possible LDAP server from fastmail?

ebrevdo · 10 Mar 2002, 11:18 PM

What do people think of the possibility of an LDAP server for fastmail.fm members+ provided by fastmail.fm? This would link the web interface addresses with an address book accessible through eudora, outlook, evolution, or any other email or LDAP address book program? It could be modified so that the user logs in and has their own private address book on the server which links to the web interface.

jhs · 11 Mar 2002, 12:43 AM

I don't understand the last sentence. But it would be great to could access the FastMail addressbook with LDAP

ppetru · 11 Mar 2002, 04:10 AM

Being able to access the fastmail addressbook through authenticated LDAP would be great!

Would put an end to having a zillion addressbooks in a zillion email programs, and never finding the contact you're looking for

janniklindquist · 11 Mar 2002, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ebrevdo
What do people think of the possibility of an LDAP server for fastmail.fm members+ provided by fastmail.fm?

Great idea!!!!

Jeremy Howard · 11 Mar 2002, 07:37 AM

Are there any email clients that support authenticated LDAP? ...And are read/write rather than read-only?

Are there any utilities to sync major email clients' address books (e.g. NS, OE, Eudora...) with authenticated LDAP?

raspal · 11 Mar 2002, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ebrevdo
What do people think of the possibility of an LDAP server for fastmail.fm members+ provided by fastmail.fm? This would link the web interface addresses with an address book accessible through eudora, outlook, evolution, or any other email or LDAP address book program?

That'd be cool. How did you think of it brevdo? Why did my tiny brain failed to think of it! I second this request!

Raspal

janniklindquist · 11 Mar 2002, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Howard
Are there any email clients that support authenticated LDAP? ...And are read/write rather than read-only?

I'm not sure I understand this. Mulberry certainly has very sophisticated support for authenticated LDAP, but even Outlook Express seems to have basic support (as does Becky).

jhs · 11 Mar 2002, 04:17 PM

I thought too that Mulberry has pretty complere support for LDAP.

ppetru · 11 Mar 2002, 04:26 PM

Mulberry supports authenticating to the LDAP server (I just checked and it has the option, I don't have a LDAP server to check against).

Even if writing through LDAP is not supported, it would still be ok to enter the contacts through the web interface and read the with the email client.

AFAIK, OpenLDAP has an ODBC backend module -- might be useful for integrating with your database (MySQL, I think?)

Jeremy Howard · 11 Mar 2002, 05:27 PM

Yeah, I looked at LDAP 2 years ago, and it's easy to support. I just never bothered because client support was so patchy. Instead I prototyped the address sync tool that we've discussed here before. Possibly I can be convinced to make the address sync tool sync against an LDAP server rather than the custom server that I've written...

ebrevdo · 12 Mar 2002, 04:07 AM

how would a custom sync tool be accessible directly to email clients such as eudora, becky, outlook, evolution, pine, etc?

with ldap; there is the ability of just about any mail client to at least access the addressbook (most nowadays support authenticated ldap); and for some possibly even the ability to edit it. i'll research more into that second part tonight.

p.s. if i use outlook/evolution LDAP, i might even be able to sync w/ my palm pilot/visor; also something i should research

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Howard
Yeah, I looked at LDAP 2 years ago, and it's easy to support. I just never bothered because client support was so patchy. Instead I prototyped the address sync tool that we've discussed here before. Possibly I can be convinced to make the address sync tool sync against an LDAP server rather than the custom server that I've written...

Jeremy Howard · 12 Mar 2002, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ebrevdo
how would a custom sync tool be accessible directly to email clients such as eudora, becky, outlook, evolution, pine, etc?

The sync tool has backend plugins to support each address book interface. At this stage we've written OE, CSV, and SQL backends. The backend API will be publicised so that it will be easy to add new plugins.

matt_heinrichs · 14 Mar 2002, 11:13 PM

LDAP would be a huge plus - would make alternate clients (other than web) even more usable.

Far less complex if we could access a single store of addresses, rather than synchronizing.

Jeremy Howard · 15 Mar 2002, 05:33 AM

No-one's yet answered my question about which clients if any support authenticated LDAP, preferably with write access.

ppetru · 15 Mar 2002, 06:00 AM

Actually, I did answer by saying that Mulberry supports authenticating

I don't know if it can write, though.

In the mean time I also checked Mozilla 0.9.8, and it doesn't seem to be able to authenticate (I might be wrong though, I don't have a LDAP server to test against).

Write support isn't that important -- I think most people would be ok with entering the addresses on the web interface, as long as they can read it through LDAP.

10 Mar 2002, 11:18 PM	#1
ebrevdo Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 6	possible LDAP server from fastmail? What do people think of the possibility of an LDAP server for fastmail.fm members+ provided by fastmail.fm? This would link the web interface addresses with an address book accessible through eudora, outlook, evolution, or any other email or LDAP address book program? It could be modified so that the user logs in and has their own private address book on the server which links to the web interface.

11 Mar 2002, 12:43 AM	#2
jhs Essential Contributor Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Zurich, Switzerland Posts: 350	Re: possible LDAP server from fastmail? I don't understand the last sentence. But it would be great to could access the FastMail addressbook with LDAP

11 Mar 2002, 04:10 AM	#3
ppetru Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Brasov, Romania Posts: 25	Yes, please! Being able to access the fastmail addressbook through authenticated LDAP would be great! Would put an end to having a zillion addressbooks in a zillion email programs, and never finding the contact you're looking for

11 Mar 2002, 07:37 AM	#5
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Are there any email clients that support authenticated LDAP? ...And are read/write rather than read-only? Are there any utilities to sync major email clients' address books (e.g. NS, OE, Eudora...) with authenticated LDAP?

11 Mar 2002, 04:17 PM	#8
jhs Essential Contributor Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Zurich, Switzerland Posts: 350	I thought too that Mulberry has pretty complere support for LDAP.

11 Mar 2002, 04:26 PM	#9
ppetru Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Brasov, Romania Posts: 25	Mulberry supports authenticating to the LDAP server (I just checked and it has the option, I don't have a LDAP server to check against). Even if writing through LDAP is not supported, it would still be ok to enter the contacts through the web interface and read the with the email client. AFAIK, OpenLDAP has an ODBC backend module -- might be useful for integrating with your database (MySQL, I think?)

11 Mar 2002, 05:27 PM	#10
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Yeah, I looked at LDAP 2 years ago, and it's easy to support. I just never bothered because client support was so patchy. Instead I prototyped the address sync tool that we've discussed here before. Possibly I can be convinced to make the address sync tool sync against an LDAP server rather than the custom server that I've written...

14 Mar 2002, 11:13 PM	#13
matt_heinrichs Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 15	LDAP would be a huge plus - would make alternate clients (other than web) even more usable. Far less complex if we could access a single store of addresses, rather than synchronizing.

15 Mar 2002, 05:33 AM	#14
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	No-one's yet answered my question about which clients if any support authenticated LDAP, preferably with write access.

15 Mar 2002, 06:00 AM	#15
ppetru Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Brasov, Romania Posts: 25	Actually, I did answer by saying that Mulberry supports authenticating I don't know if it can write, though. In the mean time I also checked Mozilla 0.9.8, and it doesn't seem to be able to authenticate (I might be wrong though, I don't have a LDAP server to test against). Write support isn't that important -- I think most people would be ok with entering the addresses on the web interface, as long as they can read it through LDAP.