ClearFoundation

Hi all,

Pleased to report that the release of ClearOS Community Edition 6.3 beta (ISOs) is imminent...possibly tomorrow! As anyone who has used these forums will know, the introduction of the mail stack, powered by Zarafa, is the highlight.

And if you're aware of that, you'll know that much of the integration work for Zarafa has been done by a volunteer ClearFoundation Community member, Tim Burgess, in the 5.x series. Prior to version 6, we didn't have a model to support and foster community contributions. With the huge effort Pete et al have put into the framework and developer docs, and with the introduction of Marketplace, we do.

I was able to hookup for a beer with Tim when I was in the UK last month. It was interesting getting his perspective on ClearOS and the Community...More recently, Mike and Tim batted around different ideas of how Zarafa Community app should enter the Marketplace. We all agreed it would be nice to give Tim more than just a beer (I hope I picked up the tab...I really can't remember) for all the time he's put into the project...not just on the Zarafa app integration, but in supporting users via the forums.

The net result is that Zarafa Community Edition is going to have a modest ($US 10), one-time fee to purchase and download the app. The bulk of the proceeds from users who purchase this app from the Marketplace will go directly to Tim - ClearCenter is only slightly more than a payment facilitator.

I'll be interested to see what the community 'pulse' will be on this decision...it's my hope that many of you will understand that this is good for Tim, good for future developers to the ClearOS platform, good for ClearOS --- and ultimately, good for ClearOS users.

Cheers,

Ben

Obviously I would like to see a core item such as mail be free. Also I would like more contributions to and its great that Tim did all that work. So for me its not much and hopefully this will attract overs.

I work with Joomla and their market place (extension directory) has flourished this way.

To be honest I would like to see subscriptions work along the lines of you pay for what you use as well.

If we have a great application like Zarafa anybody looked at Alfresco, Openbravo and a few other best ofs in the open source world.

It would be great to have community editions with a small cost to cover integration work.

Stuart

Hi,

Although I appreciate all the work done by Tim, I am disappointed that what I would consider to be a basic part of ClearOS - the mail server - is no longer free. The main reasons I started using ClarkConnect were to share mail at home so I did not have to play musical PC's and to share files for the same reason. IPSec VPN was a bonus (although I knew at the time I would have to configure it manually because of remote endpoint considerations). I understand people need to live and the software has been free up to now, and on this basis I've been more than happy to give my time back to the community. The ClearOS business model has been built on a free core produce with paid for bolt ons and support contracts. This developed from the ClarkConnect model where mail for up to 10 mailboxes was still free. For the home user a mail server should still be included in the free core functionality.
I feel pretty strongly that this is the wrong direction it certainly leaves me wondering if I'll be upgrading from 5.2

Nick

I'm with Nick on this one. I was disappointed that the 6.2 betas had no mail whatsoever making them useless as a test platform for my needs, I just installed boinc on the two machines and left them running.

I am testing Zarafa at the moment - and I am less than impressed. Comparing two almost identical machines hardware wise - one 5.2 and Horde - the other 6.2 with Zarafa - the same mail backup job (approx 2G of mail) takes over twice as long with Zarafa with a much bigger increase in CPU utilization (3x +) while doing it - a step backwards...

My view is that 6.2 should have come with basic mail from the start - Cyrus and Squirrel or similar - and then for those that require it, provide a paid-for mail program with many more bells and whistles such as calender etc...

I am now seriously considering wiping one of my test machines and giving other products a test run to see if they better suit my needs for when 5.2 becomes unsupported.

This is not a criticism of Tim's work - just don't need such heavy weight mail program with all the overhead of MySQL for a simple imap server... but then again, I am probably not your average user either...

Hi,

I'm new with ClearOS but I think it's a very bad news for the community.
Please, consider to have a *full free* mail solution for the community and offer other solution with fee, so give alternative for a *basic* service like a mail server to the community.

Regards,
Olivier

David Loper suggested that we put together a standard Cyrus IMAP mail server solution (free x2). That would solve:

1) The resource issues
2) The free as in beer issue

The API and GUI for the app is actually already written (!), but the configuration to get it working properly has not been verified. In version 5.x, there's a dependency on Kolab. That dependency needs to be ripped out and Cyrus IMAP should just talk directly to PAM or LDAP.

Is there a good webmail client to suggest? Squirrelmail seems very dated. Roundcube?

I'm sharing Nick's and Tony opinion. I think ClearOS should have a basic free mail solution. If you want more you can buy Zarafa. Also i think it's more than fair that Tim gets a fee for integrating Zarafa.

Peter Baldwin wrote:
Is there a good webmail client to suggest? Squirrelmail seems very dated. Roundcube?Back in the CC4.3 or 5.0 days I used Roundcube but it became deprecated and to use it on non-standard ports you had to install pear and other stuff (there is a thread on the old CC forums about it) so I reverted to Horde. For just e-mail Roundcube was then much faster than horde and did everything I wanted. I'd be happy with it. I've never used Squirrelmail

I've been using Clark Connect for years, and upgraded to Clear OS a couple months ago. I couldn't be happier. I also have NO problem shelling out $10 for mail support. I only need smtp relay for a fax machine to send pdf and save ink $10 is a tiny price to pay. I think allowing small charges for stuff people work really hard on will incentivize others to do the same.

I really like Zarafa and I think the community edition covers many bases. Yes its slightly heavy for basic use and slightly light of a full exchange replacement.

It looks good enough for most of my clients and it mimics outlook so many of my clients are used to the style of interface.

Some people might think its a bit heavy but for many a solution like horde or squirrel mail isn't going to cut the mustard.

If the server has both pop, imap & smtp covered so you connect with a client then that is enough.

If ClearOS offer a free webmail solution then that might be considered the defacto solution. This might actually discourage developers from providing more choice.

Personally I think Roundcube is the best alternative for a lightweight webmail service that has a variety of plugins for expansion.
I have used horde and squirrel mail and to be honest they don't cut the mustard in my mind.

ClearOS also have to support these addons and this might be to the detriment of the core.

So can we not get developers involved to provide options for Roundcube and Horde and Squirrel Mail. If they want to charge more than Tim for them that is their prerogative.

I really feel the Marketplace is essential for a Clearos future and if it isn't a marketplace that offers choice and lots of it then someone else will provide a product that does.

I really don't feel that a free webmail module would provide any benefit to ClearOS. It kicks the marketplace between the legs before it has even had a chance to start.
Also we are talking a couple of beers here for probably a lot of hard work.

If anyone fancies offering the community version of Alfresco or Vtiger for the same then at this level I am most happy to contribute.

If developers are going to provide 3rd party modules and applications and ClearOS provide free alternatives. Whats the point for the developer?

Or can we expect ClearOS to provide support for all our needs ?

ClearOS please offer Roundcube for the same as Tim.

Stuart