Re: Who's where, and how do we know?

[Lou Quillio <public -at- quillio -dot- com>]

David Neeley wrote:
> There is no doubt that an LDAP-enabled enterprise mail system is far
> more useful than any other present methods--and, since it represents a
> central mail resource, it eliminates the soon-outdated personal
> addressbook stuff and saves incredible time.

I'd kill for my own [or an account on an] LDAP server, and not for the
enterprise, either.  For the family.  Sick and tired of competing
address book conventions.  How many times have folks asked me "Why can't
I just have one address book?"  My sad answer is "Because that's how a
lot of vendors/providers try to lock you in."

There's a lot of power in LDAP:  complex ACLs, groups, lists, etc.  The
queries are supposed to be pretty straightforward, but unlike anything
else.  LDAP doesn't handle mail, BTW, it's just for address and identity
management.  Your LDAP-aware email client (Thunderbird, Outlick/Outlick
Express, most others) can use it as a supplemental address repository.
And it can be made authoritative for non-email uses, too.  GE uses it
extensively.

One of my webhosts would like to offer it to subscribers, but it doesn't
scale well (http://tinyurl.com/5tgoh).  A smart guy will build a
web-services business around OpenLDAP, wait and see.

In the meantime, guess I'll have to serve my own.  Great, another
technology morass to get mired in.  Wait, I know an LDAP guru ...

BTW, Microsoft's Active Directory *claims* to be an LDAP superset and
LDAP-compliant (http://tinyurl.com/4g3u6).  Maybe.  This is a standard
chase.  M$ purloins an open standard (at least in terms of *Open*LDAP)
by "extending" it.  Meh.

Last, Microsoft Active Directory is unrelated to ActiveX controls, which
is good.  If *I* were related to an ActiveX control, I'd necklace myself
with Firestones and flick the Zippo.

LQ


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