Hi Anand, Don't have any technical suggestions, but there seem to be some similarities in the situation that you describe, and what we have in our office.
We are an NGO. When we first started almost three years ago, it was decided to have a FLOSS network- and no proprietary software. On Thu, 2005-09-29 at 08:05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I am planning to setup a large, maiden linux desktop installation in a > Windows Centric Environment. Hard realities at ground (1) 99% users > will be first timers, many may not have heard of it before!! When we started, 100% users were first timers. And to this day, most new people who join haven't heard about Linux- the poor souls at recruitment don't know what they are in for! But at the end of the day- they all work with Linux- and do not hanker for Windows. > (2) Lack of trained support staff, learn by burning your hands, looks > like to be the fact of day. Yes, indeed, that's what happened with us also, though we do have a great consultant. Today, we have 13 terminals runnings. We never had any trained support staff- whatever daily support that is currently needed is given by me- and I have learnt everything from scratch- with a lot of heartache and pain, but only sometimes ;-). And I have NO technical background at all. And yet, my office functions fine.Our systems are NEVER down, and I yet have to come across any major problem thrown up by my users which I have not been able to solve- with a little guidance over the phone, and google, and man pages... Hence, my experience: - you don't have to be a geek to administer a linux network. All you need is a willingness to learn- and hard work. - equally important: you need a lot of patience and a rather thick skin: one is bound to come across people who want "mera windows wala icon"....! One has to survive them- and believe me, I have managed. one should have one's arguments and explanations in place before you start.. - in one sense, it is easier for people to migrate if they are given no choice (i know it sounds autocratic, but that's what worked for us. We did not want pirated software for legal reasons, and we couldn't afford licensed copies. now, the general users don't even ask for windows) - an encouraging consultant- whom you can call up and who will walk you through your initial baby steps: that is an indispensable factor! Hope this helps. Regards, Hassath _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
