Re: [Evolution] CalDAV - any successes out there

["Patrick O'Callaghan" <poc usb ve>]

On Tue, 2007-02-20 at 10:33 +0100, Jules Colding wrote:
> On Sat, 2007-02-17 at 00:04 -0400, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> > On Fri, 2007-02-16 at 23:49 +0000, Pete Biggs wrote:
> > > > Something that can be made to work with the Exchange instead of going 
> > > > through the Outlook Web Access which basically makes working with 
> > > > Exchange a total PITA.  This is a productivity killer.
> > > >  
> > >
> > > I know nothing about Exchange, but I was under the impression that the only
> > > way a non-Windows client can get access to Exchange was via OWA.  There
> > > is nothing that Evo can do about that - it's because MS doesn't publish the
> > > interface "standard".  After all, that was why Brutus was created - but 
> > > then
> > > people grouch that it has to run on a windows box!
> >
> > The MS interface is MAPI (Mail API), 
>
> s/"Mail API"/"Messaging API"

You missed a closing '/' :-)

> > which is a proprietary MS protocol.
> > Third party clients can apparently use it by paying MS a licence fee.
>
> Not really. The fee comes when you connects to an Exchange server not
> when you use the API. It's called the CLA (Client Access License). It is
> independent of how you connects to the Exchange server. 

Interesting. So you basically pay for the number of users you expect to
have, independantly of how they access. Good to know.

> > This is of course useless for free software projects. However people
> > have been trying to reverse-engineer MAPI wire protocol, with varying
> > degrees of success (it appears to be intentionally obfuscated). Thus for
> > example the "standard" (non-Brutus) Exchange plugin for Evo is
> > independant of MS. 
>
> Brutus is wrapping native MAPI. The server does therefore needs MAPI to
> be present on the server box. Brutus is independent of MS, yes, but
> certainly not of MAPI which it is "merely" making available for FOSS
> clients on almost any platform.

I actually knew that. Call it the combination of 'deja vu' with memory
loss ("I've forgotten this before now"). Anyway, what do you think of
the Openchange project?

poc