Re: Why and How to move from Win to Linux?

• Previous message: Joe Beanfish: "Re: dircmp"
• In reply to: Jack McGovern: "Why and How to move from Win to Linux?"
• Next in thread: gurdude: "Re: Why and How to move from Win to Linux?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 22:23:45 GMT

Jack McGovern wrote:

> I'm not an IT guy, but a few of my subordinates has told me that I
> should bring on to the top management that maybe we should move to
> Linux for both servers and workstations.
>
> I admit that we are experiencing a few stability problems with the
> current platform, and they have told me that it would drastically
> improve if we change to Linux. Is that really true? Where can I find
> documentation of this?

... if it were me, i'd do this gradually. what i mean
by this is i would move the server-oriented toolsets
first and get this stabilized. and i wouldnt make the
move of EVERYTHING to those servers in one fell-swoop.

for example, you could move the webserver and possibly
the mail server first. then once these prove out and
are working fine, then you could move the balance of
the server-oriented services over.

once all the server-oriented services are to your
liking and are stabilized, then you could think about
migrating to the desktop-oriented toolsets. but i
would probably only move a handful of folks initially.
these people can be your advocates who socialize the
Linux desktop to other folks. they can talk about how
easy a transition it is and so on.

move people that pose the lowest impact, such as those
that do word processing or spreadsheet work. get them
on Openoffice.org or Sun Staroffice. one thing to
remember, using either of these two tools will require
a short mental shift - you cant merely say, "well, in
Word i select these menu options to do THIS; how would
i do it in OO.org?". you have to learn how to use
the tool within ITS context; you dont do a "this equals
that" mental shift.

> And finally, will all employees have to be trained in using Linux
> before they can use it, or will most of them recognize the user
> interface from Windows and thus keep doing the basic stuff and get
> trained for the more advanced tasks later?

obviously, you have to have the SysAdmins that can
administer the servers and network. if they are
not familiar with Linux (or even Unix), then it will
take some time for them. some good Linux SysAdmin
coursework would be in order. the same would go for
the office folks. a one or two day course in using
Linux (to include the desktop, such as KDE) would
be in order, to include tools such as Openoffice.org.

here in houston, we have a "campus" called Leisure
Leaning Unlimited ... they offer all sorts of
computer oriented classes after hours. even the
local community college campuses offer computer
courses. of course, you could also bring a consultant
in who can mentor your staff.

i noticed a couple of articles, posted just today, here:
http://www.newsforge.com/
"Province of Ontario moving students to StarOffice"
"Case Study: Hentzenwerke Publishing switches to Linux"

if might be a good read for you. there are many many
other good success stories.
.

-- 
<<   http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/   >>
Fairy Tale, n.:  A horror story to prepare children for the newspapers.

• Previous message: Joe Beanfish: "Re: dircmp"
• In reply to: Jack McGovern: "Why and How to move from Win to Linux?"
• Next in thread: gurdude: "Re: Why and How to move from Win to Linux?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]