LTSP vs. Win Terminal Server vs. Citrix

[Derek Neighbors]

I am about as ardent supporter of Free Software as there is, but I believe
we can only overcome with full disclosure.  I think there are some
half-truths below that may need debunking.

> OpenOffice Calc (spread sheet) reads and writes Excel spread sheets 100
> percent. (per Others I know and respect highly)  (No doubt the Excel
> Version Next will change this for a time till OpenOffice catches up)

The problem is that while OO has macros they are a different language than
what Excel has, many power Excel users have existing workbooks with
macro's and making them redo all their work is well frowned upon.

Currently the biggest drawback to OO is it doesnt support Lotus123
commands and Microsoft does.  Almost every accountant started with 123 and
continues to use its notation (which M$ happily accepts).

Example:

+A1+A2 is valid in Excel it is not in OO you must do
=A1+A2

Retraining users is expensive.  Not overcomable, but expensive.  To tell
them all their spreadsheets come over, but not inform them they have to
relearn a product can cause problems.

> OpenOffice Writer (word processor) reads and writes MS Word (latest and
> greatest) documents with the exception of a very few (seldom used by
> anyone) macros. (per Others and somewhat my experience)  (No doubt the
> MS Version Next will change this for a time till OpenOffice catches up)

It totally chokes and misalign's almost any Word document that has tables,
borders etc... Which is a big deal as most corporations use these things
in mass when developing forms.  (As our own Michelle can attest to) ;)

> OpenOffice Impress (presentation) reads and writes all MS Power Point
> files. (per Others)  (No doubt the MS Version Next will change this for
> a time till OpenOffice catches up)

As far as I can tell Impress is Impressive, it has features M$ lacks, like
custom slideshow setups and such.  I can't speak to its import/export to
powerpoint however.

> RedHat 8.0 Evolution (email) works well with MS Exchange. (per my
> experience)

It is dog slow at IMAP folder reads/writes, but it pretty comparable to
Outlook.

> There is a commercial (not free but much less $$$ than MS) equivalent
> (Linux) to MS Exchange.  (per others)

OpenMail shows promise.

> CrossXover (Per my experience) or WINE (per others) runs the MS Office
> Suite (4 package version, Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook) under the
> Linux operating system very well.  If they want only these MS
> applications, CrossXover will serve well.  MS Access is not quite there
> yet.

Crossover and win4lin are both good ways to get people on Linux and slowly
eliminate windows only applications.

> rDeskTop presents a Linux workstation to MS Terminal Server as if it
> (the Linux workstation) were a MS Terminal Server Client.  (per my
> experience) MS Terminal Server will run all MS applications (I think,
> haven't tried them all)  If they want unrestricted access to all the MS
> applications, rDeskTop running through MS Terminal Server should serve
> them well tempered with what Craig mentioned (Citrix v. MS Terminal
> Server).

Good point.  rDeskTop is very impressive in my usage with it.

> LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) is to the Linux OS (Terminal
> server) what MS Terminal Client is to MS Terminal Server.  Thinclient.
> LTSP can run OpenOffice just as MS Terminal Server Client can run Ms
> Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint ...) via MS Terminal Server.  Haven't
> tried CrossXover running under LTSP.

I have someone trying this now and liking it.  Server version of CrossOver
with LTSP so accountants can use Excel.

> My current project is to see if rDeskTop will work with MS Terminal
> Server under LSTP.  If so, there is just one more dent in the MS armor.

FWIW.  I think all your points are good and valid, but I think we must
admit that import/export between MS Office and Open Office still has a
ways to go.  If someone has neither, Open Office is a NO Brainer.  If
someone has MS Office already, I would have to tell them depending on
their current document base and interaction with other organizations, Open
Office might be a painful transition for them, but one they really should
make.

-Derek