(apologies in advance if this isn’t the right community for this question)
I’ve been flirting with Linux on and off for about 15 years and I think I’m ready to make the switch mostly full-time. I use a laptop for work and have a Microsoft 365 plan with email and such. I need to replace that with something Linux-friendly and would much prefer something that works with a desktop email client. Easy syncing of email, contacts and calendar to Android is a must.
Proton seems like it might be a good option but the privacy features aren’t a huge selling point for me so I’m open to other options!
Lol wut. Use Thunderbird. We rolled that out to everyone at work.
I think you may have misunderstood my question. I’m not asking which desktop client I should use.
I know its not what you asked, however you can use Thunderbird with Office 365 in the mean time. Same with Evolution.
@itchy_lizard @cygnus TB is great. Except that I cannot have Thunderbird 115 sync with my CardDAV (Infomaniak) address book. Officually CardDAV is supported now, but all I get for the effort is a blank address book. If someone knows the trick… ;-)
I think I use WebDAV?
If you’re (going to continue) using Office 365, you can use Evolution as an Outlook replacement. Evolution EWS rides OWA and ActiveSync protocols to give you email, calendars, contacts, notes, etc. I’ve used it for over a decade. It works very well once setup.
As for Android, there are several, including Outlook for Android (which is bloated and slow, being a Microsoft product), which I am forced to use because of our company SSO config.
If you’re looking for an Office 365 replacement, I use Nextcloud for my personal stuff. It has files, contacts, calendars, notes, etc. If you install the OnlyOffice plugin, you get multi-user online document and spreadsheet editing. I use the DAVx5 connector to get (shared and personal) contacts, calendars, and tasks in my Android phone. It integrates into the environment so all calendars and contacts apps work automatically. It also automatically backs up pics/vids I take with my phone automatically.
This is great, thank you. I don’t see a compelling reason to keep using MS email if I’m ditching the Office apps and OneDrive, so in my case it’ll be all or nothing. This is the second recommendation here for OnlyOffice; I’ve been using LibreOffice but might have to give that a shot.
I’ve been on Linux desktop (Mint) for over a decade now. My company uses O365 for email, as did the organization before them.
I use Thunderbird with several add-ons: Mailbox Alert, Owl for Exchange (paid), Provider for Exchange ActiveSync, and TbSync. I honestly couldn’t tell you which one or ones I find most useful - it’s been so long since I’ve installed them, I don’t remember which addon provides which functionality. My most recent install was Owl, for calendaring and because things got a wee bit fucky with O365 servers for a week or two last year. I have Thunderbird set to collect addresses when I reply to users. You can have it query AD for contacts, I think, but it tends to be a wee bit slow.
On my Android phone, I use the default Google Calendar app, and the Gmail app to query O365.
Why not try 365 with thunderbird?
Fastmail is well-regarded, although they are hosted in Australia (which has some really dumb privacy laws). I use them. There’s an import tool.
If you are privacy paranoid, mailfence is hosted in Belgium, which is a brick wall when it comes to privacy and warrants - likely the best jurisdiction in the world in this regard. The interface is dated.
In my opinion, Tutanota https://tutanota.com/ is a better choice than Proton, there are apps for Linux, Windows, macOS, Android iPhone, working nicely together.
They would be on my list if they offered an import service, without which their offering is useless to me… I’d lose years of work emails.
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If you don’t mind self-hosting stuff, nextcloud with davx5 could be a great choice.
The absolute easiest way to sync all of that to Android is to use Google services like Gmail, Calendar, Contacts etc.
No other service will sync that to the built in apps.
However if you’re happy to use 1 app for all that, the Microsoft email app should sync all that. Microsoft Outlook app
I have Microsoft Exchange for work, so I use Evolution client in Linux, because it supports Exchange properly. For personal mail I use Fastmail, it can synchronize to any app you want both on Linux and Android.
Do you like Fastmail? It’s one of the options I was considering. Do you use it with a desktop client?
Yes, I like it. You can use it with your domain and multiple addresses and also it can pull gmail for you automatically to have everything in one inbox. I used it with Thunderbird and Evolution. It takes some time to set up, because you need to set up mail and calendar and tasks separately, but they have instructions on their website. https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/articles/360058752834-Set-up-Fastmail-on-your-device
Because you are just looking for an email provider: https://disroot.org/en (donation financed) Otherwise there are paid providers which are based in germany: mailbox.org or posteo.de
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Other then email. Nextcloud checks all those boxes. It is how i sync my calender and contacts with my devices. Including android.
Just in case you don’t know, you can use those Microsoft services no problem in Linux through a web browser. You can also “install” them since they’re PWAs and integrate them with your system notifications.
There’s also Thunderbird from Mozilla, and the open source fork Betterbird that has a far more modern appearance and options. That will work easily with your existing Microsoft email.
I’m by no means encouraging that you stay on Microsoft, but moving to Linux AND changing providers for important stuff like email and calendar might be a lot all at once.
I’m by no means encouraging that you stay on Microsoft, but moving to Linux AND changing providers for important stuff like email and calendar might be a lot all at once.
i agree, i encourage you to try others systems, but it’s a different OS, it work differently, so take it slow, try in a VM, to try apps, them make a dual boot, so you still have windows there while you learn
Good advice - I should have clarified that I’m already doing this. I’ve been dual-booting PopOS for a while and using webmail Outlook. I hardly ever log in to Windows anymore. OneDrive is unusable in Linux so I’m going to use Nextcloud instead; after that I just need to replace the email system.
OneDrive is unusable in Linux
Look into rclone mounts, assuming your org allows you to use rclone with OneDrive and SharePoint Online.
There’s also this open source, and commercial client, but I haven’t used them myself.
OneDrive is unusable in Linux
OneDrive works better in Linux than in Windows with the open-source client. Takes up almost zero memory or resources, downloads files quicker than the Windows client. Only doesn’t have the “on demand” functionality but that often didn’t work properly in Windows either.
Google Mail/Calender/Workspace or what it’s called. Works perfectly in a web browser and you can connect Thunderbird or Evolution. Most people who use Linux professionally are on Google. And most other people, too. Microsoft is a niche player unless you are locked in.
You can add self-hosted and open-source stuff anytime, but you’ll need good email and calender that plays nice with the outside world, so Google. Maybe something like mailbox.org. Maybe you ISP’s email + Thunderbird + nextcloud + K9 on Android will do, but you do not want to self-host or experiment with email if your business relies on it.
Nextcloud works fine for internal file exchange (but so does google drive), internal calendar, many apps on top of it. It even has a web-based mail client, but personally I would not use this is as my primary business email unless you are a hosting pro.
Maybe check out Infomaniak, there’s also a cloud drive option and integration of onlyoffice desktop editors.
