Ximian Connector was a computer software program created by Ximian

Ximian

Ximian was a company that provided free software desktop applications for Linux and Unix based on the GNOME platform. Ximian was founded by Miguel de Icaza and Nat Friedman in October, 1999, and was bought by Novell on August 4, 2003...

 in 2001 to link its GNU/Linux groupware client, Evolution, to the popular Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...

. It was notable and controversial for two reasons: It successfully reverse-engineered Microsoft's proprietary communications protocol

Communications protocol

A communications protocol is a system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications...

s, and unlike Ximian's other products, it was not released under a free or open-source license.

Ximian was later acquired by Novell

Novell

Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...

, which released Connector under the GPL

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

, the same license as Evolution itself. Ximian Connector has been integrated into Evolution as of version 2.0 and was renamed to Evolution Exchange in 2005.