Subversion is an open source revision control system. It’s well documented, and commercial support, training, and consulting are available through Collabnet and OpenLogic. The Collabnet Enterprise Edition also provides an integrated suite of software development, lifecycle management and collaboration tools in an extensible web-based platform.

Not only is a revision control system considered an essential tool in software development, it can also be a valuable addition to any department that uses files. A revision control system allows you to archive your electronic files so that you have a copy of every saved version of a file as well as that file’s history and comments about its changes, which are recorded and can be viewed later. The ability to rollback means that any past version can become the current version. Rollback can come in mighty handy: imagine a system administrator who discovers a configuration error and needs to quickly return to a previously working configuration file, or an employee who discovers a spreadsheet error that was introduced several versions ago. How about a manager who prefers an earlier graphic in a promotional brochure? A revision control system also provides file locks, authentication mechanisms and permissions—all of which make it an ideal environment to manage multiple user edits.

Before You Start

There are two methods for providing secure (that is, encrypted) access to a Subversion repository. The first method is quite portable and easy to use, but the set-up process is fairly complex. In contrast, set-up’s a snap with our second method, but you’ll find that advantage offset by a steeper learning curve for users—as well as additional time spent installing client software. We suggest that you base your decision about which method best suits your environment on three main criteria: your operating system, the experience level of the administrator available for initial setup, and the experience level of the users who will be accessing the repository.

Method 1: Through Apache

This method is the easiest to use as well as the most portable (the Apache web server can be installed on most operating systems), but it’s also the most complex to setup. We recommend that you consider using this method if you already have an Apache web server and a system administrator experienced in WebDAV since users will not require any additional utilities or training to use the Subversion repository. They’ll be able to browse the repository using their web browser, and can use a WebDAV client to commit (upload) files to the repository. A list of WebDAV utilities includes Microsoft Office, Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop, Mac OSX (which has built-in support), Novell NetDrive, KDE Konqueror, and Gnome Nautilus.

Using this method also scores you some benefits provided by Apache to your Subversion repository.  You’ll take advantage of all of Apache’s authentication mechanisms as well as its logging, and you won’t need to reconfigure any firewall rules since it will use HTTPS and can take advantage of any existing caching, load balancing, or proxying servers. However, you’ll find that this method is slower than Method 2 because of the nature of the HTTP protocol.

Method 2: Through SSH

Compared to Method 1, set-up through SSH is trivial. You’ll save time, which is great—but that time will in turn be devoted to installing client software, educating your users on how to use a utility to interact with the Subversion repository, and teaching them to authenticate when they access the repository. Method 2  is better suited to BSD and Linux servers, which typically ship with an SSH server installed. Windows systems do not ship with an SSH server, which means that additional configuration will be required. Windows SSH servers are available from SSHWindows and freeSSHd.

Subversion provides a command line client that needs to be installed on each client. It might not be suitable for users familiar with a graphical environment. Fortunately, there are over a dozen free and commercial graphical clients available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux/BSD systems.

A Note on Certificates and Keys

If you’re using Method 1 and don’t have a certificate for Apache, instructions for generating the SSL certificate and configuring Apache for SSL can be found in the SSL FAQ. Modern browsers require user interaction to access a web server whose certificate authority is not recognized. You’ll lessen the confusion of your users by having the certificate signed by an authority from the browser’s certificate authorities list. Different browsers support different authorities, so be sure to choose a certificate authority supported by all the browsers that are in use.

If you’re using Method 2, the key pair used by the SSH server should have been generated during installation of the server. If you wish to use certificates for client authentication, you’ll find instructions for generating and distributing client keys here. This reference also describes agent forwarding, which will reduce the number of times the user has to enter their pass phrase when interacting with the Subversion repository.

Meat & Potatoes

Method 1: Configuring Subversion through Apache and WebDAV

We mentioned before that while this method is the most user-friendly, it is very complex to setup. Before beginning, it’s important that the administrator read, with attention,  the Apache configuration and WebDAV sections of the online Subversion book. The administrator will also need to be familiar with configuring Apache modules and directives.

Since the necessary steps, considerations, and gotchas are well covered in the online Subversion book, we will instead provide a checklist of the steps needed:

1. Make sure the system has Apache 2.x and Subversion installed. If installing Subversion from source, make sure Apache is already installed and include –enable-dav in the configure command.
2. Configure Apache for SSL.
3. Create the Subversion repository using svnadmin and svn import.
4. Modify httpd.conf to load the mod_dav_svn module.
5. Add a Location section to httpd.conf that points to the Subversion repository.
6. Configure the desired method of authentication.
7. Configure the desired access control.
8. Make sure Apache and Subversion permissions match up.
9. Configure MIME types for the types of files that will be saved in the repository.
10. Add a CustomLog directive.

