Linux Desktop Migration

Linux has proven itself as a server platform - no one really questions it. A large chunk (the majority?) of nonprofits already use Linux server-side - either in-house, or if not, their web host usually does. But can it really be a desktop platform for nonprofit organizations?Linux on the desktop has come quite far, in just a few years. And recently, there is increasing evidence to suggest that it can, indeed in large part, replace Windows on the desktop. Why should it? Linux is more secure, more stable, and can be used on older hardware.Walmart was selling $200 PCs running gOS (no, that doesn't stand for googleOS, but greenOS, based on Ubuntu 7.10,) and they sold out. If you read the reviews (most of which were quite positive,) the people who liked it were looking at the real functionality (it could edit their documents, it could surf the web, read email, etc.) and those who didn't, seemed not to like it mostly because it doesn't run Windows (although one could install Windows on it - but it's going to be pokey - it's not a well powered machine, but more than enough for Linux.)So, if students and Grandma can use Linux, can nonprofits?There is a good whitepaper that was released this fall from Novell, which has a section which talks about what to think about with enterprise migration to Linux on the desktop. It basically echos what I would suggest when thinking about a mass migration:

• Planning is key
• Do a software inventory - figure out:
  • What has a version that runs on Linux
  • What can be replaced by software that runs on Linux
  • What can be run in an emulator such as VMWare
• Identifying types of users (by what they need to do)
• Choose a distribution that makes sense (I wrote up a review of Linux distros recently.)
• Figuring out a clear migration strategy that takes all of this into consideration.