Microsoft tries to breathe life into older PCs

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Damn Small Linux, LTSP and saving with WINE

There are cheaper alternatives.

For older hardware ( 486DX with 16MB of Ram ) as a standalone PC there is
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/applications.html
With a PentiumI 100 with 32MB ram and 192MB swap space it can run firefox slowly but workably.

The same PentiumI 100Mhz with only 16MB ram can run as a soundless terminal using LTSP
http://www.ltsp.org/
A Pentium 266Mhz or greater with 64meg works very well as a LTSP terminal with networked sound.


If your desktop thin/linux clients need Microsoft Office 97 or Office 2000 then another, and in some way better, alternative is to run those applications under WINE on a linux server. CrossOver's Office Server Edition provides an easy way to do this, but it is possible to do the same with effort from the WINE sources without added cost.
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxserver/
http://www.winehq.com/

As for Microsoft licensing, you only need to be sure you have enough Microsoft Office licenses to cover the server and clients. You don't need to purchase a special server edition of Office. If you are converting existing PCs that already have licenses for the edition of Microsoft Office you are using, you can use those licenses, there is no additional cost. Just be sure not to mix OEM and Full/enterprise licensed versions. For example, use OEM licensed Microsoft Office, purchased with the hardware, on the server and the clients. The latter case is often the cheapest for small deployments.

Instead of Microsoft's remote desktop protocol, WINE/CrossOver uses the networked X wire protocol which can be piped through a encrypted ssh or a third party encrypt/compression system like the NX Terminal Server system. In combination with some of the newer dual/multi processor servers, a Office->WINE->NX pipe line can provide a better service to more people than the same hardware hosting Microsoft Terminal Server.
http://www.nomachine.com/

A 300Mhz PII or greater works as a fantastic LTSP+NX terminal. With NX network load is no longer as limiting a factor, you can deploy thin clients with normal desktops and fileservers on the same network.

Posted by: David Mohring   Posted on: 05/12/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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