[Haifux] A suggested lecture for the W2L

[Ez-Aton]

Well, people, I thought to myself - Linux, as it is today in Israel, is yet unmature for desktop usage, except on an expert systems. Anyone using Latech would have to be some sort of expert, and might be expert enough (or crazy enough, or whatever) to probably use Linux as well.   Most of our newbies are not as experts as we are (or as we expect), so, home usage would be limited (in the better case) to the 2nd computer, or to "I learned some Linux, and it was cool/suck.   I would like to suggest another topic, which is only partial technical issue (explenation ahead) - the small / medium company server.   My experiance thought me that many IT personel (which I would call lamers, but that's me) know of some solutions (A, B & C, for example), and they will never step aside from these solutions, because, well, when you know something works (more or less), you would not stick your head into something you never tried before, or only heard about (well, such as Linux). My suggestion is a short lecture for the tech-but-non-Linux people (yep, a small group, but they will be the ones to bring Linux into buisnesses in Israel), that is, to the Windows oriented people, showing how Linux can simplify life for the tech guy. How Linux (using charts and stuff) works longer, is more stable, easier to configure (especially from remote). How there are Exchange competible solutions to Linux servers, how you can save on hardware, because you used Linux (and you don't need two monster computers just for auth and mail), how this exchange competible works with outlook (which is an important factor), how there is no 16GB limit for mail and stuff, and how it saves lots of money to a place, and still does the same. in short - how being open minded, will save both money, downtime, maintanace cost, hardware price. It is crushial that these tech people will see how difficult Win tasks can be simple using Linux (Kickstart, BTW, is one of the great IT tools one can use to replicate servers with exactly the same SW configuration, no matter what HW it is). I'm talking big, and I'm talking about a long, partially technical, and partially "sales" lecture, designed to show these people the light - to show them how you can buy Oracle (without using its special features) because you know MS SQL sux, or you can use MySQL, and save few K$s. More examples from you people are welcomed.   It should be part of the W2L, because unlike the home section, which deals with "how to operate netscape", we are talking big - how to use a mail server, and how to save my company lots of money.   I'm dead tired, so I might be repeating myself, but I think you got the idea. This lecture should be marked for "Windows techs and experts", and should require prior participation in "administration" lecture (one cannot explain how to use the start and stop of a service from remote, if the guy doesn't know what service is, or how to start/stop one).   I think it might be a good idea to take it one step further, and make a W2L-Advanced set of lectures, designed for the profs of Win servers and services, in order to bring Linux to the place where it is really at its best - the server arena.   What do you say?   Ez.