Switching a Business from Windows To Linux - Chris Titus Tech
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Date: 2022-03-21
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Comments and reviews: 10
Jason
Hi Chris, a good demonstration showing a way that can manoeuvre a business into position to switch completely to Linux.
Back in 2005 myself and my colleague worked in a secondary school as IT support. We found that 5 computer rooms in the school, each containing around 20 computers had been essentially abandoned as they were running so slowly with Microsoft Windows XP and the RM CC3 system - a computer management system sold by RM (Research Machines) for the educational market.
We promptly wiped the 'obsolete' computers, enabled PXE boot and booted them from a spare server on which we installed Linux and LTSP (Linux Terminal Services Project). This allowed the 100 or so computers to boot at lighting speed into a brand new Linux desktop. The computer rooms were packed with teachers and pupils doing their basic computing - wordprocessing, spreadsheets, web research, printing, email.
This freed up the higher end Windows computers to be used for Windows only tasks such as CAD software and Adobe Photoshop classes etc. Up until this point, there has been disappointed teachers who needed IT facilities.
We used this app streaming method to provide some Windows software to the Linux rooms - mostly specialist software in the science department and some educational games the school owned.
Unfortunately, after around 6 months we were told by the school that they were an -RM and Windows site- and that we should not pursue this avenue of using Linux. I recall a few RM execs turning up to put the kibosh on the idea. A damn shame, considering we pointed the school in the direction of another school which has made the switch to Linux about 60 miles away, but they were not interested. Money talks.
We shortly left and started our own IT support business, but after seeing what Linux was capable of I ensured that the entire business was run solely on Linux. There is only the two of us, but we rarely get any issues with our systems due to the stability of Linux and it has saved us a fortune in licensing fees for software.
Over the years we have converted a fair amount of individuals to Linux, mostly users who only want to use their computer for trouble free wordprocessing, spreadsheets, web research, printing and email. Some of these have included small businesses who had not already tied themselves into the Windows world.
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Hi Chris, a good demonstration showing a way that can manoeuvre a business into position to switch completely to Linux.
Back in 2005 myself and my colleague worked in a secondary school as IT support. We found that 5 computer rooms in the school, each containing around 20 computers had been essentially abandoned as they were running so slowly with Microsoft Windows XP and the RM CC3 system - a computer management system sold by RM (Research Machines) for the educational market.
We promptly wiped the 'obsolete' computers, enabled PXE boot and booted them from a spare server on which we installed Linux and LTSP (Linux Terminal Services Project). This allowed the 100 or so computers to boot at lighting speed into a brand new Linux desktop. The computer rooms were packed with teachers and pupils doing their basic computing - wordprocessing, spreadsheets, web research, printing, email.
This freed up the higher end Windows computers to be used for Windows only tasks such as CAD software and Adobe Photoshop classes etc. Up until this point, there has been disappointed teachers who needed IT facilities.
We used this app streaming method to provide some Windows software to the Linux rooms - mostly specialist software in the science department and some educational games the school owned.
Unfortunately, after around 6 months we were told by the school that they were an -RM and Windows site- and that we should not pursue this avenue of using Linux. I recall a few RM execs turning up to put the kibosh on the idea. A damn shame, considering we pointed the school in the direction of another school which has made the switch to Linux about 60 miles away, but they were not interested. Money talks.
We shortly left and started our own IT support business, but after seeing what Linux was capable of I ensured that the entire business was run solely on Linux. There is only the two of us, but we rarely get any issues with our systems due to the stability of Linux and it has saved us a fortune in licensing fees for software.
Over the years we have converted a fair amount of individuals to Linux, mostly users who only want to use their computer for trouble free wordprocessing, spreadsheets, web research, printing and email. Some of these have included small businesses who had not already tied themselves into the Windows world.
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gwgux
I haven't seen this in a long time (over 7 years). My last job at a cable company did this everywhere. We were on Solaris thin clients and all the apps we needed from a Windows server were streamed to us via similar method to this. Then (funny enough) they switched us over to Windows server thin clients and guess what happened? Everything broke. The reason, (you'll love this), they left the trial product keys they got to set the system up on all the servers so after a week of being on it, everything stopped working. The moral of the story is, watch your licensing like a hawk when doing this. Licensing is easily the worst part of IT, but if you value your job and don't want to get sued you have to get it right.
