, you have 7Gb of space, so you never have to delete your mails.

Hi Steve

This will be a little more than a 'toy server' I feel, considering what I do as a day job! I will probably co-locate it in Sovereign House, Docklands, and connect to the backbone at gigE.

As for gmail, i think you've answered your own question! Besides, it doesn't work (properly) with Outlook.

Chris

quote:

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Originally posted by ChrisW
Hi Steve

This will be a little more than a 'toy server' I feel, considering what I do as a day job! I will probably co-locate it in Sovereign House, Docklands, and connect to the backbone at gigE.

As for gmail, i think you've answered your own question! Besides, it doesn't work (properly) with Outlook.

Chris

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Sounds good! What are you doing now? We're recruiting!

Chris