[Ayatana] Novell Evolution, and just how awesome it is.

[<ikt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Some prominent software featured in Ubuntu as currently reviewed in the 
Ubuntu Software Centre:

Chromium - 4.5 | 69 ratings
Firefox - 4.5/5 | 44 ratings
Banshee - 4.5/5 | 38 ratings
LibreOffice Writer - 4.5/5 | 14 ratings
Shotwell - 4.5/5 | 12 ratings
Transmission Bittorrent Client - 4.5/5 | 12 ratings
Ubuntu One - 3.5/5 | 17 ratings
Evolution - 3.5/5 | 15 ratings

At the end of the list what are the key differences between the Ubuntu 
One rating and Evolution rating?

People reviewing Ubuntu One are almost polar opposites, it's either 5/5 
awesome or 2/5 buggy and lacking features, you can fix bugs and you can 
implement missing features, in fact one of the 2/5's was commenting on a 
missing feature that is being implemented and tested right now (windows 
support), there is a lot of positive press that Ubuntu One in 11.04 is a 
massive improvement from Ubuntu One in 10.10, so I can see Ubuntu One 
improving from here on.

The review feedback about Evolution doesn't inspire confidence, "good 
try but useless", this is the same opinion you can find from 6 YEARS 
AGO.*

If we pretend that LibreOffice Writer had one job and that was to 
replace Microsoft Word 2010 from head to toe, as it stands even if they 
only implement 50% of that, it is still a fully functional document 
writer, that has more features than other document editors and is a 
pleasure to use, even though it doesn't fully replace Word 100%, what it 
does do, it does it well.

Another example is Audacious, it was very similar to Winamp and while 
it doesn't fully replicate Winamp on Ubuntu (and it never intended to), 
those who use it feel that what it does do, it does well.

A bigger example could be Google Chrome, when it first came out did it 
have all the features of Firefox or Internet Explorer? Not even close, 
but damn it was fast, and a pleasure to use, that by itself made it end 
up on so many people's desktops.

Evolution is attempting to do many things, and failing at all of them, 
even partially implemented things.

"Evolution proved sluggish and unreliable, and lacks all of the 
surrounding features that I’ve come to rely upon so desperately."**

If you want fast email not tied to a desktop, Gmail is there, if you 
want a solid email experience with a desktop client, Thunderbird is 
there, if you want an Outlook replacement, Evolution will attempt to 
help you but ultimately fail miserably, and if you try and use the basic 
features it does implement you'll find a horrible experience compared to 
other email clients.

The question then becomes, what's the point of this software in the 
first place? If it can't do what it's supposed to do, what's the point 
of having it there?

"I always remove this from my Ubuntu installations.  I find no use for 
it. I suppose if you were forced to use a Microsoft Exchange system 
there might be some justification, but thankfully I don't."

At this point I really only have one thing to say: Why does the Ubuntu 
team continue to include awesome applications that people enjoy using, 
but still includes evolution despite the continual assurance from users 
that it DOES NOT meet users expectations***.

Maybe you guys are looking at a different evolution client to me?

thanks

- ikt

* http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=36530 <- "Evolution is a 
rubbish email client" May 24th, 2005
**http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/02/11/running-pc-pro-on-ubuntu-the-verdict/ 
"Running PC Pro on Ubuntu: the verdict" - February 11th, 2011
*** read: sucks

ps. Since Greg Kroah-Hartman appears to work at the same company that 
produce the evolution client, I was wondering if he could get some 
people to work on it, you know, give back to the community that has 
managed to include the software that so many people hate as the primary 
email client for so damn long. :-)