1.1 --- a/docs/wiki/FrontPage Fri Nov 24 17:24:23 2017 +0100
1.2 +++ /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
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1.4 -= imip-agent =
1.5 -
1.6 -{{{#!table
1.7 -[[/Downloads|Downloads]] || [[/GettingStarted|Getting started]] ||
1.8 -[[#Deployment|Deployment]] || [[#Usage|Usage]] ||
1.9 -[[#Development|Development]] ||
1.10 -[[/CalendaringSupport|Support for Standards]]
1.11 -}}}
1.12 -
1.13 -imip-agent is an extension for existing mail systems (such as
1.14 -[[http://exim.org/|Exim]] and [[http://www.postfix.org/|Postfix]])
1.15 -providing extra support for calendaring and scheduling.
1.16 -
1.17 - * It uses the [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]],
1.18 - [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5546|iTIP]] and
1.19 - [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] Internet standards.
1.20 -
1.21 - * It can inspect messages containing calendar objects and extract
1.22 - availability information for sharing and publication. You and your users
1.23 - decide exactly which kind of messages it will inspect, whose messages it
1.24 - will inspect, and for whom no inspection or sharing will occur at all.
1.25 -
1.26 - * It can provide a [[/CalendarManager|Web-based interface]] to calendar
1.27 - information for users who cannot or choose not to use
1.28 - [[/MailClients|mail software]] with calendaring support. This is optional
1.29 - and your users can choose to adjust, ignore or disable this functionality.
1.30 -
1.31 - * It supports autonomous entities such as meeting rooms and [[/Resources|resources]],
1.32 - automatically accepting or declining invitations according to their schedules.
1.33 - You can adjust this behaviour to implement your own policies.
1.34 -
1.35 - * It is [[https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software|Free Software]],
1.36 - giving you the freedom to see what the software does, as well as the freedom
1.37 - to modify and share the software with others.
1.38 -
1.39 -{{{#!graphviz
1.40 -//format=svg
1.41 -//transform=notugly
1.42 -digraph architecture {
1.43 - node [shape=box,fontsize="13.0",fontname="Helvetica",tooltip="The imip-agent architecture"];
1.44 - edge [tooltip="The imip-agent architecture"];
1.45 - rankdir=LR;
1.46 -
1.47 - mail [label="Incoming mail",shape=folder,style=filled,fillcolor=cyan];
1.48 - MTA [label="MTA\n(Exim, Postfix, ...)",tooltip="MTA"];
1.49 -
1.50 - subgraph {
1.51 - rank=same;
1.52 - agent [label="imip-agent",style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
1.53 - scheduling [label="Scheduling",shape=ellipse,style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
1.54 - freebusy [label="Free/busy",shape=folder,style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
1.55 - manager [label="imip-manager",style=filled,fillcolor=gold];
1.56 - }
1.57 -
1.58 - mailbox [label="Mailboxes\n(Cyrus, Dovecot, ...)",tooltip="Mailboxes"];
1.59 - webserver [label="Web server\n(Apache, ...)",tooltip="Web server"];
1.60 - client [label="Mail clients"];
1.61 - browser [label="Web browsers"];
1.62 -
1.63 - mail -> MTA -> agent -> mailbox -> client;
1.64 - agent -> scheduling -> freebusy -> webserver -> client;
1.65 - freebusy -> manager;
1.66 - manager -> webserver [penwidth="3.0"];
1.67 - webserver -> browser [penwidth="3.0"];
1.68 - scheduling -> MTA -> mail [style=dashed];
1.69 -}
1.70 -}}}
1.71 -
1.72 -Unlike some monolithic groupware solutions...
1.73 -
1.74 - * It does not require you to change your [[/MailIntegration|mail delivery]]
1.75 - software or your [[/MailboxIntegration|mail storage]] software (subject to
1.76 - existing support provided by imip-agent; support for other software can
1.77 - always be added).
1.78 -
1.79 - * It does not require your users to change their [[/MailClients|mail client]]
1.80 - software.
1.81 -
1.82 - * It does not insist that everybody must store their schedules on a single
1.83 - server in order to collaboratively schedule events.
1.84 -
1.85 - * Instead, imip-agent takes advantage of the decentralized nature of the
1.86 - iCalendar and iMIP Internet standards.