Once Apache is configured, the administrator will want to spend time testing to ensure that authentication and access control work as expected. Testing should be performed from each operating system used by clients, as well as from each WebDAV application to be employed by end-users.

The Subversion book also explains how to configure write-through proxying, which allows one repository to be hosted on multiple Apache servers in a master/slave replication scenario. This allows several offices or geographically separated departments to use the same Subversion repository.

Method 2: Configuring Subversion through SSH

For this method, it’s best that the administrator be familiar with Unix permissions and the creation of users/groups, as well as the basic SSH concepts involved in configuring a Subversion repository to use SSH. When using Subversion through an SSH connection, access control is limited to Unix-style permissions and the umask, which sets the default permissions for new files.

You’ll need to create a user account and group for the Subversion server to employ as well as decide on a umask that is appropriate for the repository, as the default umask for a user account does not typically allow group write access. The default umask can be changed in the Subversion user’s shell file, as described in this how-to (which also explains how to create a wrapper script if you’re unsure of the umask compiled into your Subversion binary). Finally, every user requiring access to the repository will need a user account on the server so they can login over SSH. Make sure each user is added to the Subversion group so they have write access to the repository.

Once the repository and user accounts have been created, providing access to the repository through SSH is a simple matter of starting svnserve (the Subversion server) in tunnel mode, as seen in this how-to. When clients wish to connect, either through the command line or a GUI client, they preface the server address and repository path with “svn+ssh” just like in this example:

svn+ssh://192.168.1.100/home/svn/repository/sharedfiles

The administrator should test that users can connect and that permissions work as expected.  Users who are comfortable with command line connections can be provided with a cheat sheet of commonly used svn commands. An example cheat sheet includes:

svn checkout     #use this the first time you connect to download a working copy of
                 #the repository
svn update       #use this command EVERY time you access the repository and before
                 #making changes to ensure you have the latest copies of files and
                 #to avoid conflicts
svn add          #use this after you create a new file to add to the repository
svn commit       #use this whenever you make changes to a file
svn delete       #use this command to delete a file NEVER use rm
svn log          #use this to see the latest changes

A complete listing of all svn commands and their use is available in the Subversion Complete Reference.

In environments where users prefer a graphical utility, the administrator should spend some time trying out the various graphical clients in order to become familiar with their features. No graphical client provides access to every svn command, but any client should provide access to the most commonly used commands listed above. Being aware of the available features ahead of time will make educating users much easier and encourage them to actually use the repository.

Two examples of popular graphic clients are seen below:

TortoiseSVN Adds Menu Items to Windows Explorer

RapidSVN on Windows

Finishing Up

Regardless of the method implemented, education is key. Users will need to invest some time becoming familiar with the basic work cycle and selecting a client with which they’re comfortable accessing the repository and making changes. But soon enough your investment in user education will pay off in increased productivity and ease of collaboration, and users will wonder how they ever lived without a secure repository!

In the first of our two-part series, Open Source Alternatives for the Office, we examined open source applications that can be used to replace some of the most popular Office 2007 products. In this article, we’ll take a look at open source alternatives to additional Microsoft products commonly used in the office—Publisher, Groove, Visio, and Project. The factors we’ll consider for each Microsoft product and its alternative(s) include cost, localization, supported platforms, documentation, extensions, and support.

We’ll start by examining Microsoft Publisher 2007 and Groove 2007, each of which can be replaced by open source equivalents that match or surpass their features and capabilities. For the final two products we’ll examine, Visio 2007 and Project 2007, the open source competitors are not as robust and don’t offer clear enterprise-grade equivalents.

Microsoft Publisher vs Scribus

Microsoft Publisher 2007 is designed for the casual user to create custom publications and marketing materials either from scratch or from one of the hundreds of built-in design templates. A single version license ranges from from $99.95 USD for an upgrade to $169.95 for the full version. It is also included as part of Office Small Business, Office Professional, and Office Ultimate, which range in price from $279.95 to $679.95. Publisher is only available for the Windows platform, and some features do not work on 64-bit systems.

Scribus is an open source DTP (desktop publishing) application designed for casual to professional users. It provides cross-platform support for users running Microsoft, Mac OSX, OS/2, Linux, and BSD operating systems. Support is available through the Scribus community, and the product is mature and very well documented in six languages. While no official import plugin is available, it is possible to import Publisher files into Scribus.

