Re: [Evolution] How do you install 2.29 on Ubuntu 9.10?

["Bryan Karlan" <bkarlan automotivemp com>]

2009/12/2 Bryan Karlan <chunnel yahoo com>:
> I want to try 2.29 to see what it has improved upon.  I have little
> experience with Linux.  I have Ubuntu 9.10.  I have downloaded the file
and
> have extracted it.  However, I find no install or setup file as you would
in
> Windows.  I still can't understand why in Linux such simple things are
made
> so darn complicated.  How can I figure this program out if I can't even
> figure out how to install it?
>
> Bryan


This is bottom-posting, I enter what you said first, then respond to it. It
makes it easier to understand the context and what I'm replying to. If I
entered your text to the bottom, then you'd have to scroll back and forth in
order to understand what I was talking about. This is considered bad
netiquette and, to some, rude.

But anyway; I just wanted to add something to what's already been said.
This is not a beta-version, it's far earlier than that. But even when it
_is_ released, it won't be as easy to install Evolution 2.30 in 9.10 as it
would be to install a new version of Outlook in Windows.

This is not a "Linux" issue. There are great differences between different
Linux distros, so that using OpenSUSE is very different from using Ubuntu.
In Ubuntu, and most other Linux distros, we use package managers. This
is what makes it so easy to install applications in Ubuntu, using Ubuntu
Software Center, etc.

There are pros and cons to this approach. You get all the software from one
source, so the chance of downloading the software from the wrong site and
getting a manipulated version (like downloading Winzip from
www.MyMuchCoolerWinzip.com) is eliminated. Since applications are split
into packages, the software downloads are also alot smaller. If you have
Mozilla Firefox installed, for instance, downloading Mozilla Thunderbird
will be
much faster than in Windows, because Firefox and Thunderbird shares alot
of parts. In Windows, you'd have to download the entire software every time.
This means you'd have to install the same software twice. For more general
software, you might download the same software ten times, where you'd
download it once in Ubuntu. By sharing application parts (libraries) like
this,
Linux is also able to optimize your RAM usage, freeing resources to
other things.

And that brings me to the cons. Because you don't download large bundles
of software, like you do in Windows, but instead only download the things
you actually don't already have, you need to have the same versions of the
pieces of software. This is what makes it more difficult to just
install a different
version of Evolution, for instance. The pieces depend on one another, so
that
while you could replace Evolution with a newer version, that might also mean
that you had to replace other softwares which you didn't really want
to replace,
etc.

This is a fundamental difference between Windows and Ubuntu: Windows
doesn't really care or know anything about the applications you install. In
Ubuntu, the applications become part of the global system. This also means
you can plan for changes: you know that every six months, applications in
Ubuntu are upgraded. You'll get a new Firefox, new OpenOffice.org, new
Evolution, etc. You don't really have to keep track on the progress of the
different applications manually.

Hope that helps,

Jo-Erlend Schinstad

-----Original Message-----
From: Jo-Erlend Schinstad [mailto:joerlend schinstad gmail com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 7:43 AM
To: evolution-list gnome org
Subject: Re: [Evolution] How do you install 2.29 on Ubuntu 9.10?

I'm learning all this and have found Linux to be a great alternative, but
still having some small issues with it.  Such as display drivers and
Homegroup access.  However, I feel these will be resolved, especially as
people who are new to Linux bring up issues that experienced users of Linux
aren't familiar with.  Such as migration issues.  

All I wanted to do in this email was to find a way to get some new features
out of Evolution that would make it a full fledged alternative for Outlook
for me and many other people who depend on the program for their livelihood.
I've always wanted to have server access but found it both expensive and
that it didn't serve my needs because it doesn't sync Journaling, which I
use extensively.  I've tried the online CRM's but have found them overly
complicated, Salesforce, PlanPlusonline, etc... and hard to sync to Outlook
successfully.  In fact, let's be honest, you can't even rely on Windows
Mobile Sync to work consistently, in fact it will often corrupt the pst file
in bizarre ways that nobody at Microsoft has ever heard of, (yeah right).

I believe KMail and Evolution to be good alternatives if I can find a way to
inexpensively get server access.  I'm still trying to find the best email
client (CRM) so I haven't bothered with the server aspect yet.  I'm just not
in the mood for buying Windows 7 when my beta runs out and Office 2010 when
that beta runs out.  I have found Kubuntu and OpenSuse KDE to be
extraordinary alternatives and while my learning curve is steep, it is
happening quickly.  I just wish some would be a little more understanding of
those of us that are trying to learn.  But I know that despite that, I have
successfully set up a dual boot with Windows 7 with Ubuntu, then OpenSuse,
and now Kubuntu.  And it wasn't easy as I tried different distro's and found
the differences between Gnome and KDE.  And the dual boot created many
problems as did trying to get my Nvidia display driver installed and getting
Linux to see the files on my other Windows 7 laptop.

I thought that I could run the newer version of Evolution and see what they
have done.  I'm finding out through this thread that that is not really an
option and that it is best that I wait for the next distro to contain the
next version of Evolution.  That being said, I would like to explain to
someone who cares what a very strong user of Outlook can contribute to the
discussions about what should be available on the new version.  I believe
that I could contribute greatly to the discussion and offer some great
suggestions for the next version despite the fact that I can't see it.

I would like to know how to offer this, my knowledge of Outlook and the
business users needs, to the Evolution team on a regular basis.  Not just by
putting a bug in Bugzilla.  Because technically, offering advice for new
features is not a bug.  And of course, sometimes it takes multiple
conversations and screenshots for someone else to understand what I'm trying
to convey.

Bryan Karlan
Laguna Niguel, CA