I maintain an SMEServer for a charity and they want a shared calender. I suggested Google but the boss doesn't want it out in the ether which is fair enough. I'm not quite a newbie with Linux but a very long way from expert and wary of messing up SMEServer given it runs headless administered by a web interface and I managed to foul it up once already, if a couple of years ago when I first installed it. I also don't get paid so minimal work to install and maintain matters.

Looking on the web I see that eGroupware has an install package for SMEServer so installing it would be relatively painless. Importantly it can work with the XP machines as well as the Linux ones on the network using Outlook or a web browser client and is also web interface managed.

Anyone got any experience of it and got opinions for and against? They don't use the server as anything but a file server at the moment as their mail is through webmail accounts but the web server is enabled to internal access only already if unused.

Or anything else you can suggest? Please note this is a cheap Dell server box and while the processor is okay the memory in it at the moment is crap and persuading them to install more hasn't worked yet. That said there at most four active desktops/laptops connected.

Richard.

I'm afraid I don't know, although I would be interested to hear how it goes. You'll probably find somebody who has used it in anger at the Linux Format forums as they have quite a few SME server users there.
http://www.linuxformat.com/

To be honest, if there is a package for SMEServer then I would go ahead and try it, it should be a lot easier to install and harder to muck anything up. See if the users like it and leave it like that, if they don't then look further...

I know at work we use a Sun Java calendar or something, it does the job, we can use a web version or the Lightning plug-in in Thunderbird, I'm sure Outlook wouldn't have a problem...However I don't know if this system is free or not...And it is a tad dated....

The boss doesn't want the calendar 'out in the ether' but all mail is webmail?

Does anyone else see the irony here?

Didge

Doesn't Thunderbird have a stand alone module for a calender?

Thanks folks

Didgeman I used the sentence for a reason and with some sarcasm intended . I don't get it either really but she's the boss and I'm the unpaid helper who isn't going to spend much time and effort arguing with her about it. The two staff who need it most were happy enough with Googles calender and to be honest I very much doubt there is ever going to be anything 'sensitive' on it too.

There is a calender module for Thunderbird but I have XP clients I'd have to install that on and that would be another program for fairly clueless people to use and which they wouldn't use for anything else. I'd rather have something that they can access with their browser which they have open all the time anyway so it is a simple matter of slapping in a bookmark and leaving them to it.

Looks like it is going to rain tomorrow so I can't work outside to give an excuse to give eGroupware a try.

Richard.

have a look at evolution groupware PIM it will run on Linux and windows …

for linux
http://projects.gnome.org/evolution/

for windows
http://www.dipconsultants.com/evolution/

If it was a windows server then I'd say sharepoint runs and hides

It would require some dev work probable but how about PHPnuke http://phpnuke.org/

Sorry Richard, didn't pick up on the sarcasm .. being an IT manager for a company where the boss is enthusiastic but sometimes ill informed I can appreciate the need to sometimes say YES when you really mean NO.

Didge

Well after a very long overdue updating session and full backup before playing the install went fine. A few minutes to do, a few minutes changing passwords and it came up fine looking fairly smart and capable. I haven't poked around to see what it is capable of but first impressions are fine. Seems to respond fine too though on a machine with only 256MB now running full SMEServer plus eGroupware; few users though. I can see the charity usefully expanding into use of other elements of the application in time too. So a good result.

Richard.