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Alternative To Windows Desktops
Eric_Z writes "Ace's Hardware has got a article called "The Mad Hatter meets the MSCE" by Paul Murphy, about the TCO benefits of using UNIX(Lintel) instead of Wintel. According to the piece: 'The subject of this article looks at alternatives to the Windows desktop, which is a hot topic these days with IBM/SuSe scoring a highly public win in Munich with desktop Linux, and Sun aiming to build on StarOffice being the leading alternative to Microsoft Office with a software stack code-named Mad Hatter which Sun also plans to use extensively in-house. But companies depending on Microsoft Certified Engineers to adapt to Linux will carry over a number of problems, significantly increasing the chance of project failure. Paul considers the alternatives, the migration problems, and in seeking a more reliable alternative takes the opportunity to look at the business desktop from an entirely different angle, and propose a more radical solution.'"
Here is a Solaris 10 Mad Hatter desktop screenshot.
... as it was just yesterday that it became know that Ford Motor Company is joining the ranks. They are switching from Windows to Linux
the pun is mightier than the sword
If memory serves, Microsoft and Novell came under fire a few years ago for their use of the word 'Engineer'. In the non-IT world, the word actually carries meaning: one must complete a licensing process before calling oneself an Engineer. Additionally, these real [i.e. non-IT] engineers are actually held liable for defects/mistakes/incompetence, etc.
My dad is a Certified Manufacturing Engineer and a Professional Engineer (P.E.); this issue was covered extensively in his trade magazines.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Its true about the mp3 and video stuff, this is due to Redhat avoiding things with "patent issues". But, if this was making you wonder about how useful RH9 is for media duties, wonder no more: take the freshrpms.net Three Step plan to Redhat media heaven and you'll be all set.
Step 1: Get and install apt for rpm
Step 2: apt-get update
Step 3: apt-get install xmms-mp3 mplayer mplayer-fonts mplayer-skins
That's it, mp3s, all kinds of video now work. You might need to make your file manager app use mplayer instead of a default app for the right file suffixes is all.
apt-get install frozen-bubble is a bunch of fun too. Check out freshrpms for the other things you can get that are not in stock Redhat.
One technology department I'm familiar with had its budget slashed incredibly. Basically, by some pointy haired boss using a CDW catalog and his HP 12c to project the figures.
The IT staff were in a panic. Supplying WinTel machines as budgeted wouldn't allow funding for many server side technologies and pet projects. Moreover this didn't go over well with the IT staff who would have to be responsible for maintaining and securing these machines. They weren't Linux savvy yet and if they were being honest, most had come to depend on GUI-driven, point-and-click tools to help them in their maintenance chores.
As they were assembling their rationalizations to take back to management, some extremely clever in-house developers on the IT staff, came up with an open-source solution to deploy:
* Come up with standard Linux install images
* Develop tools on Macs to maintain these images
When the IT staff realized that with this method they weren't in danger of losing their own ease of use, they started coming up with their own justifications for this plan.
* Good to have IT staff on higher-security platform
* Unauthorized users easier to id due to distinctive design
* Wider compatability than Windows or Linux alone
The voiceless masses have been fairly receptive to the new plan (or at least not coordinated enough to voice a strong opposition). Key executives were allowed to be exempt from the Linux standards, but they were encouraged to use Macs with MS products rather than full Wintel machines (to be as "standard" as possible).
The use of friendly maintenance tools on Macs (which used tech friendly technologies under the hood for the geeks) was the key to overcoming the general IT fear of Linux. It's not certain if IT will keep using Macs down the road once this irrational fear is gone, but it was very important to get the ball rolling at all.