Interview with Mozilla Lightning lead Mike Shaver

synopsis5 writes "The Lightning project (tight calendar integration into Mozilla Thunderbird) is one of the hottest things to come in the Mozilla world. In this interview Lightning lead developer Mike Shaver responds to questions from the Mozilla user community."

Is Lightning the same thing as Sunbird?

[bergeron76]

So is Lightning a new name for Sunbird? Or is it a codename?

Should I start searching for Lightning as a side project, or is it a dialect of Sunbird?

Re:Is Lightning the same thing as Sunbird?

[Adelbert]

I think Sunbird is the name for the seperate calendar. Lightning is the calendar integrated into Thunderbird.

I used Sunbird for a while, then gave up upon realising it was more convenient to use a pencil and paper. However, if it was brought into the mail sending environment, that would possibly make it more useful, as people will be able to check when they are free when planning a meeting etc. I look forward to seeing how this project turns out...

Re:Is Lightning the same thing as Sunbird?

[synopsis5]

Sunbird is the standalone Calendar project from mozilla.org.

Lightning is a calendaring extension, which will be tightly integrated into Mozilla Thunderbird.

Both programs share most of their backend and some of their frontend code.

sync and invite messages DO THIS

[johnjones]

oh what a world we live in

apple wrote a sync engine named isync that works...
it is a syncML server and has proved thats what you need
(palm has a known way of sync and very much just for palmOS so target phones then palm not the other way round)

for standards please please
The standards that need to be addressed are RFC 2445 (iCalendar), RFC 2446 (iTIP), and RFC 2447 (iMIP)

read and make sure you can work with Evolution and lotus notes

regards

John Jones

Re:Evolution to Thunderbird migration

[tolan-b]

Easiest (although potentially very slow) way is if you have access to an IMAP server, upload all your local mail (assuming you're using POP or just collecting from your mbox) to the IMAP server from Evolution, then download again in Thunderbird.

Re:Evolution to Thunderbird migration

[tolan-b]

... although that's just for moving your mail of course. I don't know of any tools for migrating anything else from evo to t-bird I'm afraid.

Integration

[pyrrhonist]

Once Lightning is integrated with Thunderbird, the Mozilla Foundation will tackle the more difficult task of integrating Thunderbird with Firefox.

Once this is complete the integrated product will be called the, "Mozilla Suite".

Convert

[Seumas]

I still don't use calendar programs. We use them at work, as we develop one of the better known enterprise grade calendar servers, but I still don't make use of it. I don't make use of any kind of calendaring system whatsoever. I just remember things like a normal person.

However, I would gladly begin using one if there was a broader standard that was accepted and implemented that didn't lock me into one solution forever, could easily be synched or access from anywhere (no central server - maybe even let me

iCalendar

[Phil John]

However, I would gladly begin using one if there was a broader standard that was accepted and implemented that didn't lock me into one solution forever

iCalendar [ietf.org] (link goes to RFC) - it's what Mozilla Sunbird, as well as some non-free calendar apps (Apple's iCal being one) , use. iCalendar is an open, text-based standard that can be parsed very easily.

When it comes to publishing, you've got two real choices, FTP (as you mentioned) and WebDav. There's already a simple PHP based viewer that has a WebDa

Re:Convert

[alc6379]

I don't make use of any kind of calendaring system whatsoever. I just remember things like a normal person.

You mean you forget it all immediately, and then say, "oh, shit!" while running for the conference room when you realize you were supposed to be in that meeting 10 minutes ago?

what good is a calendar in a browser for?

[xutopia]

Seriously that's like toaster and coffee maker 2000. Nice concept and all but not needed.

WAF: High

[glamslam]

I setup three .ics files on a password protected FTP server. One for me, one for my wife, and one for both of us. I then setup Firefox w/ Calendar Extension on all of our computers (work, office, etc..).

With this setup, you can have remote and local access to shared family calendars relatively easily. Also, its all very portable without lockin. The files are just text files.

If the Moz team continues in this direction (making it easier, better PIM features, etc), this will be a killer OS app. If e

Google Calendar, of course...

[rduke15]

This calendar discussion made me wonder if there would already have been rumors of a Google calendar. Obviously, it would have to be called Galendar, wouldn't it?

Well, it turns out that even though some are waiting for it [zawodny.com], (the Google Calendar), it would have a naming problem: Galendar.com exists already [galendar.com], and happens to be very unlike Gmail.com.

Re:Google Calendar, of course...

[rduke15]

Just realized that the Google calendar has already been discussed on /. [slashdot.org], and yet nobody seems to have noticed Galendar.com.

And then I realized that Galendar.com actually IS a calendar of sorts. If you stay long enough on the page, the animated logo [galendar.com] will explain it.

Incredible, all the things one can discover through /. ...