Funny story aside, never use RDP to do this over the Internet. It gets attacked and broken a lot. Stick with 3rd solutions and/or tunnel through a VPN. I'm at a small company now and we have RDP disabled (even internally) as it's a royal pain to keep after and keep secure and we just don't have enough people to give it the attention it deserves.
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I haven't seen this in a long time (over 7 years). My last job at a cable company did this everywhere. We were on Solaris thin clients and all the apps we needed from a Windows server were streamed to us via similar method to this. Then (funny enough) they switched us over to Windows server thin clients and guess what happened? Everything broke. The reason, (you'll love this), they left the trial product keys they got to set the system up on all the servers so after a week of being on it, everything stopped working. The moral of the story is, watch your licensing like a hawk when doing this. Licensing is easily the worst part of IT, but if you value your job and don't want to get sued you have to get it right.
Funny story aside, never use RDP to do this over the Internet. It gets attacked and broken a lot. Stick with 3rd solutions and/or tunnel through a VPN. I'm at a small company now and we have RDP disabled (even internally) as it's a royal pain to keep after and keep secure and we just don't have enough people to give it the attention it deserves.
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yvrelna
Rather than switching people to use Linux Desktop but with Windows apps; I probably would have suggested that the first step towards transition is to use apps that will work on Linux on the environment that they users are already familiar with. Start by migrating your users to use Google Docs or LibreOffice or Office 365; switch them to use Gmail or Thunderbird or Evolution; switch them to use Firefox or Chromium; switch them to use browser-based apps; switch them to cross-platform apps.
Once the majority of the users are running their day to day activities in cross-platform apps, then you can switch them to Linux Desktop. Since now they would be using many of the same apps they were used to in Windows, the new environment should feels fairly familiar as it has a lot of the similar apps they are used to.
Reserve apps streaming only for the apps that really can only run on Windows and have no viable alternatives in Linux that you couldn't make any other way.
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Rather than switching people to use Linux Desktop but with Windows apps; I probably would have suggested that the first step towards transition is to use apps that will work on Linux on the environment that they users are already familiar with. Start by migrating your users to use Google Docs or LibreOffice or Office 365; switch them to use Gmail or Thunderbird or Evolution; switch them to use Firefox or Chromium; switch them to use browser-based apps; switch them to cross-platform apps.
Once the majority of the users are running their day to day activities in cross-platform apps, then you can switch them to Linux Desktop. Since now they would be using many of the same apps they were used to in Windows, the new environment should feels fairly familiar as it has a lot of the similar apps they are used to.
Reserve apps streaming only for the apps that really can only run on Windows and have no viable alternatives in Linux that you couldn't make any other way.
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julius
in business ill go for linux. because its mainly free and many app that i use for printing was on linux those are the following.
draw.io ( its good app for making diagram like flow chart, electrical etc )
libreoffice ( for typing only i dont like the drawing capability its so slow )
photoprint for making multiple picture in one page(s) its easy when you know how to use it
krita ( photo editing )
chrome ( for finding pictures and theres a site that can convert imagee to pdf its essential for your printing )
adobe acrobat reader ( its basically use is for print the final output pages of pictures i made its the best printing apps if you want a full page print, theres an option so it the best pdf app for me in terms of printing sime pages)
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in business ill go for linux. because its mainly free and many app that i use for printing was on linux those are the following.
draw.io ( its good app for making diagram like flow chart, electrical etc )
libreoffice ( for typing only i dont like the drawing capability its so slow )
photoprint for making multiple picture in one page(s) its easy when you know how to use it
krita ( photo editing )
chrome ( for finding pictures and theres a site that can convert imagee to pdf its essential for your printing )
adobe acrobat reader ( its basically use is for print the final output pages of pictures i made its the best printing apps if you want a full page print, theres an option so it the best pdf app for me in terms of printing sime pages)
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Micha-
Whoa, this is not what I was expecting! This is really cool. I'll talk it over with IT staff at work and maybe we'll do some experiments. Unfortunately, I doubt they would dare to switch to Linux because the most important in-house built app is windows only. On the other hand, it looks like it is streamed rather than installed, at least that is my suspicion so maybe something will come out of it but I wouldn't hold my breath. The licensing and the support is only for windows and if someone in the network would use it on Linux, it would complicate the data in case of some errors, so they are very reluctant to even try it.
