Curtis Vaughan wrote:
> Thanks for all the replies.  I wish to respond to many remarks and post 
> some new questions.
> 
> 1. Linux Laptops
> Linux laptops are hard to come by, especially on short notice.  
> Unfortunately, most of the time when I have to get a computer for a 
> colleague, it's, "I NEED A LAPTOP NOW!"  So, I have to run out to a 
> store and buy it, configure it for our network and install office 
> software.  Basically, that's it.  I have found a company that sells over 
> the Internet Linux-based computers.  But as I recall, I think the 
> cheapest such laptop starts at $2000.  Outrageous!   I haven't been able 
> to find any laptops for sale without an OS, but will take into mind some 
> ideas others have written about.
> As for Walmart, they don't sell laptops with Linux.  Furthermore, the 
> computers they sell with Linux have Lindows on them.  A Linux OS that I 
> don't trust at all.  No time to talk about that here.
> The advantage to Mac OS X is that it's preinstalled and I know I don't 
> have to spend hours, if not days, configuring it to work correctly.  
> (Maybe)
> 
> 2. Windows Users
> A problem with probably many offices is the fact many users have been 
> working with Windows for years and don't want any change.
> Of course, I have found that for many users a convincing argument is the 
> fact that they will no longer experience a crashing computer (the BSOD).
> This is the reason why I see KDE as an important stepping stone toward 
> getting people using Linux.  Personally, I myself find Aqua 
> frustrating.  But, this is something I'll have to get used to and 
> perhaps try to reconfigure.
> 
> 3. Office suits
> The whole point of the move from a Windows to a Unix/Linux environment 
> at our office is to get away from paying for a product that really 
> doesn't work so well and must constantly be serviced.  So, MS Office is 
> also out of the question.  All the more so as I find OpenOffice very good.
> 
> Final words.
> I think you guys have done a good job in perhaps convincing me to give 
> OS X a try.  Actually, I have an G3 iBook, which I have been using for 
> about 2 weeks now.  I'm a little pissed at Apple cause when I bought it 
> I knew 10.2 would be coming out and felt that I had bought it recently 
> enough that I should be able to get 10.2 at a reduced rate.  All the 
> more so as many people seem to be saying that 10.2 is really more a fix 
> than an upgrade.  It sounds very MSish.  Sigh.....
> 
> One thing I haven't seen in any literature for OS X is centralized 
> logins.  I would think that OS X would work with LDAP or PAM.  I haven't 
> implemented either yet, but LDAP is the preferred method for Linux.  Any 
> comments here?   You see we have a policy of changing passwords 
> periodically.
> I also haven't seen anything about logon scripts, located on a server.  
> I would assume that this is also configurable for OS X.
> 
> Final problems for me (at this point).  (NB. I am not pointing these 
> things out to ask for help, but just to say that these problems should 
> be more easily resolvable.)
> Network printing (haven't figured this one out yet)

CUPS -- http://www.cups.org/

> Printing while on the road (in Korea they use only some weird Korean 
> printers, for example)

If they have a CUPS server in Korea (or anywhere), all CUPS clients can
come along and "just print it" on any shared printer. With CUPS, clients
don't need to install a local printer driver (or even if they do, they're
able to access any CUPS printer of an available server -- with all
printer-specific options (duplex, stapling, punching, cover sheets,
select paper tray etc.)

CUPS will be shipping as part of Mac OS X 10.2.

BTW, Linux questions will better be asked on a Linux mailing list...  ;-)

> NIS
> NFS
> (Samba, however, works great.  I find it strange that a Unix OS is 
> better adaptive to SMB than NFS!)
> MS Windows-like (or KDE-like) desktop
> 

Have you checked out KDE on Mac OS X yet?
(Fink people have done an awesome job here!

Kurt



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