Hi list, This my first posting and I apologise if it's too off topic. In academia the demand for non mainstream software would never seize to exist. Given the choice of available software in Ubuntu repositories it's obvious that neither RH, SuSE or OEL would be able to compete. Debian base is hard to beat when it comes to choice. I would also agree with Tobbi that Ubuntu desktop currently provides the most complete user experience, in my opinion. I had a play with Ubuntu as a SunRay's server platform. The sheer effort to make everything work and maintain is just too much, especially if one works alone. I work in the environment where users are only using Windows (briefly) when someone sends documentation in *.x format. The users did not mind having to start VirtualBox and run windows vm from within their native Ubuntu sessions. They also preferred that solution to the standard dual boot. Wonderful shared folders option in VirtualBox made usb redirection in windows guest into a non issue. Having an officially supported OS platform, which is arguably providing a better overall experience to the end user in this sector seem to me a worthy goal to pursue. Academic budgets are squeezed. The demands to reduce energy consumption is on the rise and that's where Oracle/Sun combo, delivering the desktop of choice natively and in a supported manner, could make a difference for long term strategies and purchasing choices. Ubuntu desktops served as part of VDI solution are easily customisable and are rather solid. It was a breeze to make usb redirection work using nothing else then what was already inside a typical Ubuntu vm. Similar exercise with XP and Win7 took me nearly 2 weeks without using any add-ons but VirtualBox guests additions.Having an option to serve native Ubuntu Desktop sessions to SunRays, as JDS on Solaris for example, would be most welcomed in environments like academia and higher education. I am sure it would take off in some other environments as well. Having Ubuntu as a partner might also improve the bottom line for Oracle/Sun in the long term. It's good to have a choice and from what I'd seen the users in academia would choose Ubuntu desktop over any other offerings. Alex -- ======================================= Alex Brulo Senior Server Engineer (HPC) Information Systems Aston (ISA) Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET Tel: 0121 204 3673 ISA "Aiming for Excellence in ICT Services" ======================================= Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail ======================================= _______________________________________________ SunRay-Users mailing list [email protected] http://www.filibeto.org/mailman/listinfo/sunray-users
