Novell Linux Desktop--A Linux Distribution for Enterprise Desktops - page 5

Re-Inking the Big Red 'N'

Figure 5 shows the Novell Linux Desktop's default GNOME look and feel, with Open Office and the Firefox browser displayed. NLD provides a stable GNOME environment based on GNOME 2.6, adhering to the NLD mantra of stable, proven software--not the latest, bleeding edge set of patches and package updates, but something that your administrative personnel and the person in the mail room can use and count on.

As I mentioned when discussing things that I felt were missing from the NLD KDE desktop, the Evolution mailer is the way to go if you have to work in a business environment with Microsoft infrastructure such as the Microsoft Exchange server and its calendaring baggage. Evolution is installed as part of the NLD GNOME desktop, as it should be. Unfortunately, the Exchange Connector plugin that facilitates Exchange interoperability is not. One could argue that a distribution should only install selected and core components, but let's get real. We're already installing GNOME or KDE. Is the Exchange Connector so huge that installing it would upset anyone? Nope. Does its absence require extra work on the part of any sysadmin who is installing NLD? Yes. Exchange connectivity should be installed by default in future versions of NLD.