Chandler

See also: PIMs | E-Mail Clients

Chandler is the codename for a Personal Information Manager to be developed by the non-profit Open Source Application Foundation. OSAF has been created by Mitch Kapor, one of the Lotus founders and creator of the much-beloved Lotus Agenda PIM. Chandler will be built with Python and wxWindows.

GUI prototypes can be seen here. From the planned feature summary page:

Contents

Email

  • POP/IMAP retrieval
  • HTML viewing and composition
  • auto-completion of addressees
  • stationery
  • signatures
  • multiple profiles/personalities/identities
  • spelling checker
  • auto-archiving of old mail
  • fast searching via full-text indexing
  • importing existing data and settings
  • in-line viewing of attachments
  • user-defined views, rules, and filters
  • user-scripting capabilities
  • “active” mail – mail with buttons for actions
  • transparent encryption and authentication of mail
  • automatic spam filtering
  • filing of messages in multiple folders

Information Sharing & Exchange

  • integrated Instant Messaging and presence management (Jabber)
  • sending contacts and appointments via mail (iCal, vCard support)
  • remote peer-to-peer browsing of others’ data
  • flexible security model to control access
  • file and document sharing
  • remote queries, e.g., look up address in another person’s contact list
  • automatic updating of information from remote sources: receive new contacts, changes to existing contacts automatically (publish-subscribe)

Access

Calendar

  • day/week/month views
  • recurring appointments
  • see another person’s free/busy blocks for scheduling
  • see another person’s calendars as overlays

Other

  • simple Web-style navigation (back, forward, and home buttons, single click on a link to navigate, bookmarks, URL references to user data)
  • easily customizable user-defined categories
  • structure data how you like it, view it that way, change your mind at any time
  • automatic recognition of names, places, dates, and etc.; automatic categorization of items
  • developer extensibility architecture

Everyone is invited to participate in the development process on one of the mailing lists. Mitch Kapor also has a personal weblog where he summarizes important events.

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