Egroupware is a web-based groupware suite. it is a flexible framework capable of hosting applications such as group calendar, addressbook, e-mail, accounting, inventory, and more. these applications share a user store and a flexible access control system to control information sharing. at the core there is an api for php that allows creating new web-based applications that work within this framework.

the core package provides the modules for initial setup, global administration, and preferences, and the api for the applications. it does not, by itself, provide any groupware functionality. the actual egroupware applications are shipped separately in packages named "egroupware-".