User Linux

[Travis Riddle]

> OK, great.  I suggest you go and discuss this with companies that have
> actually migrated from windows to linux and write us a report.  Try for
> example:
> 
> Ernie Ball
> Burlington Coat Factory
> FitnessWorld Canada
> Extramadura Schools in Spain
> 
> To name a few, and please include the future cost of product lock in,
> try to imagine 5 to 10 years down the road.
> 
> This would be a great help to everyone who is reading this thread.
> 
> Keep a few of these things in mind while you write:
> 
> Open Source software improves greatly over time but doesn't need to
> "sell" us on new features.  Marketing for the sake of buying a product
> doesn't exist.
> 
> I can kickstart install and customize an entire building worth of Linux
> machines, say three labs of 20 each, in about 1 hour.  Completely
> configured and ready to login.  Oh and they also receive automated
> updates from our own repository.
> 
> The thin clients in the other labs are even easier.
> 
> Include such things as:
> 
> OpenOffice
> The GIMP
> Inkscape vector drawing program
> Firefox
> Glabels
> Dia Diagram editor
> Project Manager
> Complete development system including,
>   perl,python,ruby,java,C,C++,C#,lisp,forth,bash,php,fortran
> High quality SQL server.
> Fax server
> Scanner server
> Web server
> Mail server
> Firewall
> File and Print server
> Robust tape backup software (caution about windows registry)
> 
> Remember to get roving profiles setup properly.
> 
> Might also be nice on the windows side to include the ability to run
> Linux applications, just as Linux includes the ability to run many
> windows applications.
> 
> Granted not all applications are used on every desktop but they are
> required for many organizations.
> 
> One last requirement would be non proprietary file formats.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> --
> George Farris	farrisg at mala.bc.ca
> Malaspina University-College - Cowichan Campus
> 

Hey man that's a good response.  I read that article on Ernie Ball and it is quite inspiring.  I have a few questions and I hope this will benefit other Fedora users.  

It sounds like you are running a full Linux shop.  I was curious on what you use for a login server.  Are you running NIS, OpenLDAP, or something else? 

Also, on email, are you using Evolution or something else?  If you are running evolution what backend are you using?  Can you do Calendar items and appointments with other users?  Can you schedule resources (like cars, training rooms, labs) while setting up an appointment and/or meeting so that the resource is booked and not usable during the meeting's timeframe?  What about public folders and/or collaboration in general?

How do you interface with outside customers in regards to Word Documents and advanced Excel spreadsheets (Pivot Tables comes to mind)?  Do you experience problems in this regard?

Do you limit user's ability to do certain things they shouldn't be doing?  I realize I can just not include a web browser with Linux, however if they need to access our enterprise software using a browser but not the actual web, can I force specific settings to just their machine, user and/or group with Linux?  I know there are other ways to tackle this problem, but pushing settings from top down has been beneficial in the past for us.

I hope I don't sound too naïve, the things I do with Unix/Linux are Oracle databases and Enterprise software with a few other things thrown in (like Samba, FTP, DNS, Apache).  The rest of the network is VAX and Windows AD.  Sorry for the long response, I am just really curious.

Thanks,

Travis