[SailfishDevel] SyncML Plugin Server question

[Graham Cobb]

On 07/08/2019 09:45, Chris Adams wrote:
> Thanks for doing that work!

+1

deloptes is one of the few major PIM Sync developers who hasn't given up
and is still doing very useful work! I speak as a former contributor to
Opensync, GPE sync, Syncevolution (and several other attempts) who has
largely given up on the problem.

> This was the fundamental reason why the original calendar sync PR wasn't able to be merged: the semantics of such "round trip, multiple device" synchronisation cycles weren't well defined, and instead the sync acted more as an "import" than a true "sync" (potentially resulting in data duplication).

That is a hard problem. Particularly if both devices are also syncing
with other devices (or a main server -- typically a Google or Exchange
server). And it becomes almost impossible when we realise that the
devices all have limitations so different devices may unintentionally
lose (or, worse, modify) different attributes.

> In many cases, what you want is actually a simple "import" from another device - but sharing the .vcf or .ics via Bluetooth sharing and then manually importing that via Settings->Apps->People->Import vCard is probably the better option.

I have (reluctantly) come to the conclusion that the best solution is to
maintain a central server and for each device to do "almost-one-way"
syncs -- syncs where updates are imported from the server but where
changes made locally since the last sync can be reviewed and manually
approved to be sent back to the server.

Unfortunately, even that is not actually supported by any of the current
tools. I end up doing one-way syncevolution syncs and then do manual
conflict resolution.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't seem to see this as a big problem - and
the current trend to only having two ecosystems (Google's and Apple's)
is not going to change that view. And sailfish is not going to be able
to fix it by itself.

But thanks, again, to deloptes for doing the work to keep us going!