doc/www/index.php

   1 <? include ("barry.inc"); ?>
   2
   3 <? createHeader("barry - BlackBerry &trade; synchronization for Linux"); ?>
   4
   5 <? createSubHeader("Overview"); ?>
   6
   7 <p>Linux users who also use a BlackBerry &trade; now have an option for
   8 managing their BlackBerry directly from Linux.</p>
   9
  10 <p>Barry is an Open Source application that will provide synchronization,
  11 backup, restore and program management for BlackBerry &trade; devices.
  12 Barry is primarily developed on Linux, but is intended as a cross platform
  13 library and application set, targeting Linux, BSD, 32/64bit, and big/little
  14 endian systems.
  15 </p>
  16
  17 <p>The Barry project began in October 2005 and has steadily added features
  18 and polish to Blackberry usage on Linux ever since.  We were the first to
  19 reverse engineer the battery charging handshake via USB.</p>
  20
  21 <p>Today, it is possible to:
  22
  23 <ul>
  24         <li> charge your Blackberry's battery from your USB port </li>
  25         <li> parse the following database records:
  26                 Address Book,
  27                 Browser Bookmarks,
  28                 Calendar,
  29                 Content Store,
  30                 Folders,
  31                 Memos,
  32                 Messages (Email),
  33                 Phone Call Logs,
  34                 PIN Messages,
  35                 Saved Email,
  36                 Service Book,
  37                 SMS messages,
  38                 Tasks,
  39                 Time Zones
  40                 </li>
  41         <li> create the following database records:
  42                 Address Book,
  43                 Calendar,
  44                 Content Store,
  45                 Memos,
  46                 Tasks
  47                 </li>
  48         <li> export Address Book contacts in text, LDAP LDIF format, or
  49                 as MIME vCards </li>
  50         <li> import data in MIME vCard, vEvent, vJournal, and vTodo formats</li>
  51         <li> make full data backups and restores of your device using
  52                 a GUI</li>
  53         <li> synchronize contact, calendar, memo, and task items using the
  54                 <a href="http://www.opensync.org/">OpenSync</a>
  55                 framework (memos and tasks require the development OpenSync
  56                 libraries)</li>
  57         <li> use the Blackberry as a modem</li>
  58         <li> install and manage Java applications from the command line </li>
  59         <li> take screenshots of your device </li>
  60         <li> set the device time from the command line </li>
  61         <li> use raw channel support to communicate with BlackBerry
  62                 applications </li>
  63         <li> ... and more </li>
  64 </ul>
  65 </p>
  66
  67 <div class="subHeader">Status</div>
  68
  69 <p>
  70 <ul>
  71         <li>Latest release: <b>0.17</b>, released on 2011/02/10</li>
  72         <li>License: GPL v2 or later</li>
  73         <li>Download official source and binary packages from
  74                 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=153722">Sourceforge</a></li>
  75         <li>General <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/barry/">Sourceforge project page</a></li>
  76         <li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/barry.git">Barry git repo</a></li>
  77         <li>Additional binary packages for the following distributions are available from various volunteers.  Note that these packages may already be available in your distro of choice, using the normal package managers.
  78                 <ul>
  79                         <li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/barry-util">Debian, in the unstable tree, packaged by Jose Carlos Garcia Sogo</a></li>
  80                         <li><a href="http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/releases/">Fedora</a> (packaged by Nathanael Noblet) and the related RPM <a href="http://pkgs.fedoraproject.org/gitweb/?p=barry.git">git repo</a></li>
  81                         <li>Mandriva's RPM <a href="http://svn.mandriva.com/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/packages/cooker/barry/current/">SVN</a></li>
  82                 </ul>
  83         </li>
  84         <li>Known Issues:
  85         <ul>
  86                 <li>International characters in calendar and contact records
  87                         cause some devices to switch to a different low-level
  88                         protocol, which Barry does not yet support.</li>
  89                 <li>Restoring backups for some databases on newer Blackberries doesn't work (for example, on the 8120, 8700g)</li>
  90                 <li>Syncing is not supported on Fedora Core 9 or 10, since they packaged the OpenSync 0.3x devel tree (experimental support for the latest opensync SVN tree is included with a new plugin).  This has been fixed in Fedora 11, as they returned to version 0.22.</li>
  91         </ul>
  92         </li>
  93 </ul>
  94 </p>
  95
  96 <? createSubHeader("Getting Started"); ?>
  97
  98 <p>How do I...
