MS offering to buy Yahoo ???

[andydread]

I was hoping Zimbra would follow in the footsteps of SugarCRM and go GPL3. I hope some other company decides to brave all the "badges of honor" added to the interface on "every page" with a link back to microsoft.com on a re-release. I wonder if Zimbra would even exist if we had to add a badge of honor for every component that it composes of on every page. Imagine 100x30 images of postfix, mysql, tomcat, java, ajax, clamav, amavisd, etc etc. On every single page within the web client. this doesn't seem good. I hope I am wrong here.

[brwatters]

Bottom line:

MS = death of Zimbra in its current form

Either the deal is rejected by Yahoo and its share holders or Zimbra is sold NOW to some other party or its time to start looking for yet more alternatives to MS Exchange.

BRW

[jdfriesen]

We are an NE customer, although we hadn't actually deployed yet. The licenses have been purchased though. At this point, I'm really not sure if we will deploy. I do not want to put in a new mail system, train my users on it, and then find out MS is dumping the product.

I can't use the OS version, as I need the mobile features. I've been using the OS version at home for quite some time, and love it, but for our environment, the mobile features are a must. At this point I'm afraid I may have to look at an Exchange solution, which really doesn't make me happy, as although I know the basics of the MS server environment, I'm much more comfortable on a Linux system. However, I really don't see any other products that can do what I want/need them to do.

The part that really annoys me, is this is essentially MS's doing, and yet I'm likely now going to buy their product . Oh well, what happens happens I guess.

[danfluidmind]

At this point I'm afraid I may have to look at an Exchange solution, which really doesn't make me happy, as although I know the basics of the MS server environment, I'm much more comfortable on a Linux system. However, I really don't see any other products that can do what I want/need them to do.

While I agree with a previous poster that it is WAY too early to actually be making any decisions (considering that Yahoo! hasn't accepted the offer yet), I can certainly understand why you would want to put a hold on your migration plans until you're certain the deal won't go through. I would do exactly the same thing.

But if the deal DOES go through, going with Exchange is not your only option. The other option is Scalix, which, as far as I can tell, is very equivalent to Zimbra. When I was choosing what to migrate my personal server to, it was pretty much a toss up between Zimbra and Scalix.

So, if the nightmare comes to fruition, turning to the dark side is not necessary.

[ajc]

But if the deal DOES go through, going with Exchange is not your only option. The other option is Scalix, which, as far as I can tell, is very equivalent to Zimbra. When I was choosing what to migrate my personal server to, it was pretty much a toss up between Zimbra and Scalix.

So, if the nightmare comes to fruition, turning to the dark side is not necessary.

Scalix is not a safety net! If the deal goes through and you're not willing to switch to Exchange, why switch to another commercially produced collaboration suite that could also be acquired by an open source unfriendly company?

The better option is Citadel, which is in the same league as Zimbra and Scalix, but is end-to-end GPL3 code. Citadel does not depend on a higher-level non-free edition for revenue, so you can be assured that the entire system will always be GPL free.

New version came out this week too. Check it out.

[Oxmyx]

I've been watching and testing Zimbra for over a year. It has been growing into the best communications system I could find anywhere, bar none. After being bought out by Yahoo, I slacked off and stopped considering deploying it for my company's communications/groupware solution because I wanted to see where Yahoo took the project. Looks like my caution payed off in this instance.

Some good might come from this after all when Microsoft closes down this project and incorporates it's code into Outlook Web Access.

I think the big boys figured out how to stop any free and open source software threats. Buy them out, then kill them off. Anyways, I've got to stop futzing around with what might be with open source and get some of the things my company wants done. I've wasted several years watching, learning and testing for nothing. Now where did I put those Microsoft contracts? I give up...

[brwatters]

Scalix is a good product .. Its not Zimbra .. we have also deployed and own lic for Scalix ..

Yet one more product to look at is http://www.open-xchange.com/ it came from OpenExchange by SuSE and was and still is a great product .. Note they have also come a long way with Outlook integration and also support BlackBerries ..

Now that said I would not say I am saying to jump the Zimbra ship yet but we all need to keep a close eye on the following few months to see where MS goes and just how willing Yahoo is to give up to Google and sell out.

BRW

[jholder]

Guys,
It's fine to post your opinions..and even bash us. However, you must still obey the rules. No explicit profanity. Plain and simple.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me: jholder@zimbra.com

That's the first time since 2005 I've ever had to say that.....

-john

[mstreet]

Another GPL choice is Kolab, kolab.org

I have had it running for several years without a hitch. It is close on the backend... but not as functional as Zimbra on the front end. I have installed and configured the products stated above, and others for several years.

Having already sipped the Kool Aid with Community Edition of Zimbra I just upgraded to 5.0.2 tonight.

The MS hostile takeover bid could take years to unfold.... In the meantime there is still time to make a choice.

One thing about Zimbra is the relative ease of leaving if you want.... taking most of your data with you to another product. It is hard to give up such a neato product though.

Keep your eyes and ears open!

[natrixgli]

I don't mean to be critical, but many of you just need to learn how to roll with the wind. Any good admin will have a backup plan - but speculating and complaining on a forum isn't going to scare away the beast.

The Zimbra community and staff has always been good to each other, and I'm sure there will be a workable solution to whatever comes out of this. Mergers and acquisitions are an inevitable part of living in a capitalist economy.

Haven't any of you seen Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? If you haven't let me share something with you:

DON'T PANIC! Keep over-thinking this one, and you might just disappear in a puff of logic, QED.

If anything, maybe we ought to express a little concern for the people who put their blood, sweat, and tears into Zimbra over the last few years, and hope they still have jobs in the next few months/years/whatever.

-n8