9 of the Best Free Linux Groupware Software

Groupware software (or collaborative software) is designed to enable users to collaborate, regardless of location, via the internet or a corporate intranet and to work together in a virtual atmosphere.

In an organisation, productivity rests on the intranet, and a groupware or collaboration server is what helps to make the intranet productive.

This type of software provides critical services like email and address books, and establish communication via instant messaging.

Groupware solutions heavy on the feature-set are often not suitable for more than a few hundred users.

However, software which offers only basic groupware functionalities, such as e-mail, contact and calendaring, are likely to meet the requirements of large deployments.

This type of software is particularly important to businesses, service providers and email hosters.

There is a wide range of collaboration software available to be installed on a Linux server. Some provide their own mail servers and mail transfer agents, while others, in Linux tradition, are developed not to replicate functionality, and make use of existing standalone software.

All competent groupware servers let contacts and calendar events be shared, and some even let you import and share contacts and calendar events, as well as to collaborate extensively on files and projects.

The standard medium for accessing a groupware account is via a web browser.

To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 9 excellent groupware servers.

We have included web based solutions as well as classic client-server solutions.

Now, let's explore the 9 groupware servers at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

Groupware software
eGroupware	Enterprise ready web-based groupware suite
Citadel	Complete and feature-rich groupware server
Horde Groupware	Popular full-featured groupware server
Open-Xchange Server	Stable collaboration server
Zimbra	Full-featured collaboration suite
Kolab	Secure, scalable, and reliable groupware server
phpGroupWare	Multi-user web-based suite written in PHP
OpenGroupware.org	Collaboative software server for multiple clients
PHProjekt	Modular application for the coordination of group activities