Converting a MS company to Linux

[Matt Alexander]

Maybe you could personally archive all the emails for this topic on your
own webserver.
I've converted a lot of systems to Linux at my company from servers to
desktops to routers, and the best advice I can offer is take it slow and
replace non-critical perimeter systems first.  Demonstrate how well your
new DNS, Big Brother/MRTG, fail-over webserver, etc. works and your
coworkers will come around eventually.  Try to find a niche server
somewhere that you can setup Linux to improve your skills, but is not
going to get you fired if you fubar it.  Once your coworkers and
management see that Linux runs well and that you're competent enough to
administer these new systems, try setting up a Samba server and join it to
your Windows domain.  Use it as an auxiliary file/print server and over
time it will probably become an important server in your infrastructure.
Eventually you might be able to convince others to replace all your
Windows file/print servers with Linux.  Etc., etc., etc.
Try not to make any enemies and encourage others to learn more about Linux
as well.  Maybe offer to install it for them so they can at least get
familiar with KDE or Gnome.  The more familiar others are with Linux, the
less resistance you'll encounter.
Again, take it slow so you don't scare the bajeebers out of the rest of
the IT staff, but more importantly so you learn how to really run these
systems well and build faith in Linux amongst your peers.  Good luck and
keep us updated on your progress.
~M


On Wed, 2 Oct 2002, Scott Henderson wrote:

> I undertand that folks might want to follow some of my trek in
> moving a medium-sized corporation from the land of MS into Open
> Source, and I'm happy to share it all, but I still don't think
> this list is the best place.  For one thing, the long-term
> usefulness of this information would be reduced by having it
> archived in a list, interspersed with all the rest of the topics.
> Wouldn't it be better to have it somewhere all together?  And
> second, I really worry it might create too much traffic to wade
> through for those who are not faced with sys admin duties for a
> company.  I will likely throw out at least some of my questions
> to PLUG, as I have in the past, and I may well compile some of my
> experiences into one or more HOWTOs or guides, somewhere down the
> road, but in the meantime, I'm all ears to any suggestions on how
> I could expose this information in a better way than putting it
> all on the PLUG list...
>
>
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