Surely it is just a bunch of ‘geeks’ writing software with little support? We are going to take a look at the business offerings and settle some mis-preconceptions.

Chances are at the moment you work in an environment where the majority (if not all) of your software requirements are met by Microsoft. What if I could tell you there is another way which would be more secure and cost your company less. Let’s take a look.

Business Linux is primarily the realm of three firms: RedHat, Novell and Canonical. All three offer solutions for business. The software is free (ie no licence fee) and you pay for the level of customer support you want through a subscription scheme.

So what sort of software is available? We shall split this into two categories: server and desktop.

Server Systems

1. Linux File and Print Server

This can be set up on any Linux distribution using the samba service (this will be covered as a future topic) and allows Windows / Linux clients to access files and print to a networked printer. There is no licence fee for any of the software.

2. Active Directory

Linux has quite a few choices in this area. Two of the best are OpenLDAP and NDS. OpenLDAP allows authentication to Linux clients only but NDS allows cross platform authentication (Windows, Linux, Solaris etc).

3. DHCP and DNS servers

You can set up your own DHCP and DNS servers for your organisation using the DHCP and named daemons (services) on any Linux distribution you want.

4. Firewall

The Smoothwall distribution makes a fantastic stand alone firewall. So if you have an old computer just sitting around install this distribution on it and you will have a fully functional and effective firewall between your network and the internet.

5. Web Servers

By far and away the most popular Linux web server is Apache. Most of the web servers running on the internet are actually running some version of Apache. Again this can be set up on any distribution you want.

Desktop

There are literally thousands of packages available for Linux and all are available to the business user. We shall take a look at the packages available for the most common tasks: email, web browser and office suite.

1. Evolution email suite

Evolution is a fast, stable and secure alternative to Microsoft Outlook. It runs on all versions of Linux which use the Gnome desktop. For KDE use Kontact.

2. Web browsers

Either use Firefox or Chrome. Chrome is the fastest browser on the planet where Firefox is probably the most stable. Both are good choices for the business environment.

3. Office Suite

Never buy Microsoft Office again. Instead use Open Office. Open Office has all the functionality of Microsoft Office without the price tag. It is compatible with Microsoft Office too so if user A saves her document in Microsoft Office user B will be able to open it in Open Office.

There you have it. This is just a guide to the possibilities Linux can offer the business user. Before you do decide to move over to Linux check that your mission critical software will run in this environment (use virtual software – covered as a future topic) and bear in mind that your end users might need some form of familiarisation with any new software you implement.

I read about a small Linux distribution that was only about 100 megabytes. This is less than one percent of the system that is on most computers. I recently downloaded the image for the puppy Linux distribution and burned a CD just to see if this truly would run on any computer. One of my old Windows computers had crashed. With only 128 megs of ram it seemed pretty useless. Puppy installed with no problem. With AbiWord as a word processor and vym for mind mapping, I was off and running. I decided to use it to write articles.

A surprising thing happened. Writing was more fun. That makes no sense at all. Why would using a CD loading Linux distribution have any effect on the enjoyment factor?

Here are the reasons I came up with. Maybe if you are stuck on achieving your writing quota you should install puppy or at least take it for a walk.

The simple feel makes writing seem more natural. The fact that it is so small and simple and that you installed it all by yourself makes it seem sort of homemade. The pie you make from scratch always tastes better.

It seems friendlier. Things don’t keep popping up telling you it’s time for an upgrade or update. It just sits there quietly waiting for you to tell it what to do.

So what if it crashes? It probably won’t but who cares? It doesn’t cost anything and you know you can reinstall it in less time than it takes to write a couple of paragraphs.

Thumb your nose at the corporate establishment. You are the creative type. No more lining the too full pockets of the wealthy capitalists. Who needs a thousand dollar computer with a bloated operating system?

The mind mapping View Your Mind program is right there to give you a few hundred new ideas if you get stuck. It was free, too. Smile when you remember that you downloaded and installed it with a couple of clicks. You have become an honorary geek.

It’s Linux. Do your research on the web. Getting a pesky virus is a problem for those other guys.

You are part of a small privileged minority. How many other article writers are submitting with a copy and paste from AbiWord? How many of them would even know an AbiWord if they saw one?

You have a competitive secret. You can write simple little articles on a simple little word processor on a simple little system. Maybe you are just a simple person but that’ s ok, too.

The desktop look of puppy makes you smile. You write better when you are happy. The desktop look is friendly, fast, welcoming, colorful, and cute just like a little puppy.