Hi I just got this newsletter, thought I'd share it here:
>At my previous job, everyone in the company was forced to use Lotus Notes. I >recall being often annoyed with the Notes e-mail client for its clumsy user >interface and appalling lack of features (to say nothing of its crummy >calendar). The moment the platform supported POP3 mail clients, I switched to >Netscape Messenger. > >But regardless of my personal feelings about Notes, the platform eventually >earned my respect. The Notes developers on our IT staff built and maintained >several excellent applications exclusively for my department. We used those >applications regularly, along with our trading partners, and we quickly came >to depend on them. The power of Notes as a collaborative platform is clear to >anyone who uses it in this way. > >On Monday, a Notes client will be available for Linux. That s right. Companies >will be able to <http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus>download Lotus >Notes on Linux 7.0.1, an Eclipse plug-in that delivers Notes client >functionality to Linux workstations. This includes the crummy e-mail and >calendar (which themselves are custom Notes apps), and other collaboration >software, as well as your company s own custom applications that once ran only >on Mac OS and Windows desktops. Initial support will be for Red Hat Enterprise >Linux 4, update 3, but IBM promises a version for Novell SUSE Linux Desktop 10 >within 90 days. > >Pricing starts at US$101 per client plus another $70 per client for messaging. >Current Mac OS and Windows licenses can be transferred. > >But don t be looking to code your Notes apps on a Linux box. For that, you ll >have to wait for the full Eclipse implementation code-named Hannover which IBM >says should be at milestone 3 (public beta) by this fall. Hannover will >implement RCP under Eclipse 3.2, and will introduce Notes to support for the >OpenDocument format (ODF) spec from OASIS. IBM expects general availability >the first half of 2007. > >Why did IBM wait so long to develop a Linux-based client? We were waiting for >Eclipse to be ready, said Arthur Fontaine, IBM s senior offering manager. The >company did not want to add a third code base to the MacOS and Windows bases >it was already maintaining. > >IBM sees an opportunity to enter the Linux desktop market with a lower-cost >alternative to Mac OS and Windows operating systems, Fontaine added. Among the >subtler messages IBM is sending, he said, is that we re changing to a new >client software development model. This has been evidenced by the >Eclipse-ification of its Rational tools and later this year its Sametime 7.5 >instant messaging client. This sends a message that IBM is attacking the >deficit of desktop apps that Linux suffers. > >Love or hate it, Lotus Notes usage in the enterprise remains strong. And >stronger still are the prospects of enterprise desktop Linux. For more >coverage of this important story, see the upcoming Aug. 1 issue of SD Times. > >Contact me at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Edward J. Correia bye Fabi
