System i Addict

I have a standard updated as of today version of Ubuntu 8.04 running on a DELL Optiplex 755. It’s a pretty good little second machine. I have installed the Lotus Notes client on the Ubuntu desktop and have take a few screen shots to share with all of you.

As for the install, it’s easy and that is how you do software. There are a few things out of place in the client but all seems to be working. Still tinkering but I wanted to get these posted.

Installing from DEBs that came right from IBM. I didn’t have to make them!

Part of the Wizard

Lotus Notes Wizard looking for the ID file

Lotus 8.5 DB properties. Sorry for the black outs. Had to for my purposes.

FIle Menu

Lotus 8.5 Open Menu

Lotus 8.5 displaying an Image and it worked first time. No problems there.

A little image of what you get when you download the TAR files from IBM. Hope that all makes sense. Looks like a football play?

Side Notes: I am excited as to the future of Lotus Notes. I really am. A Linux/Ubuntu install and the new Mac client is well and good, but when am I going to be able to trash my Windows desktop as an Administrator or a Designer? How far out is that? I know I can use the Web Administration but that creates overhead on my servers and if one of them is down it spoils the works. I really want IBM to build a Lotus Administration Client for Linux and if you are felling cheeky a MacOSX version too. I would also like to see a clear path to Eclipse and how that is coming. IMHO it should have been out years ago, but again it’s not here and we are all kind of stuck in the middle again with Notes 8.5 for Linux and for Mac but no way to build new applications or administer them. If Microsoft wants to take pot shots at you this is the way they are going to do it. Point out that Lotus is only delivering some of the tools on some of the OSes and playing favorites. It may be FUD but it’s what they have to work with.

Lotus needs to step it up and stop playing delivery man all the time and just give me what I have been requesting going on five or nine years now. I want my Administration Client and my Designer Client on Mac and Linux (Ubuntu) and I want it now. I don’t want crying about numbers or statistics, I just want it delivered and I expect it from a company as large as IBM who cries all the time about how poor Windows is and then forces it’s customer base to keep using it. You can’t have it both ways.