Re: [Evolution] Does Evolution retrieve email even when it is not being run??

[Evolution List <carlos gonzalez shaw ca>]

Hi Jeffrey, 

> perhaps you'd like to enlighten us on how to set off calendar alarms
> without having any processes running?

Obviously Jeffrey, if no Evolution related processes are running no
Evolution related alarms will be set off.  My question revolved around
whether any processes were still running after quitting evolution.   It
is a given that if no Evolution processes remain running that nothing,
Evolution wise, will happen at all. 

> >   Or worse the inability to make it stop (short of
> > a logging in and logging out - though I still need to test whether it
> > actually stops even through that).  
>
> ???

I've recently discovered that processes can be started and remain
running outside of KDE or Gnome.  Call me a Linux newbie if you will but
I did not quite realize this until recently.  That's why I wondered if
one needed to reboot the computer to be reassured of all Evolution
processes stopping.  Perhaps a dumb question but if so, please shalk iit
up to my experience with some of this.  

> > The more I kick Evolution (like one would kick a tire) the more I am
> > beginning to realize that this program has a lot of problems that still
> > need to be ironed out.  The last time I tried Evolution over a year ago
> > it was a joke.  Constantly crashing. 
>
> wasn't constantly crashing for most people... if it was, we wouldn't
> have shipped it.

Hmmm...well...all one needs to do is read through reviews of the older
Evolution to know that it had major problems Jeffrey.  Lots and lots of
problems with instability.  Many considered that it was not quite a
mature project yet and needed a lot of work to get there.  At least from
the reading I did at the time.  It was very quirky and unstable for me
running under KDE.  I tried the old one for a day and quickly gave up on
it.  

This new 2.0 version is much, much better.  It is like night and day
compared to the version that was around a year ago.  At least in terms
of stability.  Of course I am running under Gnome now so maybe that was
part of it.  

The main reason I tried it again, aside from KMail trashing a couple of
hundred of my emails through a known but relatively rare bug, was that
Novell had apparently taken over through it's buyout of Ximian.  And
given that I figured Evolution would now be supported in a way that
would allow developers and others involved in the project to make
greater progress.  

> > It's gotten a whole heck of a lot better and the developers and others
> > involved in the 2.0 release are to be applauded but all this makes me
> > wonder if I want to encourage business use of Evolution.  I need a
> > robust and rock solid application and am wondering if Evolution fits
> > that bill.  
>
> I'd say it is pretty robust.

I think in terms of not crashing on me I would agree with you.  So far
it hasn't crashed once on me and that alone is awesome.  I stand
corrected Jeffrey :).  I think I probably should not have used the term
robust in what I said.  I see that now.  

I guess what I meant was that business users don't have the inclination
or the patience to go around doing this or that workaround for this or
that problem to get it to work to their satisfaction.  It either works
and works well, without workarounds like going to a command line to use
the -shutdown switch and other such things, or it does not.  And if it
doesn't they will just stick to their Microsoft Outlook and look upon
Evolution as just another Linux program that must be tinkered with.
Something they don't want to do. 

Not to belabor the point but for example if a user closes an application
down they expect it to close down.  And not continue to do things behind
the scenes.  That's the kind of stuff that can lead to undesirable
consequences from an end user perspective.  

> > Even when I looked at the recent bugs fixed list I couldn't believe that
> > Evolution had, until the bug was fixed, not kept emails on a POP server
> > when told to do that.  Among a huge list of other bugs.  
>
> yes it did, that was a short lived bug that was caused by another fix
> for broken pop servers.

I understand Jeffrey.  Again I have not been in on bug fixes, how many
have been fixed, or what caused them, or even with how long they were
around.  I am only going by first impressions and I know all too well
that such impressions can be wrong.  Still, having that kind of bug even
show up in a fixed bug listing causes my confidence in Evolution
handling my email properly to be a wee bit shaken.  Wondering if there
might not be some other important bug lurking in there somewhere.
That's not the kind of bug which one normally sees in a mature project
that has been around for a long time.  And whatever the reason for the
bug, it is the kind of bug that would really upset me as an end user if
I found out that the emails I downloaded at work, for example, were
still not on the server on getting home to look at them again.  

Carlos