Market Observation: Making Desktop Linux for the company

Market Observation: Let the Desktop Linux be used by the company-general Linux technology-Linux technology and application information. The following is a detailed description. 0: w (5 (

Today's IT managers are faced with tough choices. Microsoft has decided to stop selling Windows XP, and now a smooth PC is facing a promising upgrade path. The upgrade cost related to Vista, coupled with the increasing application license fee, has become an increasingly attractive option to switch to Desktop Linux.

However, it is difficult for many companies to know where to start. Linux has a broad market and is booming. There are many solutions to choose from. Most companies want to gradually adopt Linux, which in many cases means to support heterogeneous computing environments for the first time. Therefore, it may be difficult to predict which software incompatibility issues will affect key business processes.

Fortunately, the future of the company's Desktop Linux has never been so clear. Today's Linux is supported by several well-known IT vendors, providing a rich and highly practical user experience that can compete with any proprietary operating system.

Find a proper combination

If you really want to deploy Linux, selecting an appropriate release is one of the most important decisions you need to make. Do not mix multiple releases at will. Each version of Linux is bundled with its own kernel and its unique code library, utilities, and applications. Each version also provides unique system configuration and management methods. Therefore, deploying several different releases in a specific environment is often difficult.

For company applications, the best choice is to get commercial support for the release. Even if your company has used Linux internally, if there is no place to ask for help, a single unpredictable crisis may cause a sharp rise in IT costs.

For this reason, it is necessary to develop realistic expectations in the early stages of the decision-making process: Linux will not be free. However, the cost is very low. Because the software itself is free, it means that there is almost no traditional cost related to the normal upgrade cycle. If you focus on the long-term goal, Linux migration is easy to succeed.

Red Hat and Novell, two traditional Linux vendors, provide their own commercial Desktop Linux distributions.

However, if users require higher flexibility, there are still many well-known options on the Desktop Linux market, including Linspire, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Xandros, and other releases, which also provide high-quality user experience, business Support is also available. Which of the following is the best choice? To a large extent, it depends on your taste.

Can it be compatible with Linux?

One of the differences between Linux distributions is the simplicity of installation and configuration on various hardware. In general, the modern Linux system provides excellent hardware support and is continuously improving.

However, a hardware vendor may occasionally be reluctant to publish hardware specifications or Linux drivers, so that users will have limited or no support in Linux. Frequently encountered problems include some graphics cards and wireless network hardware, as well as power management functions for laptops.

In addition, hardware outside the PC itself should be considered. If your company is using network printers, scanners, fax servers, VPN gateways, or other workgroup-centric hardware, make sure that you also have the Linux drivers for these devices.

Inconsistent hardware support makes it difficult to deploy Linux on a large scale. Unfortunately, you cannot expect any Linux release to have the same running status on each PC.

Unified use of hardware is most likely to ensure smooth installation, but this is not always easy. Even if we confirm an ideal PC configuration, will the company still be able to purchase the same machine when it grows?

Fortunately, more and more hardware vendors are providing systems that are certified to be compatible with Linux, and even pre-installed with Linux. For example, Dell provides several Ubuntu Linux systems, whereas HP and Lenovo prefer Suse. If you purchase hardware that has passed the Linux certification, you can avoid many headaches in the future.

Applications are key

Linux Desktop involves not only the operating system. Before migrating users to Linux, make sure that the corresponding software is provided to support all the necessary business functions of your company. It is very likely that you have not considered several features.

It is equally important not to think that everything is free. All major Linux distributions provide a free set of open-source applications, which are often an excellent alternative to commercial Windows software. However, occasionally, purchasing commercial Linux software may be the only solution to meet your needs.

Integrating Linux desktop with necessary backend systems and business processes is a matter of your success. Generally, it is easier for administrators to support Linux than to support so-called knowledge workers, but even front-end receptionists may also use some core functions.

Take an email for example. Basic email sending and receiving is not a problem in Linux, but advanced group functions (such as the sharing calendar function) bring about great difficulties. Although IBM provides Linux-oriented Lotus Notes client software and the open-source Evolution email client software can also be integrated with the Exchange Server, neither of these two solutions can be suitable for advanced group component users. As for SharePoint, Linux users are rejected.

The Linux-friendly email sending and receiving and collaboration servers do exist, but switching the system may not be a practical choice. Changing a fully-loaded Exchange Server poses too high business risks. In addition, the lack of close integration with the Active Directory may also impede Linux in the company's environment.

Such a problem is inevitable: This is the problem of vendor locking. Generally, leading Linux applications support most of the functions that users expect, but proprietary protocols and closed APIs will impede real compatibility. It is unrealistic to expect that each function of a commercial application will correspond one to one in Linux.

Even for basic desktop productivity software. For example, Linux applications store files on the grounds of Office 2003 and earlier versions, but they still lack support for newer Office 2007 file formats. It is necessary to carefully analyze the actual internal workflow of your company to determine whether it is feasible to migrate from the Office.

Combining Windows and Linux

Some employees rely heavily on specific Windows software, but lack the appropriate similar software in Linux. In this case, you have several options.

One option is to configure the desktop system as a dual-boot system, so that you can choose Linux or Windows from the boot menu. However, this method is not very effective and is also very problematic: for example, files created in Windows can be accessed from Linux, but in turn cannot. If it is difficult for users to get rid of their old habits, do not be surprised if they spend most of their time using Windows.

Another option is to install Linux-oriented virtualization software, such as VMware Workstation or Xen, and then run Windows on the virtual machine. In this way, you can use the required Windows program and still use Linux software to execute most tasks.

However, these methods pose two major problems. First, they all need to install the licensed version of Windows on each machine, so that the cost savings of Linux will disappear. Second, they actually divide each workstation into two complete systems, doubling the IT management tasks. Because these two methods are not feasible long-term solutions, they can only be used as a balance when Windows is gradually eliminated.

The third method is to use Wine. This Windows compatibility layer for Linux makes many Windows applications run like native Linux software. But the difficulty is that every application is compatible with Wine. In addition, you can use the commercial version named CrossOver Linux, which provides additional installation and running support for selected applications.

Finally, many thin client solutions allow Windows applications to run in terminal Windows on the Linux desktop, such as the solutions provided by Citrix and Sun. Another advantage of this method is that it supports low-end hardware. However, note that most such solutions require additional infrastructure investment to start and run.

Ensure that the Linux policy is successful

It is easy to install Linux on several desktop systems. However, to successfully migrate a large number of PCs, centralized management and maintenance functions are required. Windows users are easier in this regard, but Linux vendors are trying to narrow the gap with Microsoft. Today, you can manage Linux desktops for a large number of options.

It is helpful to use a Linux vendor for enterprises. Novell's well-known ZenWorks management software supports both Red Hat and Suse systems, while Red Hat provides centralized software management through its Red Hat Network product (which will soon become an open-source product. Users of other releases may need to find the options provided by third-party vendors such as Hyperic.

Although Linux is a mature and practical desktop operating system, the process of moving away from Windows is very complicated and should not be rash. Effective migration strategies must set realistic targets to defend against emergencies. They must be flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen obstacles. It is not easy to get rid of proprietary software vendors. Open-source developers have already taken the key first step for you. The next step is to go on your own.