Suggestion: include evolution-ews in base installation package

Following a discussion with the maintainer of GNOME Online Accounts (GOA) upon this issue, it seems that the evolution-ews package is needed in order to access mail/calendar/contacts related data by apps using GOA, when Microsoft 365 type of account is being set up.

This is how it is currently working in F41 Workstation (common scenario):

  • User wants to set up a Microsoft 365 account (either connected to a Microsoft 365 subscription, or just having a regular personal account, which also provides calendar/contacts/drive components);
  • User navigates to Settings → Online Accounts and chooses to set up a Microsoft 365 account;
  • User successfully enters credentials, returns to Settings → Online Accounts and notices that the account was added, with mail, calendar, contacts, files toggles switched on;
  • OneDrive folders/files are mounted and accessible in Files, however:
  • Calendars are not accessible and GNOME Calendar and contacts are not displayed in GNOME Contacts.[1]

Unfortunately there is no message, hint that would notify the user that a component is missing and, therefore, calendar and contact information is not available.

By putting evolution-ews in the base install, this wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

Additionally, it might be considered appropriate to decouple and not require evolution package as a dependency, supposing not really needed by the different apps using GOA[2].


  1. Mail is a separate topic, since there is no official GNOME mail (core) app. Geary is the closest, but apparently doesn’t provide Exchange support. User can, however, set up standard Microsoft account from GOA for IMAP/SMTP support though. ↩︎

  2. Except for Evolution as an app, obviously, but that’s the user’s choice to install it. ↩︎

4 Likes

I don’t use MS 365 currently, but I agree that evolution-ews should be included if Calendars/Contacts are expected to be also synced with adding that account. Or at least a note if most people don’t need Cal/Contacts.

I use Evolution but don’t seemingly need that ews package, and I also think it makes sense to decouple it in this case.

3 Likes

Added quality-team

I support this decision like no one else. Working with Microsoft services has always been a headache, and if installing one package on Fedora Workstations rarely upsets anyone, then on Atomic editions without layering evolution-ews on the base image it is impossible to get a fully functioning system, which greatly reduces the importance of GOA for the community.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that several Flatpak packages also depend on this.

1 Like

Makes sense to me. Proposed it here.

3 Likes

I would also suggest adding it to Fedora Silverblue. I added Microsoft 365 account directly through Gnome and Evolution flatpak recognized it flawlessly; however, it does not sync with Calendar and Contacts.