[ComfortGroup_IT]

I am the IT department for a medium sized construction company and am always looking for better ways to do things. I recently read an article http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/10/ibm-tries-to-woo-business-customers-from-windows-7.html and was unsure as to how much of a hassle it may be. My main questions are, how easily will Ubuntu network with Windows (or vice versa) and would we have to buy all new versions of all of our software (my biggest concern is Symantec Endpoint Protection and our accounting software).

I don't know much about Linux (as you may have already guessed). Even if we had to get new versions of our accounting software, should the file types be the same (for instance should windows users of the software be able to read data entered by Linux users or would they have to be completely separate)?

I know I probably am not as clear as I could be, but I don't even know all the questions I should be asking. If you have any questions please ask.

[briealeida]

Ubuntu is totally do-able in a corporate environment; I know from personal experience.

It's hard to say what will happen in your case without some specifics.

When you say 'network with Windows', can you be more specific? There are certain networking protocols that both should follow (DNS, DHCP, SMTP, etc). However, if you are using Microsoft Active Directory, for example, you may have some difficulties I have had outstanding success with Likewise by Centeris. Their motto is:
Making Linux, UNIX and Mac Systems First-Class Citizens in a Windows Environment™

If you don't know much about Linux and you are the IT department, I would recommend setting up some Linux machines at home, and then a pilot/test group of a few tech-savvy people at work. Canonical does offer support, as well as Dell, if you buy a Dell with Ubuntu.

As far as your accounting software, this, again is unclear without knowing specifics. I kinda doubt that they have a Linux client (This may not be obvious but if you get a .exe from them, you won't be able to install it without a hassle. You may be able to do so via Wine but, again, this is a case-by-case basis). If they do have a Linux client, you should consult their documentation for specific information about how this will work.

As far as Symantec, you will probably just be OK using ClamAV for anti-virus. (It's free!) http://www.clamav.net

However, Symantec does offer SEPP for Linux:

Linux Operating Systems (32-bit and 64-bit versions)

* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.x, 4.x, 5.x
* SuSE Linux Enterprise (server/desktop) 9.x, 10.x
* Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES/OES2)
* VMWare ESX 2.5, 3.x
* Ubuntu 7.x, 8.x
* Debian 4.x

Whether or not you would need to purchase this or if it's already available to you will depend on your contract with Symantec, as far as I know.

Setting up some Linux machines first at home will be the first step on this journey. Doing this and using the computers for everyday tasks will help you start generating questions. And we're here for that. :-).

[ComfortGroup_IT]

Thanks, that helped me out with a lot of the questions I did have (now to see if I can find more).

As far as Networking, all of our servers are Windows (3 are Windows server 2000, 1 is Windows Server 2003, 1 is Windows Server 2008) and we are running Active Directory. I know we will never (unless AutoCAD changes) be able to convert completely to Linux as we have to run AutoCAD on several machines and that is only available for Windows which I didn't know if that would be a problem. Also, the Building Automation System we are a dealer for supposedly works with Linux, but we have been unsuccessful in that endeavor.

[ComfortGroup_IT]

Ok. I have Ubuntu installed on a laptop here and was hoping to join the company's domain, but don't see where to do that. So I guess that is my first Question.

[briealeida]

Hmm. Are you referring to a *Microsoft* Active Directory domain?

If so, there's no built-in way to do this (that I know of). The easiest way to do this is via Likewise. (I don't work for them but I spread the word about them to everyone that I can!)

They offer a .deb that will guide you through the process and make it pretty simple. This is available here:

http://www.likewise.com/

Likewise Open should be fine for what you're doing but they offer a paid version if you require some more advanced features. :-).

Hope that helps!

[Lordandmaker]

Originally Posted by briealeida

If so, there's no built-in way to do this (that I know of). The easiest way to do this is via Likewise. (I don't work for them but I spread the word about them to everyone that I can!)

The nature of Linux means there's no built-in way to do anything.

You can configure most distros, and certainly Ubuntu, to be a member of an MS AD domain using an ldap client, Samba and kerberos modules for PAM.
It's not brilliantly straightforward, but in the tradition of *nix it's highly configurable.

[ComfortGroup_IT]

Originally Posted by briealeida

Hmm. Are you referring to a *Microsoft* Active Directory domain?

If so, there's no built-in way to do this (that I know of). The easiest way to do this is via Likewise. (I don't work for them but I spread the word about them to everyone that I can!)

They offer a .deb that will guide you through the process and make it pretty simple. This is available here:

http://www.likewise.com/

Likewise Open should be fine for what you're doing but they offer a paid version if you require some more advanced features. :-).

Hope that helps!

Yes, it is a Microsoft Active Directory domain. I'll check out Likewise and see if that works, and since this is just a testbed/proof-of-concept machine, I'll stick with Likewise Open (for now at least). Thanks.

The question, after reading about it, do I install it on the Linux Machine or the Server with AD?

[LinuxHacker]

#sudo apt-get install likewise

reboot

#sudo domainjoin-cli join domainname Administrator

nothing to install on the server.