doc/www/index.php

   1 <? createHeader("barry - BlackBerry &trade; synchronization for Linux"); ?>
   2
   3 <? include ("barry.inc"); ?>
   4
   5 <div class="subHeader">Overview</div>
   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> retrieve Address Book, Email, Calendar, Service Book, Memos,
  26                 Tasks, PIN Messages, Saved Email, and Folders </li>
  27         <li> export Address Book contacts in text or LDAP LDIF format </li>
  28         <li> make full data backups and restores of your device using
  29                 a GUI</li>
  30         <li> synchronize contacts and calendar items using the
  31                 <a href="http://www.opensync.org/">OpenSync</a>
  32                 framework</li>
  33         <li> use the Blackberry as a modem</li>
  34 </ul>
  35 </p>
  36
  37 <div class="subHeader">Status</div>
  38
  39 <p>
  40 <ul>
  41         <li>Latest release: <b>0.14</b>, released on 2008/09/24</li>
  42         <li>License: GPL v2 or later</li>
  43         <li>Download official source and binary packages from
  44                 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=153722">Sourceforge</a> or the <a href="http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ndprojects/">OpenSUSE Build Service</a></li>
  45         <li>General <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/barry/">Sourceforge project page</a></li>
  46         <li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/barry.git">Barry git repo</a></li>
  47         <li>Additional binary packages for the following distributions are available from various volunteers:
  48                 <ul>
  49                         <li><a href="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/barry-util">Debian, in the unstable tree, packaged by Jose Carlos Garcia Sogo</a></li>
  50                         <li><a href="http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=69415">Fedora, packaged by Christopher D. Stover</a>, and the related RPM <a href="http://cvs.fedoraproject.org/viewvc/rpms/barry/">CVS</a></li>
  51                         <li><a href="">Mandriva, packaged by Adam Williamson</a>, and the related RPM <a href="http://svn.mandriva.com/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/packages/cooker/barry/current/">SVN</a></li>
  52                         <li><a href="http://launchpad.net/~doctormo/+archive">Ubuntu, packaged by Martin Owens</a></li>
  53                 </ul>
  54         </li>
  55         <li>Known Issues:
  56         <ul>
  57                 <li>Restoring backups for some databases on newer Blackberries doesn't work (for example, on the 8120, 8700g)</li>
  58                 <li>Syncing is not supported on Fedora Core 9, since they packaged the OpenSync 0.3x devel tree</li>
  59                 <li>Password support when using Blackberry as modem is experimental</li>
  60                 <li>Accessing the database (such as during a backup) while copying files using the usb_storage kernel module may cause some Blackberries to spontaneously reboot</li>
  61                 <li>The opensync plugin does not handle international characters well.</li>
  62         </ul>
  63         </li>
  64 </ul>
  65 </p>
  66
  67 <div class="subHeader">Getting Started</div>
  68
  69 <p>How do I...
  70 <ul>
  71         <li><? createLink("install", "Install Barry from binary packages"); ?></li>
  72         <li><? createLink("cvs", "Compile Barry from tarball, CVS, or git"); ?></li>
  73         <li><? createLink("backups", "Make backups of my Blackberry data"); ?></li>
  74         <li><? createLink("sync", "Sync my Blackberry with Evolution"); ?></li>
  75         <li><? createLink("modem", "Use my Blackberry as a modem to surf the net"); ?></li>
  76         <li><? createLink("troubleshooting", "Find troubleshooting help"); ?></li>
  77         <li><? createLink("bugs", "Report a bug"); ?></li>
  78         <li><? createLink("patches", "Submit a patch"); ?></li>
  79         <li><? createLink("contact", "Contact the developers"); ?></li>
  80 </ul>
  81 </p>
  82
  83 <p>Some helpful pages:
  84 <ul>
  85         <li><? createLink("requirements", "System requirements"); ?></li>
  86         <li><? createLink("dependencies", "Software dependencies"); ?></li>
  87         <li><a href="doxygen/html/index.html">Barry's Doxygen documentation</a></li>
  88 </ul>
  89 </p>
  90
  91
  92 <div class="subHeader">How to Help</div>
  93
  94 <p>If you are a C++ programmer, grab the source from
  95 <? createLink("cvs", "CVS"); ?> and take a look at the TODO file.
  96 Post a message to the
  97 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=153722">mailing list</a>
  98 when you start working on any of the listed features, so you can connect
  99 with other developers, and avoid duplicating effort.</p>
 100
 101 <p>If you are a Python programmer, contact the mailing list, since we
 102 would like to create and test a Python interface to the Barry library.</p>
 103
 104 <p>If you are not a programmer, but have a Blackberry, we can always use
 105 help in testing.  Install Barry on your system, and
 106 <? createLink("bugs", "report any bugs"); ?> you find.</p>
 107
 108 <p>If you prefer writing documentation, grab the source from
 109 <? createLink("cvs", "CVS"); ?> and look under the doc/www directory.
 110 Documentation is currently in html form, as well as doxygen-generated
 111 API documentation found in the comments of the source code itself.
 112 Patches updating either set of documentation are welcome.</p>
 113
 114 <p>There are dozens of databases that need to be documented and supported
 115 in the library.  If you have a BlackBerry &trade; device and are interested
 116 in helping decipher data, we have a
 117 <? createLink("hacking", "Barry hacking document"); ?> that will help you.
 118 </p>
 119
 120 <div class="subHeader">Design</div>
 121
 122 <p>If you are interested in helping out or just interested in how it works,
 123 check out our <? createLink("design", "design notes"); ?>.
 124
 125 <div class="subHeader">Roadmap</div>
 126
 127 <p>We have put together a document that describes where we are and where we
 128 want to take Barry. Check out our <? createLink("roadmap", "roadmap"); ?>
 129 to see what's happening.</p>
 130
 131 <div class="subHeader">External Links</div>
 132
 133 <p>Barry users and others have contributed documentation and have
 134 put these howto's on the web.  Below is a list of some of these pages.
 135 These sites are not associated with NetDirect, and some of the information
 136 may be out of date, but they may still be helpful to new users.</P>
 137
 138 <p>
 139 <ul>
 140         <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</li>
 141         <li><a href="http://www.linux.com/feature/123251">Syncing your Blackberry on Linux</a>, by Joe Barr</li>
 142         <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>
 143         <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>
 144 </ul>
 145 </p>
 146