Both Publisher and Scribus can create PDFs, but Publisher first requires the installation of an add-in. The Scribus PDF generator is more flexible, allowing you to customize fonts, presentation effects, output optimization, security, and how the document is viewed. Scribus also allows for the creation of writable PDF email forms.

Publisher integrates tightly into the Microsoft Office Suite. It includes an E-mail Merge task pane, which walks you through a customized mail merge for Outlook 2007. While more complex to setup, it is also possible to create a catalog merge to Access or Excel in order to save graphics and other data sources for reuse. It is also easy to scale and resize graphics in Publisher. Scribus does not provide the ability to scale images, which requires the use of a third party program. The open source Gimp application, which is available for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and BSD, is well-suited for this purpose.

The biggest difference for users switching from Publisher to Scribus will be learning how to use the increased functionality, as Scribus delivers the layout and features of a professional-quality DTP application. Anyone expecting a simple office editor—or lacking previous experience with DTP applications—will immediately discover that applications like Scribus are different. These users should read the short and informative Scribus Basics and will also benefit from the other documentation links on the Scribus Basics page. In addition, Publisher users will be surprised at the lack of built-in templates, although additional Scribus templates are available from the project website.

Scribus Document Setup Screen

Microsoft Groove vs O3Spaces Workplace

Microsoft Groove 2007 is a collaboration platform that uses workspaces to provide file-sharing, discussions, meetings, and business forms with automatic synchronization. A single version license is $229 USD. Groove is also bundled with Office Ultimate, which costs $539.95 for the upgrade and $679.95 for the full version. Some Groove features require a Sharepoint server, which is only available through volume licensing, and other features require Infopath, which is bundled with Office Ultimate or available for $199 as a standalone product. Instant messaging requires Microsoft Messenger or Communicator. Groove is only available for the Windows platform, and some features are not available on 64-bit systems.

O3Spaces is a cross-platform collaboration tool for Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and StarOffice. It supports OpenLDAP, Active Directory, Sun Directory Server, and Novell Directory Server groupware solutions. O3Spaces is available for Linux, Solaris, Windows, and Mac operating systems, and the community version is freely available for teams of up to 10 users. Professional, Enterprise, and On Demand editions are available by support subscription and are intended for production use. Subscription pricing starts at 49 Euro per person per year.

Groove and O3Spaces both provide the ability to work offline and offer real-time alerts on all relevant changes in your workspaces. Both products provide collaboration tools within the workspace, such as discussion forums and calendars to help keep tabs on team schedules. Groove also allows you to make phone calls or use instant messaging directly from a workspace. Through the purchase of individual language packs at $24.95 USD each, Groove provides localization for 28 languages. O3Spaces currently has built-in support for 9 languages. However, the localization API isn’t currently public, and new localizations require direct interaction with the O3Spaces developers.

O3Spaces provides some interesting features, which make it a useful product even for individual, non-collaborative use. For each of the supported office suites it adds plugins to provide automated document versioning, a secure document repository, and full text search of ODF, PDF and Microsoft Office documents. An assistant automates all necessary document retention and versioning activities, and an application embedder enables the integration of external web applications, such as wikis and websites, into the workplace environment. You can also store emails as related documents in the same workspace. Perhaps the most useful workspace features are the ability to drag-and-drop spacelets in order to reduce clutter and the ability to create multiple tabs within a workspace.

O3Spaces Workspace through Firefox

Microsoft Visio Alternatives

Microsoft Visio 2007 is a diagram creation tool that provides a wide range of templates for flowcharts, network diagrams, workflow diagrams, database models, and software diagrams. Pricing for the standalone product varies from $129.95 USD to $559.95. SharePoint Services is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality. Visual Reports requires the more expensive Visio Professional version as well as Microsoft Project, Excel, or SharePoint Services.

The 2007 version of Visio provides several new features, including auto-connect and auto-align, auto-refresh with resolve conflict capabilities, PivotDiagrams, and themes. It provides the ability to export to PowerPoint format and, with the PDF add-in installed, to convert to PDF format. Visio Viewer, a free download, is required to view Visio documents in a browser, but only Internet Explorer is supported.

Dia is often touted as the open source Visio equivalent, but it is targeted towards the casual, non-enterprise user. Dia is available for Linux, Irix, BSD, and Windows platforms. It provides the most built-in drawing objects of any open source Visio wannabes, and the Dia Manual is an excellent resource. However, Dia cannot import or open Visio files, and experienced Visio users will miss Visio’s slick auto features and built-in templates. Support is limited to the Dia community.

