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 provides a Desktop GUI,
  11 synchronization, backup, restore and program management for
  12 BlackBerry &trade; devices.</p>
  13
  14 <p>Barry is primarily developed on Linux, but is intended as a cross platform
  15 library and application set, targeting Linux, BSD, 32/64bit, and big/little
  16 endian systems.</p>
  17
  18 <p>The Barry project began in October 2005 and has steadily added features
  19 and polish to Blackberry usage on Linux ever since.  We were the first to
  20 reverse engineer the battery charging handshake via USB.</p>
  21
  22 <p>Today, it is possible to:
  23
  24 <ul>
  25         <li> charge your Blackberry's battery from your USB port </li>
  26         <li> parse the following database records:
  27                 Address Book,
  28                 Browser Bookmarks,
  29                 Calendar,
  30                 Content Store,
  31                 Folders,
  32                 Memos,
  33                 Messages (Email),
  34                 Phone Call Logs,
  35                 PIN Messages,
  36                 Saved Email,
  37                 Service Book,
  38                 SMS messages,
  39                 Tasks,
  40                 Time Zones
  41                 </li>
  42         <li> create the following database records:
  43                 Address Book,
  44                 Calendar,
  45                 Content Store,
  46                 Memos,
  47                 Tasks
  48                 </li>
  49         <li> export Address Book contacts in text, LDAP LDIF format, or
  50                 as MIME vCards </li>
  51         <li> import data in MIME vCard, vEvent, vJournal, and vTodo formats</li>
  52         <li> make full data backups and restores of your device using
  53                 a GUI</li>
  54         <li> synchronize contact, calendar, memo, and task items using the
  55                 <a href="http://www.opensync.org/">OpenSync</a>
  56                 framework (memos and tasks require the development OpenSync
  57                 libraries)</li>
  58         <li> use the Blackberry as a modem</li>
  59         <li> install and manage Java applications from the command line </li>
  60         <li> take screenshots of your device </li>
  61         <li> set the device time from the command line </li>
  62         <li> use raw channel support to communicate with BlackBerry
  63                 applications </li>
  64         <li> ... and more </li>
  65 </ul>
  66 </p>
  67
  68 <div class="subHeader">Status</div>
  69
  70 <p>
  71 <ul>
  72         <li>Latest release: <b>0.18.0</b>, released on 2012/05/02</li>
  73         <li>License: GPL v2 or later</li>
  74         <li>Download official source and binary packages from
  75                 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=153722">Sourceforge</a></li>
  76         <li>General <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/barry/">Sourceforge project page</a></li>
  77         <li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/barry.git">Barry git repo</a></li>
  78         <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.
  79                 <ul>
  80                         <li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/barry-util">Debian, in the unstable tree, packaged by Jose Carlos Garcia Sogo</a></li>
  81                         <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>
  82                         <li>Mandriva's RPM <a href="http://svn.mandriva.com/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/packages/cooker/barry/current/">SVN</a></li>
  83                 </ul>
  84         </li>
  85         <li>Known Issues:
  86         <ul>
  87                 <li>International characters in calendar and contact records
  88                         cause some devices to switch to a different low-level
  89                         protocol, which Barry does not yet support.</li>
  90                 <li>Restoring backups for some databases on newer Blackberries doesn't work (for example, on the 8120, 8700g)</li>
  91                 <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>
  92         </ul>
  93         </li>
  94 </ul>
  95 </p>
  96
  97 <? createSubHeader("Getting Started"); ?>
  98
  99 <p>How do I...
 100 <ul>
 101         <li><? createLink("install", "Install Barry from binary packages"); ?></li>
 102         <li><? createLink("cvs", "Compile Barry from tarball or git"); ?></li>
 103         <li><? createLink("backups", "Make backups of my Blackberry data"); ?></li>
 104         <li><? createLink("sync", "Sync my Blackberry with Evolution"); ?></li>
 105         <li><? createLink("modem", "Use my Blackberry as a modem to surf the net"); ?></li>
 106         <li><? createLink("rawchannel", "Use Blackberry USB channels with Barry"); ?></li>
 107         <li><? createLink("troubleshooting", "Find troubleshooting help"); ?></li>
 108         <li><? createLink("bugs", "Report a bug"); ?></li>
 109         <li><? createLink("patches", "Submit a patch"); ?></li>
 110         <li><? createLink("contact", "Contact the developers"); ?></li>
 111 </ul>
 112 </p>
 113
 114 <p>Some helpful pages:
 115 <ul>
 116         <li><? createLink("requirements", "System requirements"); ?></li>
 117         <li><? createLink("dependencies", "Software dependencies"); ?></li>
 118         <li><? createFileLink("doxygen/html/index.html", "Barry's Doxygen documentation"); ?></li>
 119         <li><? createLink("devices", "Device compatibility list"); ?></li>
 120 </ul>
 121 </p>
 122
 123
 124 <? createSubHeader("How to Help"); ?>
 125
 126 <p>If you are a C++ programmer, grab the source from
 127 <? createLink("cvs", "git"); ?> and take a look at the TODO file.
 128 Post a message to the
 129 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=153722">mailing list</a>
 130 when you start working on any of the listed features, so you can connect
 131 with other developers, and avoid duplicating effort.</p>
 132
 133 <p>If you are a Python programmer, contact the mailing list, since we
 134 would like to create and test a Python interface to the Barry library.</p>
 135
 136 <p>If you are not a programmer, but have a Blackberry, we can always use
 137 help in testing.  Install Barry on your system, and
 138 <? createLink("bugs", "report any bugs"); ?> you find.</p>
 139
 140 <p>If you prefer writing documentation, grab the source from
 141 <? createLink("cvs", "git"); ?> and look under the doc/www directory.
 142 Documentation is currently in html form, as well as doxygen-generated
 143 API documentation found in the comments of the source code itself.
 144 Patches updating either set of documentation are welcome.</p>
 145
 146 <p>There are dozens of databases that need to be documented and supported
 147 in the library.  If you have a BlackBerry &trade; device and are interested
 148 in helping decipher data, we have a
 149 <? createLink("hacking", "Barry hacking document"); ?> that will help you.
 150 </p>
 151
 152 <p>If you are interested in the low level USB protocol, you can download,
 153 or contribute, USB logs to the
 154 <? createLink("logs", "USB capture log archive"); ?>.</p>
 155
 156
 157 <? createSubHeader("Design"); ?>
 158
 159 <p>If you are interested in helping out or just interested in how it works,
 160 check out our <? createLink("design", "design notes"); ?>.
 161
 162
 163 <? createSubHeader("Roadmap"); ?>
 164
 165 <p>We have put together a document that describes where we are and where we
 166 want to take Barry. Check out our <? createLink("roadmap", "roadmap"); ?>
 167 to see what's happening.</p>
 168
 169
 170 <? createSubHeader("External Links"); ?>
 171
 172 <p>Barry users and others have contributed documentation and have
 173 put these howto's on the web.  Below is a list of some of these pages.
 174 These sites are not associated with NetDirect, and some of the information
 175 may be out of date, but they may still be helpful to new users.</P>
 176
 177 <p>
 178 <ul>
 179         <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>
 180         <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>
 181 </ul>
 182
 183 <ul>
 184         <li><a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10176">The BlackBerry In a World Without Windows</a>, by Carl Fink (2008/12/01)</li>
 185         <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>
 186         <li><a href="http://www.linux.com/feature/123251">Syncing your Blackberry on Linux</a>, by Joe Barr (2007/12/21)</li>
 187 </ul>
 188
 189 <ul>
 190         <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>
 191         <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>
 192 </ul>
 193 </p>
 194