Linux Mint an Ideal Replacement to XP?
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@Seth-Cooper said:
I am actually going to seriously consider this as a replacement for XP. It might challenge me to break out of my mold, but my company loves free and I see an opportunity to learn a lot.
I'll let you know what happens!
It can make for a really amazing experience. Look to do central NFS home directories from the start. Can be really slick while very easy. Only need to backup one central storage system.
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I think that if Microsoft Office ever comes to Linux, alot of people would be more willing to make the change.
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@lance said:
I think that if Microsoft Office ever comes to Linux, alot of people would be more willing to make the change.
In many ways, it has. Those of us on Office 365 get the web based version too. Works great on Linux.
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@scottalanmiller I tried mint in a VM but it didn't fully load.
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VirtualBox? I know that I got Mint 16 working in VB just recently.
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@joyfano has Mint running on VB too.
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I'd have to say no. If there's a machine still running XP, it's likely for some bizarre application/hardware compatibility reasons. If it won't run under Win7, chances are that it won't run on Linux (and if it does, have slim to none chance of being supported by the vendor).
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Windows 7 IMO is much cheaper even if you have to buy hardware.
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No more Group Policy. Since you are replacing Windows PCs, you probably have an AD environment that you can no longer take advantage of. I know you can still join them to the domain, but you definitely lose functionality and ease of central administration
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User training. It doesnt matter how similiar it is to XP, some things are different. The user will lose productivity while they retrain themselves.
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Compatibility issues. You may be able to get most applications to work, but I wouldn't be surprised if most vendors don't support the Mint Flavor of Linux.
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i've got it running on esxi lol not bad! my first linux desktop
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Lucky we don't have Windows 7 running in Production.But we have Windows XP,Virtual Machine
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Ouch. Still in XP?
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Well I just had my doomsday meeting with my boss (VP of Finance) and unveiled my weeks of research into different AV programs, and ways to ensure we are as close to bulletproof as possible as we approach April 8th. I inherited quite the outdated undocumented network (long story), anyway.
I tried bringing up Linux as an alternative to XP probably six times and he kept cutting me off, that was like a cuss word to him. This guy has micro managed and scrutinized $7.50 cord purchases from Amazon, but even he doesn't want to move to Linux. I finally got to get out the perks of Linux's security through obscurity and that really there is no AV cost as well for Linux. To my surprise he skipped and didn't engage or entertain that prospective savings.
Looks like I might just get a new fleet of PCs yet.. man I might just start dropping the L word when I need things that require funding.
I am still going to familiarize myself with the distro as you never know, the CEO might veto and I genuinely think it's a great alternative. Sorry I couldn't be the guinea pig.
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Top desktop choices are Mint, OpenSuse and Fedora. And Zorin seems to be making a name for itself.
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No "security by obscurity" in Linux. None at all.
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@Seth-Cooper said:
Well I just had my doomsday meeting with my boss (VP of Finance) and unveiled my weeks of research into different AV programs, and ways to ensure we are as close to bulletproof as possible as we approach April 8th. I inherited quite the outdated undocumented network (long story), anyway.
I tried bringing up Linux as an alternative to XP probably six times and he kept cutting me off, that was like a cuss word to him. This guy has micro managed and scrutinized $7.50 cord purchases from Amazon, but even he doesn't want to move to Linux. I finally got to get out the perks of Linux's security through obscurity and that really there is no AV cost as well for Linux. To my surprise he skipped and didn't engage or entertain that prospective savings.
Looks like I might just get a new fleet of PCs yet.. man I might just start dropping the L word when I need things that require funding.
I am still going to familiarize myself with the distro as you never know, the CEO might veto and I genuinely think it's a great alternative. Sorry I couldn't be the guinea pig.
Is your whole IT department fluent in Linux?
What is your plan on managing PCs and retraining users for Linux?
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@scottalanmiller said:
No "security by obscurity" in Linux. None at all.
Well it's a good thing he didn't listen to me! I mainly meant a low % of viruses written for such a small user base.
From what I understood from the article originally posted it doesn't recommend any anti-virus besides ClamAV.
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XP to Mint has a lower learning curve for many people than XP to 8. We tested it. Much easier.
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@Seth-Cooper said:
@scottalanmiller said:
No "security by obscurity" in Linux. None at all.
Well it's a good thing he didn't listen to me! I mainly meant a low % of viruses written for such a small user base.
From what I understood from the article originally posted it doesn't recommend any anti-virus besides ClamAV.
That's security through unpopularity
ClamAV is the most you would need and the worlds most secure environments don't even do that.
Security through obscurity is a term which means "no security". It's a reference to someone being insecure by not understanding security and attempting to hide rather than being secure.
Like failing to lick your front door but keeping the lights off so as not to attract attention to your unlocked house.
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Gotcha.
I laughed a bit as your response said "like failing to lick your front door". Threw me off a bit. I see the differences though and how that could confuse others in conversation using them inversely.
Thanks for the clarification!
