[rrs@learner ~] more kde-resources

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an editor and english is my 2nd language. Hence any errors are on my own.

I'm a KDE fanatic for years and really admire the kind of thought people have put into KDE overall.
I'd like to talk about one of the great functionalities available in KDE 3.X which I haven't found being publicised much. It is KDE Resources.

We'll more ahead with it with a general usage problem as an example. So here's the problem I'd describe and then provide the solution as to how KDE wonderfully has it implemented.

I have a bunch of laptops which I use.

• Compaq Presario 2203 AL - Currently being used as an alltime online machine and a backup box.
• Dell XPS M1210 - My real shadow. Moves almost most places with me.
• IBM T43 ThinkPad - My corporate box.

The Problem
My primary expectations from my desktop is that my data should be synchronized properly across all my machines without too many hassles. By data I mean, my contact lists, my emails, my notes, my calendar and my todo action items.

And yes, I do understand that no matter what desktop environment you use (or say you're a console fanatic), you do have options to write a bunch of scripts to synchronize the data. But that doesn't server the point because not everyone is interested in writing the IFs and ELSEs. ;-)

The Solution
This is one of the places where I've seen that KDE really shines. Using kde resources technology is one of the plain and simplest way to tackle these generic problems and that too without any hassles. All you need to do is to add resources for the services you're willing to use and keep synchronized across machines and KDE works with them perfectly.

For Emails one can use the Disconnected IMAP functionality supported by all major IMAP applicatons. But that's not the same for the rest of the data. You either have to use collaborative applications like OpenExchange, Kolab et cetera or else do the IFs and ELSEs.

Attached above is a screenshot of KDE's Resource Configuration page. All one needs to do is add resources.
So in our examples the resources would be for Contacts, Notes and Calendar.
And there are multiple types that KDE supports, like for Notes it supports Local file, IMAP Server and eGroupware Server.
As a normal user, I prefer to use an IMAP Server resource for all the data types, contacts, notes and calendar, because it is simple and light weight and depends only on an IMAP server, for which Dovecot is real good and light.

And that's it. All KDE applications are so well integrated that you don't really need to do re-configurations. All applications in Kontact i.e. Notes, Addressbook, Calendar, TODO will Just Work. And they'll just work on all the machines without data loss. Another benefit I see with this setup is that if tomorrow my Compaq laptop dies (which runs the IMAP service), say its hard drive burns out, I still will have a copy of the data available on my other laptops. So you also get automatic backups. ;-)

Technically none of this is core to KDE because most of the functionalities here are being provided by the IMAP server but KDE makes it possible to club all the day-to-day applications to fit together and talk over a proper and simple protocol.

Attached are some screenshots of where KDE Resources is in these applications.