Dia Object Selection

KDE users may be interested in seeing if Kivio meets their needs, as it is bundled with the KOffice suite. Kivio comes with a good-sized collection of objects, which it refers to as stencils, including DIA objects. It also provides  an “Install Stencil Set” option so you can install your own objects. KOffice is stable for Linux and BSD and is available for Mac OSX, and a Windows version is under development. The Kivio Handbook describes its features and explains how to use them.

Add Stencil Set in Kivio

OpenOffice users may want to try using Draw. Draw provides glue for “smart connecting” objects, but you’ll have to scour the Internet for objects because very few are built-in. For example, you can download a zip file of Cisco’s network icons, unzip them to a directory, and insert each object as a file as needed. Once you have created your own library of icons, it’s fairly simple to create diagrams within the familiar editor interface. However, the lack of templates and objects, as well as the documentation on how to obtain them, can be frustrating.

Draw Toolbars and Shapes

Microsoft Project Alternatives

Microsoft Project 2007 is used to track the timelines, costs, and assignments associated with a project. It’s available as a standalone product priced between $349.95 USD and $999.95. The more expensive Professional version and Project Server 2007 are required for enterprise project and resource management capabilities, publishing projects, using Windows Workflow Foundation, and for the Project Tasks List. In turn, Project Server requires Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2000. Project is only available for the Windows platform, and some features are not available on 64-bit systems.

New features in the latest version of Project include automatic highlights of all items that shift as a result of the most recent change, and undo and redo functions that allow you to visualize what-if scenarios.

OpenProj is a cross-platform project management solution for Linux, Unix, BSD, Mac, and Windows. It can import from and export to Microsoft Project files. Support is available from OpenLogic and Serena Software, which also provides the Project-ON-Demand hosted SaaS solution as a monthly subscription. However, there is very little documentation for the open source edition. Eleven localizations are currently available, but further documentation and translation efforts require direct communication with Serena Software.

OpenProj Gantt Chart

Feature-wise, both Project and OpenProj support Gantt charts, PERT charts, WBS and RBS charts, and earned value costing. However, OpenProj does have some limitations. The ability to create PDFs is only available with the subscription version, and there’s no wizard for creating a project. The tools are all there, but you have to know ahead of time what and how you want to create the project. Projects can only be saved as XML or the proprietary Serena pod format.

Another open source alternative to Project is GanttProject, for which commercial support is not available but access to the associated open source community is easier. GanttProject offers some extensions as well as an introduction for developers, and the manual provided in the Help menu of the application is usable but far from complete. Feature-wise, GanttProject does offer some wizard-like functionality by asking a few questions when you create a new project, and it supports over 30 localizations. In addition, it can export to raster image, CSV file, HTML, PDF, or Microsoft Project. GanttProject is available for Linux, BSD, Mac OSX, and Windows.

GanttProject Create New Project Wizard

Conclusions

Due to its cross-platform support, cost, and advanced feature-set, Scribus makes an excellent open source replacement for Microsoft Publisher 2007. Users will have to spend some time learning its capabilities and creating their own customized templates, but that time will be well-spent and result in greater flexibility for document creation later on.

With its commercial support, cross-platform capabilities, and advanced feature-set, O3Spaces is a superior product to Microsoft Groove 2007. Both enterprise and casual users can benefit from the features it adds to the default Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and StarOffice suites.

Enterprise users who need the ability to easily create complex diagrams should probably stick with Microsoft Visio 2007. Casual users who need only the occasional diagram or have time to search for diagram objects can save the price of a Visio license by trying one of the open source alternatives.

Enterprise users should do their own research into OpenProj and GanttProject to see if either provides all of the project management features they require. If features are missing, users should consider the long term costs of getting those features implemented into the open source version versus the cost of Microsoft Project 2007 licensing. Users should also be aware of the fine print regarding which Microsoft products are required to get all of the needed Microsoft Project features.

Microsoft Office has been one of the most popular (and profitable) business software suites for many years, but Office is no longer the only game in town when it comes to basic business applications. OpenOffice has emerged as the leading open source software alternative for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Indeed, in the first eight weeks after the release of version 3.0 there were nearly 32 million direct downloads from the openoffice.org site, with 92% of those downloads being for the Windows platform. And for email, contact management, and basic accounting — Office functions not covered by OpenOffice — other open source alternatives are now available.

But are OpenOffice and other open source alternatives to Office really ready for prime time? In this article we’ll gauge how OpenOffice 3.0 stacks up to Microsoft Office 2007 by comparing the key attributes and features of both product suites. We’ll also take a look at Evolution and GnuCash — open source alternatives to Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Accounting Express (respectively) — and determine whether or not they’re worthy of consideration for use in your office.