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Whoa, this is not what I was expecting! This is really cool. I'll talk it over with IT staff at work and maybe we'll do some experiments. Unfortunately, I doubt they would dare to switch to Linux because the most important in-house built app is windows only. On the other hand, it looks like it is streamed rather than installed, at least that is my suspicion so maybe something will come out of it but I wouldn't hold my breath. The licensing and the support is only for windows and if someone in the network would use it on Linux, it would complicate the data in case of some errors, so they are very reluctant to even try it.
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William
Developers need to make the same programs that people use and need every day for Linux, the creative programs and games are set, development is set, with some specific needs to be addressed. What abut Hospital patient care software? Patient records software? Fire and EMS software? What about the software that runs on Windows for a EKG and MRI machines? LOTS and LOTS of things to do in the medical field that can save Fire/EMS and Hospitals and clinics millions of dollars, and that is just medical.
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Developers need to make the same programs that people use and need every day for Linux, the creative programs and games are set, development is set, with some specific needs to be addressed. What abut Hospital patient care software? Patient records software? Fire and EMS software? What about the software that runs on Windows for a EKG and MRI machines? LOTS and LOTS of things to do in the medical field that can save Fire/EMS and Hospitals and clinics millions of dollars, and that is just medical.
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Lefteris
My workplace has 2 servers, one 2012 r2 and one 2016, both run an oracle db a sas server and some other apps. I loggin using mstsc and/or anydesk each day to control the console to manage a software bridge, and i'd like to know if it's easy to get remoteapp or something similar for some apps without adding active directory and roles and such, any alternative to tampering with server manager. Thank you in advanced.
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My workplace has 2 servers, one 2012 r2 and one 2016, both run an oracle db a sas server and some other apps. I loggin using mstsc and/or anydesk each day to control the console to manage a software bridge, and i'd like to know if it's easy to get remoteapp or something similar for some apps without adding active directory and roles and such, any alternative to tampering with server manager. Thank you in advanced.
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Sight
I was expecting a recommendation for which distro to use. My personal favorite for non-Linux and non-tech users is ElementaryOS 5. Once I got the basics installed and configured, my wife (no tech aptitude) has had no issues using it.
As for Windows apps, I try to find a suitable replacement, but damn... did not know about remote apps from a Windows server. Good stuff!!
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I was expecting a recommendation for which distro to use. My personal favorite for non-Linux and non-tech users is ElementaryOS 5. Once I got the basics installed and configured, my wife (no tech aptitude) has had no issues using it.
As for Windows apps, I try to find a suitable replacement, but damn... did not know about remote apps from a Windows server. Good stuff!!
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Spicysauced
Its good that it exists. But I dont see the advantage when you could just run Windows Apps natively on a Windows machine without command line -haXoring-. Doesnt make sense.
Until there is a -klick on windows app and it runs without any tinkering- capability, Linux will never get a hold of Desktops especially in a business environment. Its that simple.
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Its good that it exists. But I dont see the advantage when you could just run Windows Apps natively on a Windows machine without command line -haXoring-. Doesnt make sense.
Until there is a -klick on windows app and it runs without any tinkering- capability, Linux will never get a hold of Desktops especially in a business environment. Its that simple.
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Jos-
In real life, move business means to use a native multiuser administrative apps or invoicing sell / pos machine, real 24/7 sales and invoices all connected over a local network where user are uploading inventory others are buying to providers, etc. No one wants an emulated system, just a native powerful Linux raw power and security.
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In real life, move business means to use a native multiuser administrative apps or invoicing sell / pos machine, real 24/7 sales and invoices all connected over a local network where user are uploading inventory others are buying to providers, etc. No one wants an emulated system, just a native powerful Linux raw power and security.
reply
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