Open-Xchange Server is a modular, standards-based communications tool that handles groupware functions such as e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and document storage. Users can share e-mail, calendars, tasks, threaded discussions, and documents originating from proprietary or open source systems.

The software serves as the engine behind Novell's Suse Linux Openexchange Server, a commercial groupware, collaboration, and messaging application running on Linux. The open source version of Open-Xchange Server offers most of the attributes of the commercial product but without support and maintenance, third-party applications, and connectors. It runs on the major Linux operating systems, including Novell Suse Linux, Red Hat, Red Flag, and Debian.

For organizations that need integration with a Windows client, commercially available connectors will be released later in 2004, Netline says.

The software is available under the General Public License at http://www.open-xchange.org.