OpenOffice Advantages

Sure, Microsoft Office has widespread adoption and an impressive range of features, but OpenOffice offers its own unique advantages — particularly in the areas of cost, localization, cross-platform support, and the availability of third-party extensions and support.

Cost and Localization

OpenOffice has as clear advantage on price — it’s available for free download. Depending upon the specific functionality you require, the cost savings can be significant. Microsoft pricing for a single seat (non-volume) license ranges from $149.95 for Office Home and Student to $679.95 USD for Office Ultimate. Additional charges apply for those needing one or more of the 36 language packs available from Microsoft. In contrast, OpenOffice supports over 80 locales for free, and each comes with its own localized website and documentation.

When researching Office pricing, be sure to read the fine print to determine the actual costs for the functionality you need. For example, Microsoft Exchange Server is required for dynamic calendars and advanced collaboration functionality. Similarly, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is required for certain advanced functionality and for the PowerPoint Slide Library. To share data among multiple computers, the host computer must be running at least Windows XP Professional.

Supported Platforms

For heterogeneous environments, OpenOffice offers a clear advantage with its cross-platform support. Versions are available for:

• Windows ME and higher
• 32 bit, 64 bit, Sparc, and PPC versions for Linux in rpm and deb formats
• x86 and Sparc for Solaris
• Intel and PPC for Mac OSX
• packages and ports for FreeBSD and OpenBSD, PBIs for PC-BSD, pkgsrc for NetBSD and DragonFly BSD
• Irix and OpenVMS

In contrast, Office is available in 32 and 64 bit (which has some limitations) versions for Microsoft Windows XP or higher, and a separate version is available for Mac OSX.

Extensions and Support

Typical of a mature open source project, OpenOffice boasts a community of users who write freely-downloadable extensions that expand the functionality of the base product. Currently, over 100 extensions are available to OpenOffice users who want additional templates, labels, dictionaries, converters, and tools. The OpenOffice extensions site is well worth a browse to get a feel for the features that are available. An RSS feed is available for those who wish to be informed when new extensions are added.

The support section of the OpenOffice website provides free documentation, guides, and tutorials along with the expected forums and mailing lists. Commercial support is available through Sun and from an online directory of consultants. Several books are also available for sale.

Feature Comparison

OpenOffice clearly offers several impressive advantages, but the real question is whether or not it delivers all the features you’re currently using in Microsoft Office. In this section we’ll compare each Office 2007 product to its OpenOffice or other open source equivalent. We’ll start with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access and the OpenOffice 3.0 alternatives to each, then move onto a comparison of Microsoft Outlook and Evolution. We’ll finish with look at how GnuCash compares to Microsoft Accounting Express.

Microsoft Word vs OpenOffice Writer and Draw

OpenOffice Writer provides nearly the same functionality as Microsoft Word, so users who migrate to Writer should be able to perform their usual tasks with minimal disruption. The most notable difference to end-users will be the layout of the toolbars, which may take some getting used to. While not nearly as slick-looking, the tools are all there — but often in a different location than they are in Word.

OpenOffice Writer Toolbar Layout

Diagrams can be created directly within Writer using the Drawing toolbar or in the standalone OpenOffice Draw application.

Writer does provide some nice features not available in Word. Most notable is its ability to export documents to PDF format, which can save the cost of purchasing Adobe Acrobat or using online converters for this purpose. An OpenOffice extension (currently in beta) is available to modify and annotate PDF files.

Writer also provides support for reading and saving documents in multiple formats, including odt, sxw, doc, rtf, sdw, txt, html, pdb, xml, psw, and uot. Note that the core product currently does not support changes to the new docx format introduced in Office 2007, but OpenOffice users can download a converter-integrator or convert docx documents online. However, this is a minor disadvantage considering the docx format is not backwards compatible with older versions of Microsoft Office, which require a Microsoft Compatibility Pack to read and write the docx format.

Microsoft PowerPoint vs OpenOffice Impress

Impress is OpenOffice’s PowerPoint equivalent for creating presentations. This utility provides a presentation creation wizard, animations, effects, slide show settings, and the ability to include charts, tables, and images. It can read existing PowerPoint presentations and export presentations to PDF format. Users accustomed to PowerPoint will wonder at the lack of built-in templates, although additional templates are available for free download.

Create New Presentation Wizard

Microsoft Excel vs OpenOffice Calc

Excel users should find OpenOffice Calc to be a drop-in replacement. Calc can read and write to Excel, Pocket Excel, and dBase formats as well as save to csv, html, and xml formats. Older versions of Calc sometimes had glitches in formatting when switching between Excel and the native Calc format, but these issues seem to have been ironed out in version 3.0.

