KDE Kolab Client
From Kolab wiki
Configuring an installed KDE Kontact for a Kolab server is rather trivial as you can see in the next section. The only thing that is somewhat complex concerning KDE Kontact is selecting the version you will use. There is a special section below explaining the different KDE Kontact Versions available. And finally there are some instructions on how to install these different versions.
Contents |
Configuration
- On an otherwise unconfigured account: Start 'kolabwizard' (on most GNU/Linux systems by pressing Alt+F2 and typing kolabwizard)
- Enter your account details. Make sure that there are no extra resources after this operation.
For details see the Setup document ("doc2") from the official Kolab Documentation.
Detailed version
There is an OpenOffice.org document available in the Kolab CVS system that describes the Kontact setup in more detail.
Versions
Most pieces of software have a long successive row of increasing version numbers. Usually there is a specific version number that is currently considered the most stable and well tested. This will be the version you download, install, and use. Sometimes you consider using a newer version that the developers still consider unstable and sometimes you might even consider installing an old version that is considered deprecated.
With KDE Kontact and Kolab the situation is somewhat more complex: There are currently (as of September 2007) four different versions in two different branches available. A branch means that there are actually two streams of development, both we different type of focus. In case of Kontact there is the main KDE branch that is available on most Linux platforms. And then there is the Kolab branch. The KDE branch development is concerned with having a reliable, stable mail client in the KDE environment while the Kolab branch is focused on a stable Kolab client that is supported over long time periods. For both branches there exist stable and development versions which makes four different versions in total.
These are the four available versions:
- KDE branch
- KDE Kontact-3.5.7 (stable)
- KDE Kontact-4 (development)
- Kolab branch
- proko2 (stable)
- enterprise35 (development)
Confused yet?
The decision which version you should use is actually not too difficult. Both branches are not too far away from each other so that the differences between the different versions are not too great. Several KDE developers are active on both branches and ensure that the features are being kept synchronized between the different versions. So it will usually take only a few minor version increments until you find a feature from one branch appearing in the other branch too.
This will give you an overview of the advantages/disadvantages of each version:
- proko2 (stable)
This is the default version recommended by the Kolab developer team. This is the stable, well tested version that has been developed alongside with the Kolab Server and should provide the best compatibility with the Kolab Groupware Server. The drawback of this version: It is not the main branch of KDE Kontact so it will usually not be available as a binary, installable package for your distribution. People using something other than Debian will have to compile this version for themself. In addition this version is based on an older Kontact version so it might lack some features of the newer 3.5.*-series.
- KDE Kontact-3.5.7 (stable)
This is the main, stable version provided with KDE. It is available for most systems as a binary, installable package. If you can accept a few bugs and missing features when connecting to your Kolab Server you can also install this version. This is often the easiest version to install.
- enterprise35 (development)
This is the current development branch of the Kolab branch that matches the 3.5.7 version of the KDE branch but adds some Kolab specific improvements. Since it is still in development you are not advised to install this if you do not want to hit some problematic bugs.
- KDE Kontact-4 (development)
This is the newest version of the KDE branch that is still completely unstable and also lacks some features available in the enterprise version of the Kolab branch. KDE4 is something you should not consider installing at the moment if you are not a programmer.
There is currently no detailed list available that list the feature differences between those versions. So you have to partially rely on your gut feeling for this decision unless you want to actually read the code.
Installation
proko2
Download the latest proko2 version from one of the Kolab download mirrors.
wget http://max.kde.org:8080/mirrors/ftp.kolab.org/kde-client/kdepim-3.3.proko2.1.9-2.tar.bz2
Extract the package and run the configure script:
tar xvfj kdepim-3.3.proko2.1.9-2.tar.bz2 cd kdepim-3.3.proko2.1.9-2 ./configure --enable-debug=yes
This will hopefully detect all required libraries on your system and create the necessary Makefiles.
Now you can compile the software by running make
make
If this completes without errors you should be able to either configure and start proko2 by calling the binaries you just compiled
wizards/kolabwizard kontact/src/kontact
or you install it in your system by running
make install
KDE Kontact 3.5.7
This should be available in your distribution. Just use the package manager (yum, yast, portage, rpm...) to install it.
enterprise (debian packages)
There is a debian repository: put this in your /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb http://apt.intevation.org etch unstable deb-src http://apt.intevation.org etch unstable
And then run:
apt-get update apt-get install kontact
enterprise (subversion)
Since this is a development version it is only available via checkout from subversion.
svn co svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/kdepim/enterprise
Now move into the kdepim directory and recreate the configure script:
cd enterprise/kdepim make -f Makefile.cvs
Time to configure and compile the software:
./configure --enable-debug=yes make
Now you may install it using
make install
or you just run the binary you just compiled:
wizards/kolabwizard kontact/src/kontact
