[Kolab-devel] something is not good about kolab

[Alain Spineux]

On 6/28/07, Joon Radley <joon at radleys.co.za> wrote:
>
> Hi Gunnar,
>
> > I would always second the idea that Kolab could improve in terms of
> > marketing. The only groupware alternative worth mentioning alongside
> > MS Exchange often seems to be Open-Xchange. Which is sad since its
> > architecture is so inferior to the Kolab structures. But then again
> > they have a shiny web frontend which is probably worth some points :)
>
> No a truer word has been spoken.
>
> Let me start of by saying that I think that the whole Kolab solution is
> the
> best open-source groupware available, but it will struggle against other
> open-source and commercial solution available in 2 key regards:
>
> a) User interface. This is what the users see and it does not matter how
> good the code is, if the user interface is not slick and shiny they will
> think it is a poor quality product. As an example, many years ago I worked
> on a project, in the one version we worked on the engine and made some
> very
> nice improvements. From this we had almost no feedback. The next version
> we
> created a skinned interface and nothing was done on the engine. We were
> flooded with compliments on how we improved our software and how much
> faster
> and better it was running. Users judge quality firstly with their eyes.


Yes, he will choose the shiny at first, but if he get problems, fall back
the the less less shiny, but working one.


b) Installing. At the moment to install Kolab on a system you need to have
> very sound Linux knowledge. Currently it is out of reach for people with
> limited or no knowledge of Linux and both Linux and Kolab have a very high
> learning requirement. (This is not a reflection on OpenPKG, which I have
> the
> highest regards for. )


Are you speaking about fellows that will configure KOLAB, and maybe
troubleshoot it
when problems occur ? Yes you are :-)
Maybe your are mistaking knowledge and easiness!
Cars are safer and easier to drive but you still need a driving licence.
IT manager is responsible for tens of peoples, he need knowledge too!
But we can make is life easier.


The installation issue is being addressed by a number of companies at the
> moment and soon we will see a large increase in the user base of Kolab due
> to this. I hope that these companies will be listed on the Kolab site to
> show people without the necessary knowledge and skills to do the install
> that an easy installer is available for them.


download, compile,  bootstrap, login !
This is not difficult !
Maybe Installing tutorials should help, messages like "The installation can
be long 2 or 4H depending your hardware" or
"The installation is successful, you cans now start bootstrap" ...


As for the user interface I am not qualified to make any comments as I
> prefer functionality over shiny buttons any day :)
>
> Best Regards
>
> Joon Radley
> Radley Network Technologies CC
> Cell: +27 (0)83 368 8557
> Fax: +27 (0)12 998 4346
> E-mail: joon at radleys.co.za
> Web: www.toltec.co.za
>
>
>
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>



-- 
--
Alain Spineux
aspineux gmail com
May the sources be with you
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