Re: [Evolution] Evaluating Evolution- some basic questions

[Patrick O'Callaghan <poc usb ve>]

On Sun, 2009-02-22 at 08:57 -0500, Rob wrote:
> Can't see that either is a "solution."  The preview pane, for me and
> many others, is nothing but an annoying waste of screen real estate.
>  Most people I know don't care for it.  It should always be a choice
> but the other option just needs a couple tweaks to make it work a
> little more efficiently and not be speed bump in someone's workflow.  

As I said, Bugzilla is the place to ask for enhancements. Please post
the BZ number when you do it.

> As for the signature standards, I wholly disagree.  Standards in
> networking protocols, physical interfaces, code writing are all
> necessary and serve a function.  Chaos would result without them.  But
> adding visible characters to the formatting of a document is not a
> standard that should exist.  When I send out a document I don't want
> something added to it that, to my eyes, appears out of place,
> distracting, and, were this a business communication,
> unprofessional.  

How do you suggest signatures be set apart from the message body? The
only alternative to a visible separator would be to force signatures to
be a separate MIME section, and to make every mail client obey this.
It's just not going to happen. As I've said, this is not an Evo issue.

> Say what you like about Microsoft, and believe me I'll join you on
> most topics, they do actually do some things right.  Not a lot, but a
> few.  Although Outlook has some flaws (what application doesn't?) it
> works exceptionally well at the user level and provides a level of
> customization that much of the world has become accustomed to.  It
> can't be a mistake that the Evo GUI is quite close to the layout of
> Outlook.  Telling people that "this is the way it is, like it or not"
> outside of the Windows world is not going to be an effective way to
> gain converts.  

I couldn't care less personally. Gaining converts is for people with
agendas or a business model. I just want something that works and the
freedom to use it. Again, tastes vary and BZ is your friend.

> Don't get me wrong, Evolution seems like a great application.  I
> *want* to find something to replace Outlook for both myself and my
> company.  I just need to make sure that the learning curve is small
> enough for my users to make it worthwhile and that it will work in the
> way the business needs it to work.  

A couple of additional points, not directly related to your message but
to the way you sent it:

1) Your quoting style has two Outlook holdovers that are generally
discouraged in mailing-lists, namely top-posting and inline quoting. I
know these are common in the business world, but they make list threads
harder to follow and aren't calculated to make you win friends and
influence people.

2) Please don't send HTML, also discouraged in mailing lists.

Cheers

poc