Microsoft Access vs OpenOffice Base

While Access is only available in the Professional and Ultimate editions of Microsoft Office, the equivalent database product Base comes standard with OpenOffice 3.0. Base includes a wizard to help users create a new database and tables or connect to an existing database.

New Database Wizard in Base

Native drivers support Access, MySQL, Adabas D, and PostgreSQL databases. JDBC and ODBC connectors allow for connections to virtually any database, though this can be easier said then done for the non-power user. Fortunately, there is plenty of documentation available, making Base a good open source alternative for businesses that need to integrate database functionality.

Microsoft Outlook vs Evolution

While Outlook is included with every version of Office except for the Home and Student editions, OpenOffice does not include an email/contact manager application. For those interested in an open source alternative to Outlook, Evolution is an excellent candidate. Evolution is often touted as the “Outlook killer” for Linux, and now there is even a version of Evolution for Windows. Evolution does not require OpenOffice but may integrate with it.

Evolution supports Bayesian-based junk filtering, intelligent searches, integration with instant messaging, shared calendars and contacts, and integration with Microsoft Exchange and Novell Groupwise. Several dozen EPlugins, as well as the documentation for creating EPlugins, are available to further extend the base feature set. Evolution can import mail, contacts, and calendars from several different types of sources and provides a mechanism to easily backup and restore settings, mail, contacts, tasks, memos, and calendars. Existing Outlook users will find the interface similar, though not quite as slick.

Evolution Read Mail Interface

It should be noted that some Linux distributions, such as Novell SUSE, integrate Evolution with OpenOffice, allowing users to seamlessly send documents as e-mail and perform mail merges using their address book.

Microsoft Accounting Express vs GnuCash

Accounting Express is available only in the US with the Small Business, Professional, and Ultimate editions of Microsoft Office. For those who are unable to obtain Accounting Express or simply want an alternative, GnuCash is a reasonable open source equivalent for tracking financial transactions, creating reports and graphs, handling invoices and bill payments, and reconciling statements. It also imports Intuit Quicken files and automatically eliminates duplicate transactions. Like Evolution, GnuCash does not require OpenOffice but may integrate with it.

GnuCash is available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and Mac OSX and has been localized into 21 languages. While the online documentation leaves much to be desired, the built-in GnuCash Tutorial and Concepts Guide provides an excellent introduction to both the product and general bookkeeping concepts. Wizards (druids) are available to assist with common tasks. And if you’re interested in using GnuCash in conjunction with OpenOffice, an OpenOffice extension for Calc allows you to read and import GnuCash output data.

GnuCash Account Setup Wizard

Conclusions

For individuals and businesses requiring basic functionality from an office suite, OpenOffice is a clear winner. Further, it may be the only reasonable choice for organizations requiring cross-platform support or localization in a language not available from the Microsoft Office Suite. Organizations that need advanced functionality or rely heavily on the shared functions that require back-end Microsoft servers will have to conduct their own trials to ensure that the needed features are supported in OpenOffice. We recommend that potential users download OpenOffice for their platform and use it to perform their daily office tasks for a month or so. This trial period will indicate the extent of any learning curve for new users as well as highlight any glitches in formatting or collaboration with other users.

While open source mail servers have always dominated the mail transfer market, enterprises expect much more than simply mail transfer from their mail servers. For instance, enterprise mail servers need to provide features such as effective SPAM and virus protection, shared calenders and contacts, and seamless integration with a wide variety of mail clients and email capable devices. This comparison will briefly describe the evolution of open source mail servers and then examine some of the contenders before focusing on the primary open source candidates for enterprise deployment.

The mail servers discussed in this comparison:

• IBM Lotus Notes
• Microsoft Exchange
• Novell Groupwise
• Sendmail
• Postfix
• Qmail
• Exim
• Open-Xchange
• Zimbra
• Scalix

Background

Traditionally, an enterprise required two types of mail servers. An MTA, also known as an SMTP server, was used to transfer mail between organizations over the Internet. Since the introduction of Sendmail in the early 1980s, open source has dominated the MTA market, with a recent survey showing that the open source MTAs Sendmail, Postfix, Qmail, and Exim represent 74% marketshare. The second type of server, known as a messaging or groupware server, was used to provide additional intra-organizational features such as shared calenders and contacts. The first messaging servers used proprietary protocols–in other words, they did not support SMTP. As enterprises became more Internet-connected, the vendors of messaging servers added SMTP connectors to provide MTA functionality. IBM Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and Novell Groupwise are examples of enterprise-grade mail servers that provide both MTA and messaging functionality.

