[SATLUG] exporting an outlook file

[Sean Carolan]

> Tweeks
> p.s. In a past life.. I too was a Microsoft Johnny.. But I got better...  ;)

Tweeks is right - there might come a day when due to force of
circumstance or choice that you'll want to get all your emails out of
Outlook, but they are all stuck inside proprietary pst files or .dbx
mail folders.  The problem with either of these is that they ONLY work
with Microsoft products, and generally Microsoft only wants you to
upgrade to another Microsoft product.

We switched our entire sales staff from using Outlook to Evolution,
and after we got our CMS system for calendaring and tasks we switched
them to Mozilla Thunderbird.  We used Outport and Thunderbird to get
the data out of the PST files.

Thunderbird is the easiest one as far as moving your mail profile,
etc. around.  I just switched my wife from using a PC to a Macbook
pro, and moving her mail was as simple as copying the Thunderbird
profile folder from the PC to the Mac.  Mbox file format is pretty
universal, and would even allow you to switch to IMAP or a variety of
other programs to manage your email.

It's hard to really understand why Linux users emphasize free and open
standards so much until you've been put in a situation where you can't
get your data because of proprietary licenses!

thanks

Sean