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Linux18499215
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Linux on the Corporate Desktop
John Goerzen
OSCON 2008
[email protected]
A clarification...
I work for Hustler.
A clarification...
Photo from lukeisback.com (c) 2007, licensed under CC
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
A clarification...
Agenda
Motivations
Expected Benefits
Making It Work
Did It Work?
Motivations
Image by Xander on Wikimedia Commons
Freedom
Entangling Requirements
Software X only works with OS Y
Ability to fix things ourselves
John Goerzen's backyard
Performance
$300,000
Benefits
Single System Image
Public Domain - US Gvmt
Every PC has exactly the same software
Easy maintenance and updating
Hardware autodetection
Hot Desking
Reliability & Downtime
Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Fewer odd crashes
Faster response to hardware failure
Or even software failure
Making It Work: Community
Is Linux a cheap Windows?
No!
Take advantage of Linux
The #1 mistake I see people make
Missed by analysts
You could just buy Linux like you buy Windows
Rely on the vendor for all your support needs
Follow their upgrade schedule
Look for prepackaged solutions to everyone
But you'd be missing out on benefits of Linux
You can fix things yourself, customize yourself
Or hire whomever you want to do it
You are in control
Look at it like Unix admins used to. Or like RMS does.
Nothing is perfect for you to start with.
Don't be afraid to tweak.
Use the source.
Hire competant admins.
Outsource
RMS may be wearing a hard disk, but his approach can be
profitable for business.
We've Contributed
HDBC
gtkrsync
Features and Debian integration to gscan2pdf
Bacula for Debian
Feature diffs to Courier IMAP, Thunderbird, eGroupware
eGroupware CalDAV support (paid for)
Nuxeo trash support (paid for)
HDBC - I wrote from scratch. DB interface layer for Haskell.
Gtkrsync
I wrote it. Now part of Debian.
We benefit: bug reports, patches from others.
Others benefit too.
Gscan2pdf
We needed features. Wrote, submitted patches, bug reports. Got
fast results. Now part of gscan2pdf.
Try that with MS. Ever had MS implement a new feature in an
afternoon just because you asked?
Or RedHat or SUSE?
You control your software.
Bacula
We use it, maintain it for Debian.
We benefit, everyone benefits.
The software is higher quality because we release our
patches.
We get free testing. They get free integration.
Egw and nuxeo: we paid authors for improvements. Now standard
part of software.
These were solid investments.
Debian testers found Bacula issues before we did.
Works the same with anything.
Everyone wins by collaborating.
Some of you have probably used our code without knowing it.
Some of you have probably written code we have used.
Your distribution vendor is an important part of the picture
Not the only part
Linux is not a cheap Windows.
It's an entirely different type of OS.
Use the power it gives you.
Making It Work: Technology
Debian
Started with Debian
Already had lots of experience with it
Runs all our servers
All our phones (Asterisk)
Highly configurable
Scalable
Runs on PDAs to mainframes
Lets you admin it like a traditional Unix box if you like
Text files, etc
Perfect for automation
But you could use any distribution, or a BSD, for this.
SystemImager
4MB iso
Downloads instructions over LAN
Rsyncs system to box
Applied local changes
Rsyncs updates
We wrote scripts to autodetect video on every boot and check for
updates
Each machine is bit-for-bit idential
/home on NFSv4
Gnome
OpenOffice
Has worked out well
A few formatting issues here and there
Mostly from people that don't know about tabs
PDF export is very nice
Also running it alongside MS Office on Windows
We use a Windows terminal server for apps we can't run in
Linux
Here's one
We use rdesktop + seamlessRDB
First-class window
Integrates with Linux taskbar
Works well
Wrote an "opener". We associate it with filetypes on the term
svr
When you open a file there, it sends it over the network to a
Linux box and opens it locally
Thunderbird + Lightning + eGroupWare
Free/Busy, central server, etc.
We funded CalDAV for calendar
Will be part of next EGW version
Same clients on Linux, Windows, Mac
Hardware
Desktops: focus on video
Laptops:
Make sure video looks good
Order one for testing
Test the suspend/resume extensively
We use LinuxCertified now
Making It Work: Management
What is risky?
Photo by Ren Ehrhardt on Flickr - CC Attribution 2.0 Generic
What's the potential downside of switching to Linux?
App incompatibilities
Support burden
Document formatting
Reliability
How to address it?
Windows terminal server
Testing
Training
Experience
Use Linux for other things first
We used it for ERP, phone system, many servers, IT
workstations
Proven track record
"Convert Me First"
Photo by Joi on Flickr - CC Attribution 2.0 Generic
Our CEO and CFO wanted to be among the first to switch over
Smart move
We had to be ready with a solid product
If the people at the top like it, it makes acceptance elsewhere
easier.
Making It Work:
End Users
Management buyin first
Prep
When you spread word of what's coming:
Touch the big points without being too detailed
Don't assume people know what an OS is
Anticipate rumors
Our DOS rumor
Be willing to talk to people that want to talk about it
Share rationale
User Terror
Photo by paolo mrgari on Flickr - CC by-sa 2.0
Deployment Strategy
Classes
In-person at conversion time
Some people don't like change
Be supportive and patient
Common complaint: it takes an extra click
Take time to walk them through it
Some people don't handle change well; it may not be about
Linux
Making It Work:
Supporting Linux Desktops
Rebooting:
Not The First Thing to Try
Photo by skyfaller on Flickr - CC by-sa 2.0
Logfiles - which, where, and when
Photo by hamilton.lima on Flickr - CC by-sa 2.0
Did It Work?
A year later...
Did It Work?
The specifics...
Things that we don't like
Groupwise + Evolution
Switched to eGroupWare + Thunderbird + Lightning
Have to test hardware before buying
Laptop resolution switching
Things that were OK
OpenOffice
Mostly positive feedback
Document import formatting imperfect
Some of that because people don't know how to format
documents
PDF export features are very nice
Things that were OK
NFSv4
Core of it works great
Limit of 16 groups per logged-in user
VPN on the laptops
OpenVPN works great
Lack of good GUIs for it
Things that worked well
Viruses? What viruses?
Stealth Support
Photo by kevin.j on Flickr - CC by-sa 2.0
Things that worked well
Single system image a great tool
Hard to resist the tendency to "just re-image it" when something
happens
Open Source community participation
Linux itself
Stable, and has good logging
Better HW autodetection than Windows
Windows terminal server integration
Firefox/Iceweasel
Things that worked well
Far fewer licensing worries
Hardware lifespan
Opportunity to improve processes
Linux on shop floor touch screen devices
Desktop Printing
No printer or driver set up on the desktops
CUPS rocks
So... Did it work?
I can't imagine going back
Questions?
[email protected]
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