Support for Exchange 2010, pretty please...

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Jeff DuBois

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Aug 2, 2013, 3:13:30 PM8/2/13
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Hi there.

I love k-9 but had to stop using it when I started a new job and needed to check work email on my phone. I've searched and found posts dating back to 2010 asking for this and responses varying from "not at this time" to "looking into it." I understand that this app is free and supported/maintained by volunteers, but can someone explain why this has been such a low priority given how widespread exchange is in the business world - even in the nonprofit sector in which I work. I'm no microsoft fan, but I just don't get it especially when the default android app can do it.

Again, I really love this app and would make a donation if I could use it for both personal and work email...

Thanks.

Bernhard Redl

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Aug 2, 2013, 11:08:47 PM8/2/13
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there has at least been one Google sommer of code project to implement
this. Status: unknown. The specification for exchange 2010 is not open
and requires licence fees in some situations. Therefore i doubt that we
can just "take" the exchange part of the AOSP mail app.
it has been low priority because it seems that no developer uses
exchange. (the AOSP exchange implementation contains about 22000 LoC
which somebody has to maintain / integrate into k9 ..)

Quoting:./exchange2/src/com/android/exchange/patent_disclaimer.txt
of the AOSP
-----------------------------
THIS IS NOT A GRANT OF PATENT RIGHTS.

Google makes no representation or warranty that the source code made
available hereunder is
unencumbered by third-party patents. Those intending to use this source
code in hardware or
software products are advised that implementations of this code,
including in open source software
or shareware, may require patent licenses from the relevant patent holders.

-----------------------------
> --

Jeff DuBois

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Aug 5, 2013, 3:27:45 PM8/5/13
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Hi Bernard,

Thanks for the thorough response. I was afraid that it had something to do with Microsoft. I guess I'm stuck with either the android app or Emoze which I've been toying with, but having issues with syncing and battery drain (even without using push). If you know of any other alternatives, let me know.

Thanks again.

Jeff DuBois

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

Vincent Van Gogh




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Dennis Rockwell

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Aug 5, 2013, 3:47:21 PM8/5/13
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On 08/05/2013 03:27 PM, Jeff DuBois wrote:
> Hi Bernard,
>
> Thanks for the thorough response. I was afraid that it had something
> to do with Microsoft. I guess I'm stuck with either the android app or
> Emoze which I've been toying with, but having issues with syncing and
> battery drain (even without using push). If you know of any other
> alternatives, let me know.

My corporate email is handled by Exchange, but I use K-9 with that
account via an IMAP server feature that Exchange offers. K-9 gets to
this server through a ConnectBot SSH tunnel through the firewall. It
might be worth a query to your IT folks about providing that service. I
suspect that Micro$oft charges for that, too.

This means that I can use Thunderbird on my desktop and never have to
mess with Exchange or LookOut.

Dennis

Jeff DuBois

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Aug 5, 2013, 5:12:43 PM8/5/13
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Thanks Dennis. I've used ConnectBot to remotely control a linux box a while ago. I'll check with IT on this, but am a little doubful. Can you configure k-9 to automatically establish an SSH tunnel via ConnectBot or do you have to do it manually? Just curious...

Jeff DuBois

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

Vincent Van Gogh



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Dennis Rockwell

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Aug 6, 2013, 11:21:31 AM8/6/13
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On 08/05/2013 05:12 PM, Jeff DuBois wrote:
> Thanks Dennis. I've used ConnectBot to remotely control a linux box a
> while ago. I'll check with IT on this, but am a little doubful. Can
> you configure k-9 to automatically establish an SSH tunnel via
> ConnectBot or do you have to do it manually? Just curious...

I have yet to get anything to start ConnectBot automatically, or even to
get ConnectBot to re-establish a connection once it fails. This is a
pain, as I have a WiFi-only tablet. I also haven't tried very hard; if
ConnectBot can be controlled by something like Tasker, there may be
hope. The passphrase for my key still needs to be entered once per
ConnectBot startup.

The K-9 configuration is simply to connect to localhost at the tunnel's
port; the tunnel is configured with the real server and port.

Dennis

Voytek Eymont Gmail

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Aug 7, 2013, 3:20:14 AM8/7/13
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Dennis,

OT
if you use ConnectBot, check out Juicessh and ScriptKitty on Play, I've just discovered both, they seem like nice tools
Juice is ssh client like CB, Kitty lets you run scripts, on first look they seem very nice, let me know what you think

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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Didier Juges

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Jun 23, 2014, 11:00:38 AM6/23/14
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This is an older thread, but my company just switched to Exchange 2010 and I faced the same issue.

I am now using Maildroid for my corporate mail, and setup with it was effortless. One advantage: the Android email app won't let me connect to the Exchange server without having a PIN code on the phone, which is a pain, but the Maildroid app does, so I can procrastinate a little longer...

I would much rather have all my mail in one app, but for now, that will do (of course, I could use Maildroid for all my accounts, but I do like and want to support K-9)

Domenico Somma

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Apr 15, 2016, 5:43:52 AM4/15/16
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Any news?!

Didier Juges

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Apr 15, 2016, 4:45:05 PM4/15/16
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I have a fix for Exchange 2010, I use Nine as my mail agent. It works absolutely perfectly. Supports all the features including calendar integration and contacts, it is fast, supports push and is very gentle on the battery, has not crashed once in the two years I have used it.

I am still using K-9 for Yahoo mail, an old Cox mail account and one Gmail account I did not want to sync through the Android mail app, and it works well for that.

I very enthusiastically recommend Nine for Exchange.

Sent from my Moto-X

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Philip Whitehouse

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Apr 19, 2016, 10:34:49 AM4/19/16
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>  but can someone explain why this has been such a low priority given
> how widespread exchange is in the business world

It's a complex task and the list of sizeable enhancement requests is
large.
Supporting a huge new amount of code is a big deal when we have issues
to address as is.

There's XOAuth 2.0 for Gmail, a bunch of unsupported encryption
techniques, S/MIME for encryption, the PGP/MIME work is still in
progress (though it's coming along well), there's constant pressure to
re-design the app to meet more modern Android solutions, outstanding
requests to look at storage and a ton of other stuff like auto-conf.

Plus if you're using a closed source email server you're probably not
the primary target for an open source app. We can't be all things for
all people.

I did look into this at the weekend. There's an old code branch which
uses some of the default Android app
(prior to the feature being removed in newer versions)'s code.

https://github.com/k9mail/k-9/issues/606#issuecomment-211042212

Exchange Active Sync is a licensed protocol. Google and all the
manufacturers have a license.

I'm hoping I'll hear back from Microsoft.
But before I get something saying we either don't need a license or it's
free for us, the chances of it being added is small IMO.

- Philip Whitehouse
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Didier Juges

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Apr 19, 2016, 11:19:17 AM4/19/16
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Philip,

Thanks for the comprehensive response.
I did not mean to disparage the efforts that are going into making K-9 an excellent, if not universal product. I realize my email was probably not written in the best tone.

I do use K-9 on a daily basis with the accounts that it supports. I would not if it did not do a good job. I very much prefer it to the Google mail app for those accounts like pop and Yahoo mail.

I just wanted to point out that while most of us would usually prefer open source solutions to everything in general, sometimes we just need something that works without fuss and Nine happens to fit the bill nicely with regard to Exchange. If those who need Exchange used Nine and stopped bothering you about it :) that would leave you more time to focus on the other more practical issues.

Again, thanks for a great product.

Didier

Sent from my Moto-X

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