2 - Raspberry PI Community Projects

The next versions of these applications should be better integrated together, thanks to the
KParts component system.
13.4.4. Collaborative Work
13.4.4.1. Working in Groups: groupware
A previous edition of this book mentioned PHPGroupware, but this software is no longer in Debian…
It is no longer actively maintained, and no existing version was compatible with the PHP
version 5.3 included in Debian Squeeze, which is why the Debian maintainer asked for the package
to be removed.
➨ http://www.phpgroupware.org/
eGroupware was also mentioned, but it too went the way of PHPGroupware, but for different
reasons. The software is still maintained by the company that develops it, but no volunteer has
stepped up to ensure its maintenance within Debian. Should you still wish to use it, the project
itself provides Debian packages.
➨ http://www.egroupware.org/
All is not lost though. Many of the features traditionally provided by “groupware” software are
increasingly integrated into “standard” software. This is reducing the requirement for specific,
specialized groupware software. On the other hand, this usually requires a specific server. A
good example for such a server is Kolab, that can integrate into KDE (Kontact, Kmail, and so on),
the Horde webmail, Thunderbird (via a plugin) and even into Microsoft Outlook. Kolab is part
of Debian Squeeze (kolab* packages).
➨ http://www.kolab.org/
13.4.4.2. Instant Messaging Systems
When setting up an internal instant messaging system for a company, the obvious choice is Jabber:
its protocol is an open standard (XMPP), and there is no shortage of features. The messages
can be encrypted, which can be a real bonus, and gateways can be set up between a Jabber server
and other instant messaging networks such as ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and so on.
ALTERNATIVE
Internet Relay Chat
IRC can also be considered, instead of Jabber. This system is more centered
around the concept of channels, the name of which starts with a hash sign #.
Each channel is usually targeted at a specific topic and any number of people
can join a channel to discuss it (but users can still have one-to-one private conversations
if needed). The IRC protocol is older, and does not allow end-to-end
encryption of the messages; it is still possible to encrypt the communications
between the users and the server by tunneling the IRC protocol inside SSL.
IRC clients are a bit more complex, and they usually provide many features
that are of limited use in a corporate environment. For instance, channel “operators”
are users endowed with the ability to kick other users from a channel,
or even ban them permanently, when the normal discussion is disrupted.
366 The Debian Administrator's Handbook