Dear Jeremy Hogan, Once you wrote about "Re: linux migration": JH> On Mon, 2002-07-15 at 02:28, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: JH> > Our company is considering to migrate some Desktop PC??s to Linux. To JH> > rephrase: I have to prove how far the development of Linux is feasible in JH> > our company!
[skip] JH> > Following the list of the programs my company used: JH> > MS Office 97/2002 JH> > ------------------ JH> > Linux version: No JH> Runs in certain versions of Wine (like WineX), CodeWeavers crossover JH> office. OpenOffice works great. We even had a case where we could open PowerPoint presentation which was broken for MS Office :) JH> > Alternatives: openoffice(), star office() StarOffice is almost the same thing, in case you want to spend some money and support the company :) For lots of things koffice or a combination of abiword/gnumeric is sufficient. JH> > MS Netmeeting JH> > --------------- JH> > Linux version: No JH> > Alternatives: JH> > Comments: I haven't used it, but it sounds awfully like gnomemeeting ;) JH> > Power Archiver (Free compression tool) JH> > ------------------------------------- JH> > Linux version: No JH> > Alternatives: JH> > Comments: JH> tar, zip... There are lots of GUI frontends for tar/zip/arc/rar/etc. Check out freshmeat.net . JH> > Irfan View JH> > ---------- JH> > Linux version: No JH> > Alternatives: JH> > Comments: JH> JH> Too many alternatives to list, if my understanding of IrfanView is JH> correct. JH> For viewing, ElectricEyes, GhostView, GQview, KuickShow, Kview and JH> ImageMagick JH> For simple edits (the only other thing Irfan seems to do.): JH> Gimp Plenty of software here, indeed. GQview was my fav for a long time ;) JH> > Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw JH> > ---------------------------- JH> > Linux version: No/yes (PhotoPaint) JH> > Alternatives: Gimp(), PhotoPaint() JH> > Comments: JH> Gimp is good, I want to say Adobe works pretty well in a version or two JH> of commercial Wine. This area is arguable, but yes, Adobe runs in Wine, and gimp and renderer are nice too ;) JH> > SAP JH> > ---- JH> > Linux version: mySAP JH> > Alternatives: JH> > Comments: SAP is very aggressive now in the area of Linux. They have copmleted lots of things. Check out sap.com/linux . ;) JH> > Adobe Acrobat Reader JH> > Linux version: yes JH> > Alternatives: JH> > Comments: There is adobe acrobat reader for linux, but strangly, the majority prefers xpdf ;) JH> > And last but not least one question: JH> > If we come to the conclusion to migrate to Linux which Operating system JH> > would you choose for a Desktop solution and WHY !?!? JH> JH> That depends on your users and your needs. If you have users, who only JH> need the usual productivity tools and don't freak out over the very JH> thought of change you'll be fine on Linux. If you have Windows only JH> apps, try these alternatives listed above and by others, try wine, try JH> Lindows, try codeweavers, etc. JH> JH> Remember, you can overcome their resistance to change by testing your JH> solution in a small segment, learning from it, and rolling out broader JH> with technical (and moral) support. Choosing a distribution, while seems difficult, is not, because any distribution can be changed in any way. You can have RedHat which looks exactly like Debian ;) RedHat though is good with support, updates (RHNetwork), learning and certification (RHCE), and few other tidy bits ;) JH> Why? JH> JH> -Licensing. JH> JH> If you stay M$, and go the .NET and "new" licensing route, you are going JH> to lock yourself in long term. You will continue to pay for software JH> you've already "bought", you will have mandatory points of upgrade or JH> lose functionality or even any sort of use. JH> JH> Perhaps, one day XP will no longer boot b/c ZP (or what have you is JH> out), and you will be forced to pay whatever they wish just in order to JH> stay productive. Today at least, you are able to use 95/98 and they JH> can't *force* you to go to xp/2000. Yet. This is the company that JH> threatened to ship old versions of AOL to force users to use MediaPlayer JH> instead of RealPlayer. This is the company that told AOL and RealMedia JH> "it may not work properly" on their products going forward. JH> JH> Think about this: no more threats to suddenly stop supporting a language JH> or application you depend on, in order to force you to use their JH> version. No more spontaneous audits, no more scrambling for official JH> copies, no more coming back for more money b/c they need it to continue JH> growth for the sake of growth. No more vaporware, no more bogus JH> benchmarks, no more strong arm leveraging of the market to perpetuate JH> itself (ie Innovation comes back into play) JH> JH> Free upgrades forever. No, really. JH> JH> -Freedom. JH> JH> To tweak, re-write, adapts, modify, deploy and maintain in whatever JH> manner you *choose*. Freedom to buy support if need be, rather than have JH> it rolled into the price of the product, and having no reduced price JH> version for those who don't need their support. JH> JH> -Performance. JH> JH> Linux will smoke Windows in any capacity of throughput, memory JH> management, disk I/O, etc. It uses the hardware to it's fullest JH> capacity, it doesn't take a static amount of valuable RAM "just in case JH> the OS needs it" leaving precious little for your apps. I can have four JH> desktops FULL of stuff that individually would grind an average Windows JH> box to a halt. JH> JH> -Stability. JH> JH> Nuff sed. JH> JH> -Security. JH> JH> Ditto. JH> JH> If you have less rampaging virii, that pays for itself. If you can JH> increase your uptime (and hence productivity) you improve your margins. JH> If your users can't erroneously infect themselves and your network. JH> - Flexibility That's in the desing of the whole thing. "You can put it anywhere" (C) Cruel Intentions :) - Support Remeber, that you will have a strong support from the community at no cost at all. I was surprised, my boss was surprised, lots of peopel were surprised. ;) JH> > That??s it! Thanks a lot! JH> No problem, keep it up! Your boss will thank you afterwards ;) -- Best regards, Leonid Mamtchenkov, RHCE System Administrator Francoudi & Stephanou Ltd. _______________________________________________ Redhat-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
