Novell Groupwise is such a lame program

[superboyac]

I've been using Groupwise here at work for almost 2 years now, and I'm surprised that I'm still sane.  It's such a remarkably average program.  And I think I'm doing it a favor by calling it average.  How does a big name program like this get away with being so average for so long, and furthermore, why do companies even go for it?  Their email is a joke, the calendar/appointment thing is at best functional, contacts feature is pretty awful, and there are a bunch of little things that will annoy you to pieces.

I'll tell you what it is...laziness.  Companies want to just buy one program that will take care of all their needs.  Sorry, but you're not going to get much quality that way.  Novell will provide security, email, calendar, contact management, user administration, all in one convenient package.  Unfortunately, most of it is crappy.  The IT management should be a little more ambitious and get the best software for each particular task, even though it would be more work.  Hell, I would even welcome Outlook over this with wide open arms...and I've never been a fan of Outlook.

The funny thing is, part of the reason why we use Groupwise is because the rest of the city agencies use it.  SO, you'd thing that it would be easy to coordinate things through the program with people from other departments.  Not the case!  They are completely separate systems!  There is no consolidated address book or appointment function or anything.  So, the excuse they use for getting the program in the first place is null and void.  Just lame.

[katykaty]

My condolences from a fellow GroupWise victim. 

And I don't even get to use an up to date version either 

[superboyac]

Neither do I, we're on 6.5.  That's interesting that you haven't updated either.  I think because it's probably a little bit of a pain to upgrade, so the typically lazy IT people would rather just let it sit.  I think they go by the if it ain't broke, don't bother fixing it.

[katykaty]

Well, I can understand that - it's Novell after all 

[superboyac]

ha...yeah, that's true.  You know another really annoying thing they do here, they delete all email in your account after 45 days.  I think that is so retarded.  So, if you want anything saved, you have to send it to the "archive" of groupwise (another idiotic concept...with an even worse implementation).  Of course, you ahve to have the foresight to know what email to save, or just save them all.  Oh man, it really grits my greaser.

[katykaty]

Ah, now this is where I can save you some heartache

This is from memory as I'm not at work right now so I'll just give you the outline.

• Create a category called 'ArchiveInTime' or similar.
• Create a rule.
• Set the rule to run on Startup rather than on the usual 'Mail Received'
• Set a condition so that IF delivered date is earlier than -35 days before today AND category is ArchiveInTime
• Add action Move To Archive

You have to make it -35 days not 35 days. The description that appears after you correctly set the rule looks confusing: it says LESS than 35 days before today when it actually means EARLIER than. Careless programming 

Then when you get a message you think you're going to want to keep, set the category and it'll stay in the mailbox for a month then magically archive itself. If you change your mind before the month's up, just untick the category from the message.

Remember this is a Startup rule so if you don't start GW for 10 days you may miss some of the messages, so make sure you do a manual archive if you're going to be away more than a week.

And test it on some stuff that doesn't matter first too 

[mraymus]

If you'd been using Outlook you would have been slammed by every major security issue that Microsoft has had for the last 5-7 years.   You wouldn't be whistlin Outlook's tune.     And besides, you're using 6.5.   The latest 7 client is way better and the next release, called Bonsai, has even more functionality and features.   Latest & greatest technology seems to be spelled U-N-S-T-A-B-L-E.    With lots of Fortune 5 companies and large organizations using GroupWise, they want something stable more than they want all the latest bells & whistles.   

[superboyac]

If you'd been using Outlook you would have been slammed by every major security issue that Microsoft has had for the last 5-7 years.   You wouldn't be whistlin Outlook's tune.     And besides, you're using 6.5.   The latest 7 client is way better and the next release, called Bonsai, has even more functionality and features.   Latest & greatest technology seems to be spelled U-N-S-T-A-B-L-E.    With lots of Fortune 5 companies and large organizations using GroupWise, they want something stable more than they want all the latest bells & whistles.   

-mraymus (August 13, 2007, 11:55 PM)

I'm not praising Outlook at all, I don't like Outlook.  but I like it more than Groupwise.  I understand that Novell is very safe and secure.  I have to also say that a lot of Groupwise functionality is specifically crippled by our IT here, so it's not completely the fault of Groupwise.

My point is that if our IT was a little more ambitious, we can get the best of both worlds, meaning a safe and secure system, but also the option to use a better email, calendar, etc. software.  The whole thing doesn't have to come from the same company.  But it would be more complex to manage, so they wouldn't do it.  That's what I would do.

By the way, I never understand when people say "Outlook is vulnerable" etc.  If you have the proper security on your system (virus protection, firewall, antispyware, etc.) then isn't that what constitutes whether or not your system is vulnerable?  Outlook isn't doing anything.  It's just as vulnerable as any other email program, unless we're talking about things which specifically attack Outlook or something.  Again, if all the right protection was in place, it wouldn't really matter.  I never understood that statement.

[Grorgy]

They probably work to a budget as well, which usually means that its way cheaper to stick with one brand especially if you have a large user base, volume discounts and all.  Not to mention additional staff training and so on, not all users are going to be all that computer literate, the skills will also be transferable throughout the organization reducing costs further

[superboyac]

That's probably true for a lot of places.  But budget is not an issue here at all.  I get what you're saying though.  Fortunately for me, the head of our department absolutely hates Groupwise, and  I remember her specifically griping about it not long after she was here.  She wants to go to Outlook, so I'm happy with that.  It hasn't happened yet, but hopefully soon.

[superboyac]

• Create a category called 'ArchiveInTime' or similar.
• Create a rule.
• Set the rule to run on Startup rather than on the usual 'Mail Received'
• Set a condition so that IF delivered date is earlier than -35 days before today AND category is ArchiveInTimemove to archive.
• Add action Move To Archive

-katykaty (August 13, 2007, 04:17 PM)

great tip!  Works like a charm, I love it!

[katykaty]

You're welcome 

[mraymus]

You can use the Outllook Client against the GroupWise backend, if you feel secure with your microsoft patches.    MS has resolved most of those issues, but there are still vulnerabilities.   Also, with GroupWise 7, there's a feature called the OutLook Connector which is a much more full-featured client against GroupWise than what you get in 6.5.

Good luck.   If your admin has questions, tell him to contact me.

Matt
[email protected]
MC Consulting - GroupWiseGuru.com

[superboyac]

THanks Matt, I'll keep you in mind if anything comes up.