Next semester the University's Information Technology and Communications services will begin to look for an e-mail client to replace Mulberry.
This comes in light of a recent announcement that Cyrusoft International, Inc./ISAMET, the company that developed the Mulberry e-mail software, had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Because Cyrusoft International, Inc./ISAMET is now defunct, there will no longer be any new versions or updates for Mulberry available, and when the current version of Mulberry becomes too outdated for newer versions of Windows operating systems, or in the unlikely event that Mulberry begins to have major problems, an alternative e-mail client has to be found, said James Jokl, Director of Communications and Systems at ITC.
The fact that Mulberry has to be replaced is not an immediate problem of the University, however, nor does it mean that Mulberry e-mail services are going to be diminished, Jokl said.
According to Jokl, the fact that the company that created Mulberry has folded does not affect the University's license or right to use the software. The University has never had any problems with the current version of the software, implemented in May, that were severe enough to merit seeking help from Cyrusoft, he added.
"[There is] no reason to panic, no reason to think that Mulberry will be unusable anytime soon," he said.
According to Jokl, Mulberry is merely an e-mail client and not part of the University's electronic mail infrastructure, meaning that ITC needs only to select a new e-mail client and then try to smoothly implement it, beginning with new users and moving to areas where Mulberry is most frequently used.
In a message to the general public on the Cyrusoft Web site, Mulberry developer Cyrus Daboo said he regrets being unable to continue to serve loyal customers and that he regrets the inconvenience that switching to a new e-mail client may cause former customers.
Daboo's message also explains that there is little chance of a different incarnation of Mulberry emerging, either through open sourcing the code or by recovering the latest version of Mulberry from the bankruptcy trustee, who now possesses the software and the Mulberry product suite.
Because third parties own part of Mulberry's code, groups interested in maintaining the software though open sourced code will be unable to do so. Daboo also said in his message that after recovering the rights to the software from the bankruptcy trustee, there will not be enough customers still using Mulberry for the new version to be profitable enough to rebuild Cyrusoft.
Although Cyrusoft released the last version of Mulberry before folding, Jokl said ITC never really considered implementing it now that Mulberry can no longer be updated.
In looking for a replacement e-mail client, Jokl said ITC probably will look for a client that shares some of the qualities of Mulberry.
"We'll always look to cover all of the features of Mulberry and more," he said.
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