There is plenty of documentation regarding LTSP. There are several distros that you can use. LTSP can be added on to just about any distro. K12LTSP and SkoleLinux are two that I have used that don't require extensive configuration during installation. For the most part they work out of the box and you do your hacks afterwards. There is plenty of documentation to help you get started, to troubleshoot and extend.
I think that the real advantages of thin clients are not only applied directly to you. They are applied to your technology related costs and those who use your computers.
I do volunteer work in a low income housing project that provides a computer center so that the residents can have access to computer resources (Internet, printers, office applications, graphics, IMs, etc). It is very modest and also underfunded. The thin clients, 10 total, that the residents use are P133s with 32MB or RAM, S3 video, SB16 compatible sound, floppy and CDROM. The server is an Athlon 2600 with 1GB SDRAM, 80GB SATA and gigabit ethernet.
When I came to this organization, the server was a P233MMX running Windows Server 2003 with 160MB SDRAM and a 6GB hard drive as a proxy server and router. The workstations were all running Windows 2000 Pro. Disk thrashing was going to shorten the life of these systems. The OSes were too bloated for the hardware and there was no print server. I ran an audit on the software licensing and did not like what I discovered. Worse yet, the organization did not have the financial resources for modern systems or full licensing.
It took 25 minutes for all the desktop systems to get to a desktop and 3 minutes just to launch any program. There had to be a better way. One month into the job with full support of my boss I was allowed to bring in an Open Source solution. Now spend the majority of my time developing, teaching and administering instead of fighting with bloated OSes and malware.
LTSP gives me more time to help people learn to use software applications and networked resources at a lower cost. With a minimum of training, my clients can get thier computer related tasks done just as quickly as working with Windows.
K12LTSP, which is currently based on Fedora Core 3, runs quite well. Instead of using KDE as the graphical environment, I use IceWM due to the lower resource usage. While KDE was adequate, I get better overall performance using IceWM and I have a little more control, through obfusication and permissions, over what software the residents have access too. If an application isn't available in the main menu, it can be added in about a minute or started from an xterm. IceWM has already been skinned to look similar to Windows 95/98/XP and MacOS, so when someone new comes in, they're aren't totally lost. UI customization is allowed for those that know how or are willing to learn. Local floppy and CDROM is provided through Samba and now there is actually very little I have to do other than show people how to use the software and, of course, administer the LTSP server, the print server and the router.
Not everyone is a business user. I'm sure that the majority of us can agree that Average User requires, at minimum, an Internet connection, web browser, email client, instant messenger, word processor and a printer. OpenOffice replaces Office, Firefox (with Flash and Java) for IE, Kopete for AOL, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo messengers, Scribus instead of Publisher, Kontact for a PIM, Thunderbird for Outlook Express, The GIMP instead of Photoshop, Adobe 7 (standalone and browser plugin), plus the entire games collection and KDE Edutainment collection (great for kids) and other utilities and miscellaneous applications. Most folks that use the computers are content with a web browser and office suite. Occasionally, I have to show people how to use the floppy and CDROM; a task that takes less than 2 minutes and these people are not just casual users, they're doing more than surf the net and checking email.
The performance enhancement comes from being able t
Nope, still doesn't change my thinking. While OOo isn't perfect, in the short term they're paying for installation, retraining and tech support. I think that in the long run LA would save money because they don't have to pay for upgrades to OOo, just for the installation and tech support.
While we're at it, let's take into consideration that if LA has Adobe Acrobat on any of those machines they won't have to worry about upgrading that one too. OOo has export to PDF. That'll shave a few more pennies.
I seriously doubt that LA will save 5 million but it's really a win-win for LA when you get right down to it. If LA is serious about using OOo as a replacement for Office then yes, they'll save money in the long run after their employees get used to using the suite. After all, they're basically only paying for installation, training and tech support. Down the road, upgrades will be free, as in beer, and free, as in speech. But there are other issues that have already been mentioned, macros for instance, that can't be transferred to OOo. On top of that will be the relative lack of tech support, except for what the city might be able to conjure up by hiring someone or assigning someone the job of providing tech support to city employees. No matter how they go about it, they will get a product that works and while not perfect, is a good alternative to Office, and is definately worth the price.
If it's LA's intention to get MS marketing down there to city hall to lobby for their position, spread FUD, negotiate a lower price, etc. then LA still wins. LA won't be paying an outrageous sum of money for an office suite, and will only have to pay for the software, installation, retraining and tech support.
Even if LA switches to OOo, what will MS do? Sue the City of Los Angeles? I seriously doubt that, because it wouldn't be in their best interest to lose a government customer in the long run and risk losing new customers, nor would it do for something like that to hit the press and create more of a buzzword for open source software.
Either way, for Los Angeles, there will be a cost savings. It won't be what they initially projected, that's for sure. But now that our President's proposed budget expects to cut funding for police and other emergency services, local governments have to find ways of saving money and provide the same or better level of public service that the citizens expect, especially in metropolitan areas. If it starts with the software they use, fine with me. I wish my municipality had that kind of insight.
