Open Source Webmail: Does it Exist?

Burnsy2023 said:
So a provider that uses Open Source software would be enough? (which isn't their own)
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I.... think that is what he means?

Doran you do realise that the whole point of Open Source is so that users can go in, create things, change things and do anything they want to suit their needs.

As soon as something like a webmail app goes onto somebodies server you (the user) will never have any amount of control like you would if it was on your server.
 
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nikebee said:
I.... think that is what he means?

Doran you do realise that the whole point of Open Source is so that users can go in, create things, change things and do anything they want to suit their needs.

As soon as something like a webmail app goes onto somebodies server you (the user) will never have any amount of control like you would if it was on your server.
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I dont understand. :(
 
A webmail app is only there to provide a remote client experience from a server. Meaning it is hosted by someone else and then piped to you. To avoid this, buy some linux hosting - install webmail and register a email address and have your own email server/webmail frontend.
 
Doran said:
I dont understand. :(
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Say Firefox for example.

It's open source because they share the source code out to everyone.

If somebody doesn't like the way it works, they're free to build their own version.

Obtainable through here...
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Do...de?PHPSESSID=f80012ea490d46f7c1503f6318166038

You'd need Visual Studio and the MozillaBuild to get everything working.

Basically if you don't like something you can change it, just like Linux.

With Webmail, it needs to be hosted on a server... if you don't have access to that server you cannot physically change something, change the code, change the design etc...

The difference is that Linux/Firefox are pieces of software that you install onto a computer. You can chop and change things because you have direct access to the code.

With webmail, you don't. It will be hosted by a company on a website and you can't change anything... meaning it isn't Open Source.
 
nikebee said:
Say Firefox for example.

It's open source because they share the source code out to everyone.

If somebody doesn't like the way it works, they're free to build their own version.

Obtainable through here...
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Do...de?PHPSESSID=f80012ea490d46f7c1503f6318166038

You'd need Visual Studio and the MozillaBuild to get everything working.

Basically if you don't like something you can change it, just like Linux.

With Webmail, it needs to be hosted on a server... if you don't have access to that server you cannot physically change something, change the code, change the design etc...

The difference is that Linux/Firefox are pieces of software that you install onto a computer. You can chop and change things because you have direct access to the code.

With webmail, you don't. It will be hosted by a company on a website and you can't change anything... meaning it isn't Open Source.
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Gotcha - thanks so much for explaining. :)

I suppose what I really want, then, is a webmail that, like open source, doesnt really believe in Intellectual property rights. I needn't have access to the code as such, its not necessary, just want a philosophical embodiment.
 
spicypixel said:
Just as a side note, I presume you're using a Linux based OS?
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Not yet, I am in the procees of building a Linux PC, but am still using my Mac. Once I have backed everything up, I intend to put ubuntu on it. but may well wait for linux until I have the new PC.

Does anyone know where I can go incidentially to start putting together a spec list? (As cheap as low spec as possible) I am aware of compatibility issues you see.
 
Doran said:
Does anyone know where I can go incidentially to start putting together a spec list? (As cheap as low spec as possible) I am aware of compatibility issues you see.
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You do realise what forum you're on don't you? And the what the Overclockers company actually does?
 
Doran said:
Not yet, I am in the procees of building a Linux PC, but am still using my Mac. Once I have backed everything up, I intend to put ubuntu on it. but may well wait for linux until I have the new PC.

Does anyone know where I can go incidentially to start putting together a spec list? (As cheap as low spec as possible) I am aware of compatibility issues you see.
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

;)

Doran said:
Gotcha - thanks so much for explaining. :)

I suppose what I really want, then, is a webmail that, like open source, doesnt really believe in Intellectual property rights. I needn't have access to the code as such, its not necessary, just want a philosophical embodiment.
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No problem. :)

So your sort of after webmail that isn't provided by the big names?

Google, Microsoft (hotmail), AOL, Yahoo... a small company with decent features?

To be honest you'll be really hard pressed to beat the features in GMail at the moment, but if you can find a company that uses RoundCube you might get some luck as that does seem quite good.

GMail has access to the Google Labs and some of the features that are introduced through that are brilliant.
 
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Doran said:
Gotcha - thanks so much for explaining. :)

I suppose what I really want, then, is a webmail that, like open source, doesnt really believe in Intellectual property rights. I needn't have access to the code as such, its not necessary, just want a philosophical embodiment.
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Most open source licenses rely on intellectual property rights (copyright etc) to exist. If you want to no use anything based on IP, you're looking for public-domain software. And only a very small amount of code (not even software) is public domain.

You want to use GPL software? Well, you're relying on the copyright holder granting you freedoms over and above copyright law. You still need to comply with various other aspects of copyright law to use it properly though.

This whole open source = yay, lets throw away copyright thing is hugely misguided.
 
growse said:
Most open source licenses rely on intellectual property rights (copyright etc) to exist. If you want to no use anything based on IP, you're looking for public-domain software. And only a very small amount of code (not even software) is public domain.

You want to use GPL software? Well, you're relying on the copyright holder granting you freedoms over and above copyright law. You still need to comply with various other aspects of copyright law to use it properly though.

This whole open source = yay, lets throw away copyright thing is hugely misguided.
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Truthfully I am slightly ignorant as may already be clearly apparent. :)

Is there anywhere I can go off and read about this stuff? I would like to start learning.

Thanks
 
Someone mentioned Zimbra above. This is an open source product.

You don't have to host it yourself either, "Simply Mail solutions" can host Zimbra accounts on you behalf, you can log into them form anywhere in the world like you could with Gmail or Hotmail. You willl have to buy a domain and pay about £5 per months but its a good service, I have been using it for years now.
 
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