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Stuart Miller - Ablewisp wrote: > Hi Group > > I've been reading this thread from the point of view of a (very new) > user of Linux who is also interested in the USP described by Rob. > > I run a small business (2 people, a couple of pc's and a couple of > wireless laptops) specialising in technical writing - user guides, > manuals, that sort of thing. We use XP Pro along with Office 2003 and > use Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird. > > We have a lot of data we can't afford to lose and recently looked into > a Server system. MS SBS was quoted, along with a server, tape streamer > for backup, etc. The quote was very pricey (for us) and being locked > in to MS was not appealing. So we opted for a simple "home built" > Linux based server, accepting that there would be a steep learning curve. > > After playing with SuSE Linux 10, we got a wired network running > relatively quickly using Samba. Next step will be to get the tape > backup working, wireless connections up and running and then play with > an e-mail server, anti virus, etc. Just about everything Rob > mentioned! Play being the word here, we don't want to become a Linux > experts. > > I was impressed with SuSe 10 - almost plug and play. But, loading > software not on the SuSE DVD has been a different kettle of fish. > Installing rpm's for a backup program was like being back in the dark > days of DOS. I used YAST (but it was not plain sailing) and I guess, > with time, I'll get used to installing new software, but it could be > easier. Oh, for a simple double click on the equivalent of an exe file > (a shame, too, our Canon All-In-One is not supported with Linux drivers). > > I suspect issues such as this will make Linux maintainability a hard > one to sell to a small business that can't / won't invest in some > training (most of them are on tight margins) or just want to remain > plain users - a computer is only a tool, after all. This is something I need to consider, maybe including some sort of basic training, even a getting started guide with every new system, even just covering the basics like browsing the internet, sending/receiving e-mails and creating documents in OpenOffice or AbiWord/Gnumeric. > > As a company, we are prepared to seriously look at Linux on desktops. > But, we still need compatibility with good Windows based programs like > Framemaker. We must remain compatible with the major software our > clients use, so we'll need to dual boot and then, financially, there > is no advantage in moving to Linux. I guess this will be the position > for many small businesses (I wish OpenOffice 2 was 100% compatible > with Office 2003, but that's another thread). > Its a interesting USP, Rob, there are a lot of small businesses out > there whose IT costs are very high. We are based in Torbay - perhaps > you could contact me? > Stuart, I've sent an e-mail to your e-mail address off the list. I'd be happy to help, I've put a few more details including my contact information in the e-mail. Regards, Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe. FAQ: www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html