[AuckLUG] Linux Terminal Servers

[Nevyn]

Although not in a position to help you right now, I'm currently
working on my own little project which involves serving applications
to MS machines. This has proved fun.

Anyway, onto helping you. There's a company out there called ThinLinc
who contributed code to Pulse and a few other 'lil projects. I asked
them a question and they've been really helpful. So during your
research, it may be prudent to contact them.

For a full desktop the guy had said to me that an X server on the
client end was proving to be too fat for what they were looking for so
run the X-servers on the server and use VNC to display the desktop.

Regards,
Nevyn.

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 6:32 PM, Chilling_Silence
<Chilling_Silence at orcon.net.nz> wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
>  Currently Im supporting a small business that does Cleaning in the
>  Auckland region.
>  They've got  8 thin-clients currently connecting to a Server2003 Terminal
>  Server which also hosts Exchange.
>
>  They're taking on 5 new office-staff who will need access, not only
>  through Terminal Server seat licensing, but Microsoft Office as well. He's
>  looking at OpenOffice instead of Office 2003 / 2007 because pretty much
>  all the work they're doing is going to be in a web-based CRM package
>  (hosted off-site).
>
>  The big boss-man has come to me to find him some prices on Microsoft
>  licensing and recommend an office alternative. Im tempted to tell him to
>  ditch the whole server setup and opt for a Ubuntu Terminal Server (Im not
>  wanting to start a distro war, I really dont care about Distro right now
>  to be honest).
>
>  I dont know enough about the ins & outs of setting up Terminal Services
>  but how exactly do the thin-clients boot? They get the OS through PXE? So
>  I change the Server and dont have to worry about any "OS" being installed
>  on the thin-clients?
>
>  Im not going to make any hasty decisions and go formatting his server
>  tomorrow on a whim (That'd just be asking for trouble), but if I can
>  convince him to wait a week while I do a bit more research on the matter,
>  it could prove fruitful for both him and myself. Plus this means I get to
>  take home a thin-client box or two and setup a "test" at home, always fun
>  to play with new toys! :D
>
>  Also, is there anybody else out there who currently supports a Linux
>  Terminal Server environment? Have they run into issues of any kind, such
>  as format problems with the latest Office 2007 files being sent to them?
>  Users wanting to do funky things you hadnt initially though of?
>
>  Im only asking because I think he could save himself a fair bit in
>  software costs here, all his Office workers will be using the Web-based
>  CRM package, I believe including all emails. They do a little bit of
>  spreadsheet work (read: very little) and I think they also use MYOB (WINE
>  anybody?).
>
>  In a nutshell, Im also just looking for somebody to tell me Im not a total
>  idiot for thinking that this could be a viable option. Ive done
>  installfests, run Gentoo / Ubuntu at home, converted the odd MS zealot,
>  but never done a small-business switch entirely to Linux.
>
>  Thoughts / comments / constructive criticism appreciated
>
>  Cheers
>
>
>  Chill.
>
>
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