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There is plenty of documentation regarding LTSP. There are several distros that you can use. LTSP can be added on to just about any distro. K12LTSP and SkoleLinux are two that I have used that don't require extensive configuration during installation. For the most part they work out of the box and you do your hacks afterwards. There is plenty of documentation to help you get started, to troubleshoot and extend.
I think that the real advantages of thin clients are not only applied directly to you. They are applied to your technology related costs and those who use your computers.
I do volunteer work in a low income housing project that provides a computer center so that the residents can have access to computer resources (Internet, printers, office applications, graphics, IMs, etc). It is very modest and also underfunded. The thin clients, 10 total, that the residents use are P133s with 32MB or RAM, S3 video, SB16 compatible sound, floppy and CDROM. The server is an Athlon 2600 with 1GB SDRAM, 80GB SATA and gigabit ethernet.
When I came to this organization, the server was a P233MMX running Windows Server 2003 with 160MB SDRAM and a 6GB hard drive as a proxy server and router. The workstations were all running Windows 2000 Pro. Disk thrashing was going to shorten the life of these systems. The OSes were too bloated for the hardware and there was no print server. I ran an audit on the software licensing and did not like what I discovered. Worse yet, the organization did not have the financial resources for modern systems or full licensing.
It took 25 minutes for all the desktop systems to get to a desktop and 3 minutes just to launch any program. There had to be a better way. One month into the job with full support of my boss I was allowed to bring in an Open Source solution. Now spend the majority of my time developing, teaching and administering instead of fighting with bloated OSes and malware.
LTSP gives me more time to help people learn to use software applications and networked resources at a lower cost. With a minimum of training, my clients can get thier computer related tasks done just as quickly as working with Windows.
K12LTSP, which is currently based on Fedora Core 3, runs quite well. Instead of using KDE as the graphical environment, I use IceWM due to the lower resource usage. While KDE was adequate, I get better overall performance using IceWM and I have a little more control, through obfusication and permissions, over what software the residents have access too. If an application isn't available in the main menu, it can be added in about a minute or started from an xterm. IceWM has already been skinned to look similar to Windows 95/98/XP and MacOS, so when someone new comes in, they're aren't totally lost. UI customization is allowed for those that know how or are willing to learn. Local floppy and CDROM is provided through Samba and now there is actually very little I have to do other than show people how to use the software and, of course, administer the LTSP server, the print server and the router.
Not everyone is a business user. I'm sure that the majority of us can agree that Average User requires, at minimum, an Internet connection, web browser, email client, instant messenger, word processor and a printer. OpenOffice replaces Office, Firefox (with Flash and Java) for IE, Kopete for AOL, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo messengers, Scribus instead of Publisher, Kontact for a PIM, Thunderbird for Outlook Express, The GIMP instead of Photoshop, Adobe 7 (standalone and browser plugin), plus the entire games collection and KDE Edutainment collection (great for kids) and other utilities and miscellaneous applications. Most folks that use the computers are content with a web browser and office suite. Occasionally, I have to show people how to use the floppy and CDROM; a task that takes less than 2 minutes and these people are not just casual users, they're doing more than surf the net and checking email.
The performance enhancement comes from being able t
Okay then, let's see.... $47 X 26,000 machines = 1.22 million.
Nope, still doesn't change my thinking. While OOo isn't perfect, in the short term they're paying for installation, retraining and tech support. I think that in the long run LA would save money because they don't have to pay for upgrades to OOo, just for the installation and tech support.
While we're at it, let's take into consideration that if LA has Adobe Acrobat on any of those machines they won't have to worry about upgrading that one too. OOo has export to PDF. That'll shave a few more pennies.
I seriously doubt that LA will save 5 million but it's really a win-win for LA when you get right down to it. If LA is serious about using OOo as a replacement for Office then yes, they'll save money in the long run after their employees get used to using the suite. After all, they're basically only paying for installation, training and tech support. Down the road, upgrades will be free, as in beer, and free, as in speech. But there are other issues that have already been mentioned, macros for instance, that can't be transferred to OOo. On top of that will be the relative lack of tech support, except for what the city might be able to conjure up by hiring someone or assigning someone the job of providing tech support to city employees. No matter how they go about it, they will get a product that works and while not perfect, is a good alternative to Office, and is definately worth the price.
If it's LA's intention to get MS marketing down there to city hall to lobby for their position, spread FUD, negotiate a lower price, etc. then LA still wins. LA won't be paying an outrageous sum of money for an office suite, and will only have to pay for the software, installation, retraining and tech support.
Even if LA switches to OOo, what will MS do? Sue the City of Los Angeles? I seriously doubt that, because it wouldn't be in their best interest to lose a government customer in the long run and risk losing new customers, nor would it do for something like that to hit the press and create more of a buzzword for open source software.
Either way, for Los Angeles, there will be a cost savings. It won't be what they initially projected, that's for sure. But now that our President's proposed budget expects to cut funding for police and other emergency services, local governments have to find ways of saving money and provide the same or better level of public service that the citizens expect, especially in metropolitan areas. If it starts with the software they use, fine with me. I wish my municipality had that kind of insight.