Over the years, open source components were created to provide messaging, anti-virus, and spam protection features. Many of these components have matured and, when stacked to create a complete solution, can provide most of the features enterprises have come to expect from their proprietary mail solutions. However, creating a “roll your own” messaging solution can quickly erode the savings enterprises get by no longer paying licensing fees to a traditional proprietary vendor. It takes a significant amount of time and talent to research which components provide the required features; integrate, test and support those components into a custom solution, and, if necessary, to develop any features not provided by the open source components. Fortunately, a new generation of open source enterprise mail server has emerged to provide vendor-supported, pre-integrated, and customizable solutions for the enterprise.

Contenders

All of the solutions we examine provide:

• feature-rich messaging for a variety of mail clients
• offer a number of offerings which cater to an enterprise’s size and budget
• and provide a network of integration suppliers, support offerings, and third-party add-ons

Each provides an open source “community” edition, developer APIs, and some means of community support such as forums, wiki, and documentation. Two vendors, Open-Xchange and Zimbra, use primarily open source technologies within their solution.

Primary Candidates

Three commercial open source vendors stand out as potential enterprise mail solutions because they provide and support the features set out at the beginning of this comparison. These candidates are:

• Open-Xchange
• Zimbra
• Scalix

Open-Xchange

Open-Xchange, a privately-held company headquartered in Tarrytown, N.Y., released its software under the GPL in August, 2004. Open-Xchange offers several editions: a free community edition for enterprises with experienced Linux staff, a commercial server edition for medium to large enterprises, a hosting edition for SaaS providers, and a turnkey appliance for small to medium enterprises with a limited IT department. Support options range from the freely available Oxpedia to various levels of service level agreements. Price lists are available by checking the webpage for each edition and support level. There are pricing points for government, academic, and the enterprise.

Overview

Open-Xchange provides a rich email and collaboration environment, document sharing, anti-virus and anti-spam, automatic updates, and backup/recovery. It is designed to interoperate with Outlook and existing Microsoft Exchange clients. OxTender for Mac OSX, currently in beta, allows Mac users to access email, appointments, documents, contacts and tasks through standard Mac applications like Mail, iCal and Address Book. Open-Xchange also offers an easy-to-use graphical and skinnable web interface for administration tasks.

Technology

Open-Xchange is comprised of several mature open source components, including: the Apache webserver, Tomcat servlet engine, MySQL database, OpenLDAP directory server, SpamAssassin, ClamAV for antivirus, and the Dovecot, Cyrus, and Courier mail servers. It supports many standards, protocols, and extensions including: AJAX, WebDAV, SOAP, Java, OSGi, and SyncML.

Features

Open-Xchange provides automatic synchronization with Outlook and synchronization with any SyncML 1.1 compliant device.

A migration tool is available to move email messages, calendar entries, tasks, contacts, user groups, and mailboxes from Microsoft Exchange to the Open-Xchange Server. Partner solutions are also available to extend functionality with such features as process and project management, data recovery, and unified messaging with VoIP.

Netvibes UWA enables integration of web applications such as RSS feeds, podcasts, video channels, Salesforce.com, and SAP Business One. The OSGi framework support enables easy integration of third-party applications, such as CRM and ERP. Moreover, updates of all OSGi modules can be installed with almost no downtime.

Usability

From an implementation point of view, all versions of Open-Xchange (except for the turnkey appliance) require knowledge of Linux mail systems, Apache, MySQL 5.x, and command line administration of Linux systems. Integration of add-ons and appliances may require experience in XML, OSGi, or UWA. OXpedia provides free installation and developer guides and partners are available to provide installation services for a fee.

Once the solution is in-place, users can use the webmail interface or their existing Outlook or Mac OSX client to perform their usual enterprise email tasks. Administrators will still want to be familiar with Linux command line utilities as the administrative GUI is a work in progress. Small enterprises with little or no IT staff with Linux experience should consider the appliance and may find the administrative GUI complete for their needs.

Screenshots

User Interface

Administrative Interface

Zimbra

Zimbra, a Yahoo! company, releases its source and binary code offerings under the YPL. It offers five on-site editions as well as a hosted edition which can be hosted either on Yahoo! servers or through a Zimbra hosting provider. Pricing for the on-site editions is available online. Zimbra offers a variety of support options ranging from open source forums and documentation to several levels of support level agreements.

