Chandler ... Interpersonal Information Manager

[This isn't obviously semantic web related, but it looks as if it ought to 
be... it touches on a number of areas of interest to SWAD-E -- #g]

[From: http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1023w.html#item12]

"Dan Gillmor: Software Idea May Be Crazy Enough to Work"
SiliconValley.com (10/20/02); Gillmor, Dan

Lotus Development founder and cyber-activist Mitch Kapor and his team have 
spent more than a year developing Chandler, an open-source Interpersonal 
Information Manager software program that encrypts data such as personal 
email, calendars, and contacts, and facilitates collaboration and 
information sharing without the need for costly server computers. Kapor 
says he is paying for the project with $5 million out-of-pocket, but hopes 
to make the initiative self-sustaining in three years through sponsorships, 
outside contributions, service sales, licensing fees, and other sources. 
Both the source code and the working program will be freely available, and 
the first official version of the software is expected to debut in late 
2003 or early 2004. Chandler will run on the Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows 
operating systems. Individuals and small businesses will be initially 
courted as users, but developers will also be able to build software and 
services using Chandler as a platform. The software's architecture is based 
on the Python development language and environment, and the Jabber 
communications infrastructure. Kapor is funding the project through the 
nonprofit Open Source Application Foundation, which could serve as a model 
for other projects that wish to open up the market to consumers who 
currently must settle for software and services from dominant, monopolistic 
companies. "[W]e'll be helping to pave the way for free software to 
displace proprietary operating systems at the center of the commercial 
software industry," says programmer Andy Hertzfeld, a member of Kapor's 
eight-man Chandler development team.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4327025.htm


-------------------
Graham Klyne
<GK@NineByNine.org>

Received on Thursday, 24 October 2002 05:44:31 UTC