Re: [Evolution] Sync'ing desktop & laptop Evolution

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

On Sun, 2011-04-10 at 13:10 +0100, Maurice Batey wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:11:29 +0100, Pete Biggs wrote:
>
> > Because the Gnome standard says that they should be stored there.
>
>    OIC. Does that apply if I'm using KDE rather than Gnome as DTE?

Yes.  It's a function of the program (or rather the underlying Gnome
libraries) rather than the environment in which you are running.

> > anything beyond 2.30 doesn't use .evolution at all)
>
>    As a matter of interest, what do they use instead?

It's all in ~/.local/share/evolution

>  (Why?!)

Because that's where the current standards say that local data should be
stored.  It really should never matter where Evo (or any other program)
stores its private data that it uses for its own internal consumption -
it's not meant for user interaction so it doesn't matter where it's held
or what format it is in.


> > The backup/restore was never designed (or meant) to be used as a
> > frequent method of moving your Evo data around. 
>
>   Perhaps not, but it does that well.
>
> I'm not 'moving data around',

err, yes you are - the backup process creates a gzipped tar file of all
your settings and data and then you move it to another machine.  My
backup file comes in at over 1Gb and I wouldn't like to play with that
every time I want to use a different machine.

>  I'm cloning the current setup of one
> instance of Evolution into another, so that it then has all the
> settings, contacts, etc. and email that the other has.

And what is that if not data that you are moving around?

>    I do the same with all the other applications that I need on the
> laptop, and have been doing for years.
>   (Thuis includes, by the way, an  8GB Virtualbox image of
> a Windows XP installation.).

It strikes me that you would be much better of ditching your desktop and
just using the laptop exclusively - you can attach a keyboard, mouse &
monitor to it when at home if you want or you can get a docking station.
You would save yourself a lot of hassle.

> Presumably you use that method because the requirements include access
> to the data randomly from the various machines, in which case I can
> understand why you need the sophisticated setup.

In the first few hours of this morning I've used 3 or 4 different
methods of accessing my email - but it's not "sophisticated" in any way,
it's just using standard methods of accessing data on a server.  The
only "sophisticated" bit is setting up my own Zimbra server and trying
to deal with an Exchange server over which I have no control!


> We all have different requirements and different ways of achieving
> them. One good thing about Linux is that it allows everyone to select
> from all the different ways of achieving the same ends..
>   Were my circumstances to change, I might well finish up working along
> your lines!

Indeed, but what you have to be careful about is relying on ad-hoc
methods that no longer work after as programs change.  What everyone is
trying to tell you is that what you do is unsupported and risky.  If you
wish to proceed on that basis, then it's up to you.

P.