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Linux Workstations in a Windows Domain?
gsperling asks: "As Windows licensing costs are gradually increasing, and options for those licenses are decreasing, I am forced to investigate Windows alternatives. I am trying to begin rolling out Linux as an alternative desktop solution to my enterprise. I am an IT Manager for a company of approximately 65 users. We are incorporating a second company into ours in the next six months, and that 65 number will grow to well over 150. This is a solution that I need to start working on TODAY. We currently have a Windows 2000 Server. It is primarily used as a file and printer sharing server, along with maintaining all of the user accounts domain-wide. I would like to know how it is possible to get a Linux Workstation to authenticate against the user database in our Windows 2000 Server. I have exhaustively Google'd, read thousands of mailing list archives, and have still come up short. After I receive my results, I plan on publishing a whitepaper on how this is done, of course giving credit where credit is due." For those of you using Linux in the Enterprise, how have you managed to get Windows to play nice with any Linux boxen in your domain?
This is just a question to the linux public, this maybe be just a little off topic but here we go anyway. I have karma to burn.
.net and nothing but microsoft on the workstations there is no good reason to try to force them to program on linux/apache. There is not a good reason to try to force them to use samba, and there is not a good reason for DNS to be run on Linux in that shop.
Why do so many linux guys ignore "best tool for the job" and just force linux into a solution? I mean it is clear that linux has very good uses, just as windows does. Yet I have watched time and time again someone force linux or solaris into a job that would have worked better as a windows machine.
Before you get on your high horse and scream that there is nothing that windows can do that linux can not do better just save it. Your wrong, dead wrong. In an all windows shop running
There are plenty of awesome reasons to use linux, but for petes sake your shooting yourself in the collective foot when you try to force linux in. You end up having management hear "integration" issues...The linux DNS is not talking to the ADS correctly....the Syslog server is not responding....that damn linux.....I could go on and on on this because someone forced linux into a shop that was all windows. Then did it poorly on top of that.
I guess what I am trying to say is that Linux is not always the answer. Sometimes, you have to pick the best tool for the job, and sometimes that is not linux. Pick your battles my friends, and put linux in where it will shine like a white knight if your looking to change minds. Don't just take on every job with the idea that your going to "make them use linux". Find that perfect high profile job that linux will shine at, not the problem child job that you know is going to have issues.
You want more linux in the shop? Start by putting it in the right place and follow up on it like you should. Don't just 1/2 ass force it.
Just my 2 bits...I may just be bitter cleaning up after 1/2 assed linux imps that have gone wrong this week.
Neck_of_the_Woods
#/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
OP: This is just a thought, and I may be totally off base here but it sounds to me like you have several (many) years of supporting a Windows network and Windows desktop clients, and zero experience supporting Linux either at the server or desktop level (in a work environment.)
... and the money you could have spent on standardizing the shop will seem tiny in comparison.
If you are the only guy supporting 65 users in a professional shop and you are going to be expected to support 150 users by yourself, you are going to need to be 100% on your game - that means supporting what you know. Yes adding 85 seats of Windows (XPPro with Office 2003) is going to be expensive, plus CALs for you server - but the minute you need to hire a second guy for the IT department because you simply can't handle it the costs go up dramatically - $60,000 a year ($40,000 a year plus overhead for a new guy) for the next three years will buy a LOT of standardization in your shop.
What do I recommend? Standardize on one desktop OS, one Office suite, one exactly identical desktop computer (same make, model, configuration, hardware, everything!), one two or three identical servers that use identical parts to each other, and off the shelf hardware for routers, switches, etc - all the same brand. You can get half a dozen spare desktops for hot-swapping parts (or the entire machine) out when something craters, and because everything is the same your updates and maintenance can be done using images. With new hardware you can even get 3 year on-site maintenance agreements meaning you get an extra set of hands whenever something is broken - this is a little pricey though, but worth considering if uptime at the desktop level is not optional.
You can go the Franken-system approach, building each machine by hand using the best or cheapest parts available on a case by case basis, using whatever OS and office suite is cheapest or available but in approximately one year your system maintenance is going to be a freak show and you are going to need to hire a new guy to help out anyways
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer