hi there. just a thought. would you guys be into setting up a forum dedicated to SME integration into a Microsoft environment. All the tricks and tips assosiated with managing the Windows environment via Linux?. the reason i thought that i would suggest this is that i have met some IT professionals recently from both Microsoft and Linux backgrounds and both parties find it suprising what i have been able to achieve with Linux within the Micosoft dominated office envirmonment.
simple things such as NTConfig.POL created from an up-to-date Server 2003/XP SP2 customized ADM using an old Windows 2000 poledit.exe (some people scratch their heads) take moments of chance and persistence to discover, stumbling across the right forum or the right keyword combination on google. so what i mean is to create a new forum or how-to on contribs.org to consolidate everyone's experience in integrating SME Server into a typical office environment (or school) rather than people haplessly scrounging around various forums for answers to the most obscure questions.
after three years of research (beginning as a Linux n00b) i have managed to:
(excuse me i am just going to post an excerpt from my cv)
Rollout (Linux) saw implementation of Linux domain controllers, email servers, web servers, file servers, backup servers, firewalls, antivirus servers, VPN concentrators and thinclient desktops, with server environments consolidated utilizing “free” virtualisation technology again saving money on hardware costs. Overall penetration of Linux around 95%, with Microsoft Windows Terminal Server at each local office to facilitate familiar Windows desktop environment and users enjoying benefit of “single sign on” and “standard operating environment” across entire organisation. Overall cost saving to organisation around 80% when compared with Microsoft only environment
people who are predominately Linux oriented need to easily find advice on the latest Microsoft products such as registry entries and changes to the Office Customizations Tool etc and vice versa, for the purposes of integration. like everyone here i want to be able to share our knowledge and experience. i don't like the idea of people to trying to compile an untested solution to a common problem by sifting around aimlessly finding tid bits across multiple sources trying to piece it together themselves (speaking from my own experiences) when they could just look it up on contribs.org.
certain things are already well documented in the how-to's (such as point and print) but i have noticed that a lot of Windows related posts on the forums are replied as "
this is a Microsoft question and does not belong in this forum" and yet a different post will have an answer for the exact same question. i would be happy to submit my documentation when complete for review by the SME team. after all it is called SME Server and what small to medium enterprise isn't dominated by Windows? SME rocks so let's get more Windows administrators comfortable with it and rolling it out!.
btw: the last thing on my list of things to do is create a shared LDAP address book. if you have any advice, please share. don't say it can't be done!
i look forward to some feedback on this post and sorry for rambling on.
regards,
brenton