Possible project

[Craig White]

I have a non-profit client that is entirely invested in Macintosh and
have been for quite some time. We had a discussion about the future of
Macintosh and I am not convinced of Apple's long term viability so we
discussed the possibility for a complete changeover in platforms.

I had about 4 jaws hit the table when I suggested that they would be
better served by linux than by Windows. Of course, none of them had ever
seen linux so I pulled out my little Sony Picturebook Cx1 and gave them
a glimpse. The economics is a powerful thrust and software licensing for
them on Windows would easily reach $6000

If I get them to chase down this path - which will be a major
undertaking since their primary data engine is Filemaker Pro which now
has an OSX client but the only linux planning is to port their 'Server'
product to Redhat - supposedly to be shipped in August. They have not
admitted any interest in a linux client application which is really the
only problem with switching them over.

My question is...

I see a real value to putting the big money into a honker server and
having like 10 thin clients using xwindows. I am in love with the
Windows 2000 Terminal Services and think that linux could do it even
better. Does anyone have any setups like this running? Does this seem
impractical for 10 clients? Anyone have any insights to offer on this?

Craig