Open source 5.0 and calandar Sync via usb cable

[djankor]

Hello,
I admit up front I am very new to this. I have read multiple threads and have ended up with no clear answers. My wish it to use the opensource version 5.xand smart phones (Palm PDA, Palm Treo, Motorola Q) synch their calandars bi-directionally using a usb synch cable or docking station.

My questions are:

1. Can this be done with the Open source version.
2. What program would you recommend to do this with?

Thanks

[jholder]

Well, the supported way would be to purchase the Network Edition, and sync ZCS to Outlook, then outlook to your PDA.

Basically, the key is Outlook. If you can get your data into outlook, then outlook should be able to get it to your PDA.

[tgx]

Or the key is NOT Outlook.
What does a company do that does not have Outlook deployed?
Just curious since the assumption is everyone has Outlook.

[jholder]

Originally Posted by tgx

Or the key is NOT Outlook.
What does a company do that does not have Outlook deployed?
Just curious since the assumption is everyone has Outlook.

Most PDA vendors support outlook. That's how they sync, only to outlook. That's why it's the key. If you can get Zimbra to sync to outlook, then problem solved.

I personally don't care if the goal is to have outlook or not. The question is, how do you sync your data to a USB device, and most always Outlook is the key.

[tgx]

Originally Posted by jholder

Most PDA vendors support outlook. That's how they sync, only to outlook. That's why it's the key. If you can get Zimbra to sync to outlook, then problem solved.

I personally don't care if the goal is to have outlook or not. The question is, how do you sync your data to a USB device, and most always Outlook is the key.

My observation from years in the IT trenches is that it is never a good thing to bank on a third party to support your own product particularly when the third party is in direct competition with your own product. It's nice that you can count on Outlooks near ubiquity, but I'd rather see some sort of PDA support centered around Zimbra Desktop otherwise someday you may suffer some serious snake bite since you're riding on its tail. If you're going to help people out of the Exchange/Outlook rut, you've got to get vendors onboard synching with your product natively or have the zdesktop fake out the synch programs already available by pretending to be Outlook. Granted it's a tall order and perhaps a part of your strategic vision I don't know, but that's how I see it.

[dpmchris]

tgx -- I hear what you're saying. What you're looking for is more readily available via the Network Edition. That is how the Zimbra folks pay for things like -- oh -- development.

Now I love the OSS version, and it fits nicely along side our NE server, but for mobility you have to pay. You can compare versions on the Zimbra products page. Sure you might be able to fake something up via NotifyLink (which is also not free) or hack your way around exporting .ics and .csv files, or get some thing working with Mozilla Thunderbird using various add-ons, but truthfully you are not going to get any real support for this because it falls beyond Zimbra's support for the OSS edition.

Of course you can come up with ways to extend the OSS version with your own code, but beyond that there is no free lunch, at least not without some compromise at this time.


Chris @ DPM

[tgx]

Originally Posted by dpmchris

tgx -- I hear what you're saying. What you're looking for is more readily available via the Network Edition. That is how the Zimbra folks pay for things like -- oh -- development.

Understood. It just seems looking from the outside in that there is quite a reliance
on Outlook and I've seen what dependence on a certain vendor brings in the long run.

The full version of Outlook is now only available to Office licensees and as you may
be aware there are large entities that have moved off of Office altogether in favor of Open Office. For a company that has gone through the effort to ween itself off of Office, requiring Outlook as a synch method is just wrong.

May I ask what synch model the NE version offers that does not require Outlook?

You may see in my tag that I am an OSS user, but in fact there is no deployment of Zimbra at all here. It is strictly a test case confined to a few users and has been going on for some time. Zimbra can never seem to get over the hump so to speak to convince us that it is the right fit. At present there is more uncertainty than there is convincing. Some day maybe we will reach that point and buy NE, but for now things need to stay where they are.