Ubuntu for Small Business

[Derek Broughton]

Matthew Palmer wrote:

> On Mon, Sep 12, 2005 at 10:06:48AM -0300, Derek Broughton wrote:
>> Matthew Palmer wrote:
>> 
>> > So the problem with e-mail isn't that it is slow (which it sure as heck
>> > ain't),
>> 
>> Mostly - my major client's Exchange server has been known to take hours
>> to
>> deliver internal mail.  A colleague claims to have just received a mail
>> after some months - but I don't know if it was either true or, if so, the
>> fault of the Exchange server.  And to be OS-neutral, another client's
>> linux servers can take hours to deliver external mail.
> 
> That a particular implementation is broken does not mean the general
> principle is invalid.  I'm sure I can run an IM server poorly enough for
> messages to take hours to get to the recipient, too.  <grin>

Absolutely.  I was just pointing out that sometimes, because of servers
beyond our control, mail is not always fast.
>> 
>> The Outlook 2003 client (sorry to keep mentioning what is otherwise a
>> POS!)
>> has a beautiful notification facility.  It pops up a window in the bottom
>> right corner that shows title and first couple of lines of message, and
>> buttons to delete or open the message.  If you don't respond in about 5
>> seconds, it fades out.
> 
> That's not presence.  "Presence" is the ability to have some means of
> determining whether the recipient of a message may be able to respond
> immediately, such as "I am away", "I am here but busy", "I am here".

Sorry, I figured that out after the fact :-)  It goes right back to my
initial gripe against including IM in a business distro.  If you absolutely
need someone right away, pick up the phone.  If you don't, send them an
email and stop bothering them :-)
-- 
derek