1.87 -
1.88 - * It allows people in your organisation to collaborate with people outside
1.89 - your organisation without insisting that they join your infrastructure or
1.90 - that everybody join some cloud service that keeps everyone's information
1.91 - within a single, typically proprietary, remote service (that may also be
1.92 - potentially vulnerable to intrusion and surveillance).
1.93 -
1.94 -The role of imip-agent is to bridge the gap between plain e-mail and
1.95 -"full-stack" groupware solutions, thus allowing organisations and individuals
1.96 -to augment their existing infrastructure instead of being compelled to perform
1.97 -costly and unnecessary migrations and infrastructure transformations.
1.98 -
1.99 -== Adding Calendaring to E-Mail ==
1.100 -
1.101 -With just an e-mail system, users can already create and schedule calendar
1.102 -events using any mail or groupware client software that supports calendars and
1.103 -that already supports [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]] and
1.104 -[[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]].
1.105 -
1.106 -Starting with an e-mail system, imip-agent can be used to add further support
1.107 -for calendaring:
1.108 -
1.109 -{{{#!table
1.110 -'''Requirement''' || '''Solution'''
1.111 -==
1.112 -Your users probably want to know when other people are available and when they
1.113 -are busy.
1.114 -||
1.115 -Although [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] supports this, most mail
1.116 -programs do not, so imip-agent will gather information about events and
1.117 -[[/FreeBusyPublishing|publish it for retrieval via HTTP]]. It will also respond
1.118 -to any iMIP requests for free/busy information via mail.
1.119 -==
1.120 -Organisations may want to coordinate access to resources using calendaring.
1.121 -||
1.122 -Here, imip-agent can provide [[/AgentPrograms|autonomous agents]] that can
1.123 -respond to event invitations, allowing users to book resources and to see
1.124 -published availability information for those resources.
1.125 -==
1.126 -Some users may not be using mail programs that understand calendars and
1.127 -events.
1.128 -||
1.129 -Here, imip-agent can provide a [[/CalendarManager|Web interface]] to let
1.130 -them respond to invitations and to create and schedule their own events.
1.131 -}}}
1.132 -
1.133 -According to your requirements, any or all of the above solutions can be
1.134 -implemented, providing as much of a groupware solution as you need.
1.135 -
1.136 -<<Anchor(Deployment)>>
1.137 -== Deploying the Software ==
1.138 -
1.139 -Initial activities:
1.140 -
1.141 - * [[/Downloads|Downloads]]
1.142 - * [[/GettingStarted|Getting Started]]
1.143 -
1.144 -References:
1.145 -
1.146 - * [[/Administration|Administering imip-agent]]
1.147 - * [[/Changelog|Changelog]]
1.148 - * [[/Configuration|Configuration]] and [[/Preferences|Preferences]]
1.149 - * [[/CalendarManager|Calendar Management Interface]]
1.150 - * [[/FreeBusyPublishing|Free/Busy Publishing]]
1.151 -
1.152 -<<Anchor(Usage)>>
1.153 -== Using the Software ==
1.154 -
1.155 - * [[/Usage|Using imip-agent]]
1.156 -
1.157 -<<Anchor(Development)>>
1.158 -== Development ==
1.159 -
1.160 -Some topics related to development:
1.161 -
1.162 - * [[/Developing|Developing imip-agent]]
1.163 - * [[/FuturePlans|Future Plans]]
1.164 -
1.165 -Details of the mechanisms employed by imip-agent are described in the
1.166 -following documents:
1.167 -
1.168 - * [[/AgentPrograms|Agent Programs]]
1.169 - * [[/CalendaringSupport|Calendaring Support]]
1.170 - * [[/CounterProposals|Counter-Proposals and Offers]]
1.171 - * [[/CronIntegration|Cron Task Scheduler Integration]]
1.172 - * [[/DataStore|Data Store]]
1.173 - * [[/EventRecurrences|Event Recurrences]]
1.174 - * [[/FilesystemUsage|Filesystem Usage]]
1.175 - * [[/IncomingMessages|Incoming Messages]]
1.176 - * [[/OutgoingMessages|Outgoing Messages]]
1.177 - * [[/MailIntegration|Mail Integration]]
1.178 - * [[/MailboxIntegration|Mailbox Integration]]
1.179 - * [[/Resources|Resources]]
1.180 - * [[/Testing|Testing]]
1.181 - * [[/UseCases|Use Cases]]
1.182 - * [[/WebServerIntegration|Web Server Integration]]