On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 4:04 PM, Nik Trevallyn-Jones <fedora@babel.homelinux.net> wrote:

Hi Gary,

Just a few thoughts from my own experiences.

I also support a network of WinXP machines (40+, so fewer than yours).
I use FOG ( http://www.fogproject.org/ ) to automate tasks and re-image the machines, and everything runs quite smoothly.

Some time ago, I tested a Fedora install with VMware Workstation running our WinXP image for the Windows-only apps (CAD, Sketchp), and it worked really well;
- the only problem was strong resistance from stubborn users.

You can also run IE on Linux machines under Wine, but I understand that only 6, 7, and 8 are supported that way (however, it is always possible to address that on your own machine, so my experience is that you *could* get IE9 working as well)
Alternatively you could run a VM which contains Windows and IE. See the following link for more details, including a link for MS-provided VMs:
http://www.rdeeson.com/weblog/126/how-to-run-internet-explorer-7-8-and-9-in-linux-with-or-without-wine.html

If you are happy with Fedora, you can install it and leave it for 12-18 months, and then update when you've found a stable version of the latest Fedora release. Since you don't want to update all the time (eg every 15 minutes), the fact that the repos of your installed version will disappear isn't really a major problem.

I have recently installed Stella at 2 other sites. Stella is a desktop spin of Centos - basically it is to Centos what I understand Mint is to Ubuntu.
Stella is really simple to install (simpler and quicker than Fedora for example), and has >90% of what I want already installed - and far less unwanted stuff.

So far, I am really happy with Stella on the desktop and ClearOS (also CentOS based) on the servers.
I am gradually adding features to FOG to improve support for linux machines (both desktop and servers).

The only real-world installation of thin clients that I have seen was in someone's home (3-5 workstations). They used LTSP, and it has been working really well.
I am still looking at LTSP myself, but with the ease of management I get from FOG, I'm not sure I would get much benefit.

My experience with Macs is mixed: many Mac users love them; they are not too difficult to support; and while the early versions of Safari and Mail were useless, we just installed Firefox and Thunderbird, and all was good.

I can't say the same for iPhones. Trying to bend our infrastructure to work the way iPhones demand is way too much effort. Android phones are much easier - and that is despite having to install 5 or 6 apps to get support for all the protocols eg, WebDav, ICS, etc.

Hope this helps,

What ever happened to bottom-posting? This last post reads like it was written on a computer verses on a Blackberry phone. Could we please stick to bottom-posting unless on a Blackberry, ? and could those on a Blackberry please continue to tell us until this company gets the problem fixed? and if you have an Android, or are on your computers, would you please bottom post?

Thanks. This would be a tremendous help for those following along.

Richard.

PS I sent Blackberry a note on this demanding they fix it before I pick up one of their devices, and perhaps those who own one could politely tell them to do the same.