Advice needed on Kolab suitability

[Alexander Gran]

Am Donnerstag 22 Juli 2010, 20:32:07 schrieb Duffields:
> I would like to have:
> 1. A single point of email collection and distribution to the other
> computers 2. A central calendar and contacts that can be called up by the
> other computers and in the case of the laptops which are not always
> connected have the ability to synchronize any changes that are made when
> they are away from the LAN. 3. The ability to synchronize contacts and
> calendar between the 'server" and an iPAQ.

Well, I think for a lan this might be possible to realize without a full 
featured groupware solution as kolab. However everywhere (not limited to kolab 
or linux) I look, syncing is a pain...
I know nothing about the status of iPAQ (Windows something?) sync support.

> There is no requirement to connect to my LAN via the Internet.

This in combination with this:

> I do not know a great deal about networking, and because I am slightly
> dyslexic, terminal commands sometimes cause strife, so I rely on Graphic
> Interfaces as much as possible.

is a very good idea. Setting up public server infrastructure might seem 
trivial from time to time, but requires quite some knowledge.

> Will these requirements be met by installing Kolab on the 24 hour
> workstation and using it as a mail, calendar, and contact server to the
> other machines on the LAN?

Yes. Configuring kolab might need some command line tools, but I never tried 
to live without. Why don't you just try it. I think a basic setup should be 
done - depending on your computer and download speed - in one hour or two, at 
least if you take native packages.


> If the answer is "yes" please advise:
> - Which source of Kolab is best for someone of limited networking
> knowledge? 

Never tried something else than debian, I must admit. This was quite simple 
(basically adding a source.list line and some very few commands to install)

> - Which of the many sources of information, some of which
> appear contradictory, would be the best set of instructions to follow in
> setting up Kolab? 

I think the wiki is most up2date.

> - Is there a forum for beginner users of Kolab?

This email list...

> Thank you for any guidance you can provide, even if it is to tell me that
> Kolab is too complex for an old man to tackle.

Well, it is complex, for sure. But if you can live with the defaults 
everywhere it should not be that hard.

regards
Alex

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