Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 09:49:55 -0600 From: "Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P." <kdk@daleco.biz> To: Roy O'Grady <ROGrady@co.berkeley.sc.us> Cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Question Message-ID: <40129423.7000507@daleco.biz> In-Reply-To: <s00ff131.070@bmserv.co.berkeley.sc.us> References: <s00ff131.070@bmserv.co.berkeley.sc.us>
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Roy O'Grady wrote: >At the risk of getting told to take this question elsewhere.... > > > Hee hee, read on ;-) >I am a network manager for a small government. Right now, we are using >Novell NetWare for our networking needs, but we are getting ready to try >an open-source solution. The costs of software acquisition and >maintenance has gotten high, and I am hoping that a migration to >something open-source will help us stop the money-bleed. > > > Might well do it! >How many of you have migrated from something closed-source and >proprietary to something like FreeBSD or linux? What problems did you >run into? How did users react to the change? I guess most importantly, >was it cost effective? > >Thank you in advance for your opinions and time, and if this question >is inappropriate for this list, please accept my apologies. > > > > Wish I could help you more; I feel this is a great question for -newbies, or perhaps one of the other lists as well. As questions@ is most trafficked, I might try that one---betterchance of starting a lively discussion. And perhaps chat@, all types read that (but not as many). As for your question, I've never tried anything like this. It's a dream of mine, though: some shop that runs M$ (primary target!) moving to BSD ... my random thoughts follow: Please clarify this: are you only looking to replace your network infrastructure with open source OS machines, or do you have a gazillion Windows(R) users that you also want to convert to save $$ in SW costs? Do *you* personally run BSD or Linux? Putting an entire network (government?!) on it would be like putting you on it, times the number of machines, times the number of users divided by their collective IQ's. BUT there would be plenty of possibilities to make it easier (build boxes distribute new SW via NFS, etc). Suffice it to say, however, your office will be getting a ton of (phone calls, emails, visits) as people try to come to grips with something "different." "Why can't I install ($NAME_MS_PRODUCT)?" "What will I do without Messenger?" etc., etc.) There are alternatives for almost everything out there, but some retraining and rethinking will be necessary. People who get "comfortable" with something they are apprehensive of (at first) tend to get pretty apprehensive when you change the system they worked so hard to get accustomed to..... Your freeware OS'es are going to be rather network-centric, and as "software acquisition" is via the Internet, a good connection is essential. A lot of your "tech support" will have to come from the community --- face it, that's where many of the consultants you might be tempted to hire get their information. And, you might actually *need* some help from time to time. So, if there's a consulting company in your area that has a good reputation, perhaps they'll be there for backup. Your required reading stack may increase, if that is possible. Your will have to obtain, or even create a good bit of documentation as well. You will be less susceptible to M$ type "attacks" (adware, virii, etc.) but you will need to be more vigilant against other potential threats. You'll need to learn new scripting language(s) in order to automate system management. If you're not into CLI (command line interface), it's likely you'll want to learn. Do you have to? Maybe not; but it's available already, and works for many sysadmins... So much for random thoughts. As I said, I've not done it ... but I've thought about it. I doubt I've said anything you've not already thought about, but maybe something here will help. Good luck! Kevin Kinsey P.S. If it works, contact my local govt. WinNT sysadmin brother and convert him, too! :-)
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