Overview

Zimbra provides a rich email and collaboration environment, document sharing, anti-virus and anti-spam, automatic updates, and backup/recovery. It is designed to interoperate with Outlook and Mac OSX Entourage users. Its GUI administrative interface makes it easy to manage service classes, create and edit new accounts, create and edit distribution lists, manage email queues, view and manage systems status, and start system backups.

Technology

Zimbra is comprised of several mature open source components, including: Apache Tomcat, Postfix, MySQL, OpenLDAP, Lucene, ClamAV, SpamAssassin, and OpenLDAP. It also supports many standards, protocols, and extensions including: SMTP, LMTP, SOAP, XML, IMAP, POP, iCal, CalDAV, and AJAX.

Zimbra provides a complete set of services to plan and execute customer migrations from Exchange, Domino, GroupWise, or other legacy email systems. Documentation and scripts are made available for migrating existing user accounts.

Features

Interoperability with Microsoft Exchange 2003 and integrated instant messaging are currently in beta. Connectors are available to support Microsoft Outlook and Entourage on Mac OS X 10.4.

The Mobile Web Client is interoperable with all devices with HTML capable browsers, including the Apple iPhone. Mobile Edition provides sync to any java enabled device as well as native OTA synchronization and push email to iPhone, Windows, Palm, and Symbian OS devices. Zimbra Mobile Connector for BES provides native OTA synchronization withl BlackBerry devices.

Zimlets provide integration with third party information systems such as unified messaging with asterisk.

Usability

Zimbra provides demos and screenshots of its user and administrative interface. The administrative interface is quite complete, making it useful for most tasks. The Zimbra Gallery allows administrators to easily extend their users’ experience using zimlets, themes, and extras. The hosted solutions provide less customization but allow enterprises with limited IT resources to still benefit from an affordable and collaborative environment.

Screenshots

User Interface

Administrative Interface

Scalix

Scalix was acquired by Xandros Inc. in 2007. It offers several editions: an enterprise edition, small business edition, hosting edition, and community edition (free for up to 10 premium users). Each edition is under a separate Scalix license. Scalix offers a variety of support options ranging from the open source wiki and documentation to several levels of support level agreements. Pricing requires contact with a sales representative.

Overview

Scalix offers replicated multi-server support with centralized administration from a single Management Console. It supports multiple independent mail server instances on a single server, each with its own independent user set, domain name, service processes and message store which is useful for a central group that manages IT for legally separate entities or or for hosting solutions. Scalix provides clustering, failover, and load balancing. Recovery folders allow administrators to recover emails on a per-user basis. Warious storage architectures, including any DAS and Fibre Channel or iSCSI, are supported. Connectors are provided for Microsoft Outlook and Novell Evolution clients.

Technology

Scalix is built upon OpenMail technology licensed from Hewlett Packard. The Scalix Collaboration Platform supports many standards, protocols, and extensions including: SOAP, REST, CalDAV, and AJAX. The Scalix ecosystem provides a list of certified ecosystem components (applications). Spam and virus protection are provided by add-on modules from Commtouch.

Features

Scalix ActiveSync provides calendar and contact synchronization with a wide variety of devices, ranging from Apple’s iPhone over Symbian-based devices from Nokia and Sony-Ericsson to PDAs and SmartPhones running Windows Mobile 2005 and higher. A separate product, NotifyLink Enterprise Mobility Solution for Scalix, provides Blackberry support.

Scalix and partner migration tools are available to migrate mailboxes, messages, public folders, calendars, and directory data from Exchange and other legacy systems. Scalix provides transparent server-to-server co-existence with Exchange for enterprises who need to maintain a mixed environment or migrate on a phased schedule.

Usability

The administrative interface allows for management of users, groups, resources, mailbox usage, and basic server settings. Developers should note that the source code is licensed under the SPL, a modified MPL license.

Screenshots

User Interface

Administrative Interface

Conclusions

Enterprise mail servers are feature-rich–in other words, they are complex and expensive. When researching a mail solution, consider where you want to spend your money: on licensing, vendor support, in-house configuration, or in-house development. Also consider which features are business requisites. Does the solution provide all the features needed? If not, what are the associated costs of developing or integrating third-party modules?

Each of the solutions discussed offer interoperability with most clients and devices. They provide either out-of-the-box support or APIs to allow integration with other applications such as instant messaging or VOiP. Enterprises should research each product’s fine print to determine the specific supported versions of clients and devices as well as the amount of work required for application integration.

Final Thoughts

This comparison did not discuss network architecture from a security perspective. Some enterprises require a separation between their MTA (Internet facing) and messaging (intranet facing) servers. We also did not discuss the data security or privacy implications of using hosted services.