[Owncloud] Re: GSoC Sync Client - Server Component

[Frank Karlitschek]

On 22.06.2011, at 09:08, Riccardo Iaconelli wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 10:37 PM, Frank Karlitschek <karlitschek at kde.org> wrote:
>> Yes. The main point of ownCloud is that it runs on any webspace without special requirements like a daemon or root access.
>> 
>> So java is not an option at the moment. The server should be pure PHP because this is supported by most hosters and servers.
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Frank
> 
> What do you think of using java + falling back on PHP where it is not
> supported? The problem is: SyncML brings us *lots* of advantages, and
> mooha is not really the state of art. I was totally not happy of java
> either, but it is probably the best way through which we can - right
> now - offer great features to our users.


I don´t think this is a good idea to be honest. It´s one of the core ideas to have to php only so that it´s super easy to host, install, upgrade and so on. Adding a optional or non optional java dependency goes against this idea.

I would rather no use SyncML in ownCloud if it´s no possible to implement in PHP than changing the concept of ownCloud.
My impression was that SyncML is very easy to integrate in ownCloud. If this is not the case I would rather go with CalDAV and CardDav where php implementations are available and it´s supported by all modern devices including Kontact.


> Of course, even with this compromise, ownCloud must remain very easy
> to install, and while we have a solution we can work on implementing a
> php-only backend that works well with files.

My experience with software development and free software communities is that this idea doesn´t work. Once you walk into the wrong direction you will never go back.  


> Also note that Kunal has made some researches and it turns out that
> the average tomcat hoster is maybe $1 /month or $2/month costlier than
> the average PHP hoster (and then we have EC2, free for a year (but
> yeah...) ), so if you're looking for a hoster, it's not too much of a
> problem, too...

Thats good to know. But it would limit ownClouds hosting options to 1% of the current options if we require a Tomcat.
I don´t think this is an option.


I suggest we look into libraries like sabredav to see how we can implement caldav and carddav with php 
http://code.google.com/p/sabredav/




Cheers
Frank



--
Frank Karlitschek
karlitschek at kde.org