  99 <ul>
 100         <li><? createLink("install", "Install Barry from binary packages"); ?></li>
 101         <li><? createLink("cvs", "Compile Barry from tarball, CVS, or git"); ?></li>
 102         <li><? createLink("backups", "Make backups of my Blackberry data"); ?></li>
 103         <li><? createLink("sync", "Sync my Blackberry with Evolution"); ?></li>
 104         <li><? createLink("modem", "Use my Blackberry as a modem to surf the net"); ?></li>
 105         <li><? createLink("rawchannel", "Use Blackberry USB channels with Barry"); ?></li>
 106         <li><? createLink("troubleshooting", "Find troubleshooting help"); ?></li>
 107         <li><? createLink("bugs", "Report a bug"); ?></li>
 108         <li><? createLink("patches", "Submit a patch"); ?></li>
 109         <li><? createLink("contact", "Contact the developers"); ?></li>
 110 </ul>
 111 </p>
 112
 113 <p>Some helpful pages:
 114 <ul>
 115         <li><? createLink("requirements", "System requirements"); ?></li>
 116         <li><? createLink("dependencies", "Software dependencies"); ?></li>
 117         <li><? createFileLink("doxygen/html/index.html", "Barry's Doxygen documentation"); ?></li>
 118         <li><? createLink("devices", "Device compatibility list"); ?></li>
 119 </ul>
 120 </p>
 121
 122
 123 <? createSubHeader("How to Help"); ?>
 124
 125 <p>If you are a C++ programmer, grab the source from
 126 <? createLink("cvs", "CVS"); ?> and take a look at the TODO file.
 127 Post a message to the
 128 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=153722">mailing list</a>
 129 when you start working on any of the listed features, so you can connect
 130 with other developers, and avoid duplicating effort.</p>
 131
 132 <p>If you are a Python programmer, contact the mailing list, since we
 133 would like to create and test a Python interface to the Barry library.</p>
 134
 135 <p>If you are not a programmer, but have a Blackberry, we can always use
 136 help in testing.  Install Barry on your system, and
 137 <? createLink("bugs", "report any bugs"); ?> you find.</p>
 138
 139 <p>If you prefer writing documentation, grab the source from
 140 <? createLink("cvs", "CVS"); ?> and look under the doc/www directory.
 141 Documentation is currently in html form, as well as doxygen-generated
 142 API documentation found in the comments of the source code itself.
 143 Patches updating either set of documentation are welcome.</p>
 144
 145 <p>There are dozens of databases that need to be documented and supported
 146 in the library.  If you have a BlackBerry &trade; device and are interested
 147 in helping decipher data, we have a
 148 <? createLink("hacking", "Barry hacking document"); ?> that will help you.
 149 </p>
 150
 151 <p>If you are interested in the low level USB protocol, you can download,
 152 or contribute, USB logs to the
 153 <? createLink("logs", "USB capture log archive"); ?>.</p>
 154
 155
 156 <? createSubHeader("Design"); ?>
 157
 158 <p>If you are interested in helping out or just interested in how it works,
 159 check out our <? createLink("design", "design notes"); ?>.
 160
 161
 162 <? createSubHeader("Roadmap"); ?>
 163
 164 <p>We have put together a document that describes where we are and where we
 165 want to take Barry. Check out our <? createLink("roadmap", "roadmap"); ?>
 166 to see what's happening.</p>
 167
 168
 169 <? createSubHeader("External Links"); ?>
 170
 171 <p>Barry users and others have contributed documentation and have
 172 put these howto's on the web.  Below is a list of some of these pages.
 173 These sites are not associated with NetDirect, and some of the information
 174 may be out of date, but they may still be helpful to new users.</P>
 175
 176 <p>
 177 <ul>
 178         <li><a href="http://www.progweb.com/modules/blackberry/index-en.html">How to use a Blackberry device with Linux</a>, by Nicolas Vivien (2009/03/06), and <a href="http://www.progweb.com/en/">his development blog</a></li>
 179         <li><a href="http://www.slashdev.ca/2008/04/03/blackberry-development-using-linux/">Blackberry development using Linux</a>, by Josh Kropf (2008/04/03)</li>
 180 </ul>
 181
 182 <ul>
 183         <li><a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10176">The BlackBerry In a World Without Windows</a>, by Carl Fink (2008/12/01)</li>
 184         <li><a href="http://www.chipbennett.net/wordpress/index.php/2008/05/synchronizing-a-blackberry-in-linux/">Synchronizing a Blackberry In Linux</a>, by Chip Bennett (2008/05/31)</li>
 185         <li><a href="http://www.linux.com/feature/123251">Syncing your Blackberry on Linux</a>, by Joe Barr (2007/12/21)</li>
 186 </ul>
 187
 188 <ul>
 189         <li><a href="http://off.net/cassis/protocol-description.html">The RIM Blackberry Serial Protocol</a>, by Phil Schwan, Mike Shaver, and Ian Goldberg, of the Cassis project</li>
 190         <li><a href="http://www.blackberryforums.com/blackberry-guides/2019-user-howto-use-blackberry-modem-laptop.html">HOWTO: Blackberry as Modem for Laptop</a>, by Mark Rejhon, (not Linux specific)</li>
 191 </ul>
 192 </p>
 193