Novell opens invitation to use its source
Novell opens invitation to use its source
Novell has made another major statement in its bid to become a leading open source player by releasing the source code for its email and calendar software.
It has announced that its Connector for Microsoft Exchange Server will be integrated into Evolution 2.0 and made available as open source. Evolution Connector allows Microsoft Exchange Server 2000/2003 users to manage their email, calendars, group schedules, addresses books, public folders and tasks from Linux desktops.
This software used to cost US$69 for each computer, but it will be available for free as a download from May 15th. It used to be proprietary to give it an edge over its competitors, but Novell still has a wider range of offerings that it can still rely on for profitability.
Nat Friedman, vice president of the desktop technologies group at Novell said. "As companies deploy Linux on the desktop, they must ensure that users of either Windows or Linux can collaborate with each other using existing back-end systems and familiar processes. Technologies like the Connector which allow Linux desktops to operate inside a mixed proprietary/open source environment make choosing a Linux desktop easier for IT administrators.
"With the release of the Connector source code, the entire Evolution product is now available under the GNU General Public Licence and we're excited that customers are going to see the benefits in Novell's next Linux desktop as well as in future releases of SUSE Linux."
Software under the GPL allows anyone to modify and redistribute the source code, so long as the changes are published. It also allows competitors to use the software, which is very common in the open-source world. For instance, Novell uses the Red Hat Package Manager software because it makes it easier to install or update software.
Red Hat is also now thinking about using the Evolution Connector as part of Red Hat Desktop and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Some of the features of Evolution 2.0 include built-in spam filtering; security management; tight integration with the Linux desktop and Gaim instant messaging client. It also supports key data exchange and communication standards, such as IMAP, POP, SMTP, LDAP and iCalendar. In addition, it can be synchronised with Palm and PocketPC handheld devices.
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