Totally lost!!!

[SeanNeedham]

I know little about Linux operating systems and software, (I can install a web-server by following an idiot guide, but a desktop solution...) however, one of the guys I work with keeps asking me to install a Linux OS on his work machine, with Microsoft Office, Adobe Design Premium CS3, Skype, Windows Networking... More or less he wants a Windows function system and software install without Windows!

Any ideas, recommendations or advice greatly appreciated!

[valemon]

Tell him to keep Windows if he wants Windows software. With wine you maybe able to run some Windows applications, but software for Windows is designed for Windows, only. Anyway have a look here for linux equivalent applications for Windows software. Another idea would be to get him a dual boot system, and if he likes linux, keep it, if not, just delete.

[Freston]

Welcome to the forums SeanNeedham!

I personally wouldn't do it. It's a work computer. And your 'guy' needs a lot of native Windows software.

Skype runs natively on Linux, MS Office runs under Wine (and OOo is a native alternative), Windows Networking... what is that?? Adobe blabla Premium I have no idea what that does under Linux.


Will it be worth the trouble? Switching OS, but keeping the native apps. I don't know what benefit that could bring, except for a prettier GUI


_____
But that is just an opinion. If you decide to go through with it, backup and build a dual boot first. Most modern Linux distro's feature an automagical way to set this up during install. Dual boot&test.

You're into servers, have you thought about how to integrate a Linux machine into the existing network? (And do you think I can ask _my_ boss to convert my work machine to Linux??)

[SeanNeedham]

As for half of the things that he wants... I am unsure about, cos I use Mac. That has just caused another thread of this argument to unravel, but that is by the by...

As for the idea of dual boot, that is a good possibility, but I think I will dig some live CD installs out for him to have a play around with, and also try and get him to read some of the what is and what isn't available for the Linux systems before he makes his final choice.

EDIT: As for the Linux server, we already have one of those! We use it with Apache, SQL and PHP/Pyhton for testing websites before we put them live, also for holding the e-noticeboard, external mailing list programs...

As for converting your machine to Linux, got to your boss with the idea... Just get him/her some good figures on how much a Linux distro could possibly save for the organization instead of having to be slave to Mr Gates; and also some ideas to show that it would not lose the functionality what most people have come to expect.

As for the machines, we are responsible for our own, and we use whatever we are comfortable with. That is the good thing about being a freelancer with a contract!