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Linux Desktop Deployment Postmortems?

Posted by Cliff on from the how-well-did-it-do? dept.

duffbeer703 asks: "My employer runs alot of desktop and laptop computers -- something in the neighborhood of 40,000 PCs. Currently they are all Windows 2000 & XP managed by Active Directory and other big, complicated enterprise management tools, all of which can support Linux in one form or another. I'm looking for ways of making Linux (and maybe Unix or even Apple desktops) an option as we replace or add PCs. The problem is, most of the resources that you find online about deploying Linux focuses on server environment, and the articles that I do find about desktop Linux focus on standalone developer workstations, the IBM conversion to Linux (which doesn't seem to have happened) or things like LTSP, that won't integrate well with our infrastructure. Is anyone out there successfully using Linux for regular users? How did it go, and how did your IT and user communities adapt to the new kid on the block?"

5 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Rationale to a company... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    are you mential?

    I can control the "desktop use policy" tighter on linux than any windows admin could dream of.

    I strongly suggest you learn linux.

    Secondly if you are going linux dump the bastard of Active Directory and use a linux/unix based setup that works better and integrates easier. Fools try and shoehorn a work boot into a sneaker.

  2. Why the switch? by dfjunior · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Sounds like you just want to brag that you forced your shop to "run Linux"...

    You've not provided any sort of business case for the switch. If your organization has the IT infrastructure to support 40,000 workstations, you aren't going to save any money by installing Linux on a couple of workstations. Further, if the "regular users" you're deploying to aren't Linux enthusiasts there will be a decrease in productivity [at least temporarily] and your boss will have you to thank for it.

  3. Re:Desktop Linux in the Enterprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    It sounds like you've never really used Linux before.

    But I'll give you some bread crumbs. Search google for:

    apt - Debian Official Package Management Tool (related terms: .deb, dpkg, apt-get)
    yum - Unofficial Redhat Package Management Tool (related terms: .rpm)

    These tools allow you to easily install software on any given machine (and you can host your own software in a central repository). You can use your distribution for all the main software and have a local repository for company specific application deployments. At the same time.

    With these tools, you can do a full upgrade (everything, office suite, security patches, web browser, games, whatever) with one command.

    For example with Debian:

    apt-get install clue (I think you'll be needing this one the most).
    apt-get upgrade (installs all new software)

    You can build your debs of your internal software, if applicable:
    apt-get install myinteralapp

    You could design your own specific dependency handling packages
    apt-get install engineer-software (could be a package designed to install all engineering related software)
    apt-get install clerk-software (same thing, only for office staff)

    I hope this has been informative, have a nice day!

  4. Re:Disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Remember this:

    You are not the decision maker, you are only the IT administrator. Your customers are the target audience and they in turn make the rules and have the money. Not the other way around. Now it doesn't sound like the school had an issue with their systems, they had an issue with you because you probably acted like a pinched prick during the whole thing.

    by the by what does this have to do with a 40k workstation deployment.

  5. Re:Disaster by DerekLyons · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    Everything was running beautifully for months, until politics entered the game.
    More accurately - everything ran beautifully until the bosses decided that the system didn't meet their needs or desires.
    Some higher-ups bought software without consulting the IT department (me and one other guy) that of course only ran on Windows.
    From the sound of it - it would have been pointless to consult with you, because you a a rabid zealot rather than an honest employee.
    They also decided that we were going to go with FileMaker for a grade database, that was maintained by some high-price consultant.
    Making such decisions is of course the province of bosses.
    In the end, they wanted everything to be Windows for some reason or another (misinformed about how Open Source works, you know, the whole deal). My wonderful little Linux environment disappeared, and eventually, so did I.
    The problem of course is this - it wasn't your computing enviroment, it was the schools.
    Moral of the story: technical challenges aside, your project can always be torpedoed by someone who is self-important and more powerful than you.
    Moral of the story: A significant (I.E. the majority) percentange of IT folks/Linux boosters on Slashdot are self centered asshats who forget who they work for. (And who doesn't work for them.)