Evolution eMail WILL happily connect to Exchange via IMAP (All versions) or through the OWA for server releases 2000 through 2003, there is a MAPI plug-in available which works to lift “direct” connectivity for Server 2007 however with real world operation delivering flaky public folder access I would be reluctant to recommend it, and I do mean “reluctant”. The mail side alone can actually run seamless and stable, but, we know how much the office loves those public folders, it saves using real network shares.

Yes, you could simply opt for full-on browser based access via the OWA side of things but seeing as MS Exchange connectivity is quite literally THE bread and butter of global business IT you would have thought the big players might have nailed reliable MAPI by now. The Vista lemon is fading fast and with MS Server going from strength to strength alongside the “actually not bad” Windows 7 our top Linux vendors need to focus if they are going to stand any chance at all of becoming serious contenders on the office desktop.

Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) is the self proclaimed leading replacement for Windows and yet still doesn’t provide a reputably comprehensive “out of the box” MS enterprise experience, neither as yet does the mighty Ubuntu with Likewise Open’s “domain-join” still an extra pull down from the repos, a real shame too as the guys from Likewise have done a sterling job to develop a quality product which presently offers the only real solution for viable integration.

I am, of course, a huge advocate of open source, the past two years of my life have focused on nothing else and I’ve sat my business on it, that said, I can bash on about how secure Linux is, how it will drastically reduce TCO and prolong the life of existing hardware and how Open Office is quite happy to process your Word documents for free, however as an OS if it’s convoluted to connect into your existing (MS) infrastructure then it just isn’t going to cut it for the mainstream, we (I, you, Linux) needs a tailored enterprise desktop release, MAPI friendly from the word go and offering a “domain-join” option during setup, that would do it, simply. Lose the pointless mixed bag of open source pre-installed nothing-ness and concentrate on what’s important for business use, it would honestly be worth it.

Ubuntu is presently the most popular release across the board, their branding is now exactly in the right place and alongside it’s excellent server release it offers a pleasing array of desktop derivatives for education and media, so, why not take the next step and develop a tailored distro purely for the enterprise desktop? It would certainly make my job easier and might actually get us all somewhere other than local hobbyist groups and geekfests.

We have now finalised details with NTI Leeds for the desktop Linux integration workshop and are taking bookings. The day is modestly priced at £99 (Full price) or £39 “Funded” for Yorkshire based businesses (Click the banner for booking information)

As previously mentioned, the day is predominantly “hands-on” and is constructed to provide technical integrators with the concept and skills overview required to implement an Ubuntu Linux desktop platform into their existing Microsoft enterprise network.

Content structure is as follows -

Origins

• UNIX
• GNU Foundation
• The Open Source Initiative

Why Linux?

• Stability
• Security
• Efficiency
• Cost
• Choice
• Case study

Where to get Linux

• Linux flavours
• Linux distros
• Derivatives

Installation & admin

• Installation
• System updates
• Folders
• Files
• Software
• Command line

Enterprise integration

• File formats
• Active Directory
• Domain networking
• Likewise
• Exchange eMail
• Network folders
• Network printing
• VPN
• WINE
• Terminal clients

Supporting Linux

• Remote admin
• Deployment
• Vendor support
• Community support
• Third party support
• Partners
• Training & certification

The workshop is held in NTI’s superb training venue at Old Broadcasting House near the Met University, lunch is included in the price and you get a chance to heckle the guy behind TooMuchGreen (yes, that would be me), hope to see you in sunny Leeds on the 23rd.

Reports estimate up to a quarter of all home computers could be part of a global bot-net.

A what?

A “bot-net”, a network of connected computers used with predominantly malicious intent by a central hacker.

Control is gained through installation of the “bot” via a worm or virus with the resulting PC resource invariably used for carefully orchestrated bulk spam attacks on the hackers internet site of choice (Known as distributed denial of service attacks – DDoS, for short). The effects of these attacks can quite literally cripple an online presence of any size.

The bot-program, once ensconced, can dig itself in with varying levels of granularity and service it’s remote master quite happily until the oblivious home user decides to rebuild his machine due to it “….not running quite right for a while”.

How’s your PC running lately? Virus checker up to date? Updates applied? Everything zipping along like it used to? 10-1 it isn’t, and those are good odds.

Many a home user will blame themselves for their machines degrading, they think they’ve balked the hard disk with all those family photos and music, or have installed some free game off the internet they perhaps shouldn’t, however it’s usually not so, the root problem is the flawed operating system they’ve been using for the past five years.

Integrated security for the Microsoft operating system was a security disaster. Without comprehensive security patching, an up to date virus checker and a decent home firewall (NAT router) it offered an open door to all and sundry when connected to the internet.

Todays (apparently savvy) computer user is actually aware of internet security, well, they think they are, they know they need to buy virus checking software, they’ve heard of a firewall and complain heavily about the amount of SPAM they get in their hotmail account, however what they don’t realise is the home I.T mess and confusion they endure daily doesn’t have to be so and that they actually have a choice, well, two choices, Mac or Linux.

Linux is merely an alternative operating system, it’s as simple as that, nothing wild or scary. It installs very easily and does all the things your present operating system does, but with two major differences – it’s safe (i.e it’s totally immune to the thousands of viruses floating abut the internet), and it’s free (yes, free, as in “no money”).

Freedom and safety, gotta be worth a look yes?

Ubuntu Linux is a great place to start looking and their latest release really is quite stunning, coupled with a recent re-brand I would be really surprised if even the most timid and most “Microsoft” home user didn’t delve deeper than the first page of their stylish new website to find out more.

Go on, take a look, escape from the net and into the web – http://www.ubuntu.com

Check out the image, what you’re looking at is a graphical representation of the worlds top 500 supercomputers filtered by “OS” (operating system).

The top 500 list has been maintained bi-annually since 1993 by http://www.top500.org and for extreme geekery you can’t beat digging about in the stats and facts. For example, the present top dog is the US based “Jaguar” system based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory running AMD x86_64 Opteron Six Core 2600MHZ CPU’s topping out at 224162 cores in total, yes, that’s 224,162 cores, and yes, your home computer only has 2 cores.

Supercomputer time is quite something, for example a 1 second calculation would take your home system a full 10 hour day to match whilst an hours worth of processing would tie up your processor for 4 whole years (24/7..!). Clicking through the other tabs is also interesting, although it’s no big surprise to see IBM and Intel heading the manufacturer and processor categories.

Stats aside, its the OS which I think highlights the biggest point here. Yes, it’s Linux, but not “just” Linux, it’s virtually ALL Linux, no other operating system is as scalable or as stable, and what’s even more fun is knowing you can enjoy such super-computing resilience yourself for FREE by simply opting for one of the excellent desktop Linux releases such as Ubuntu 10.04 (for business) or Linux Mint (for home).

Admittedly you’re not going to match the actual processing power – well, unless you’ve some serious hardware going on under your desk

Desktop Linux for business has it’s own set of demands addressed by the likes of Active Directory integration through Likewise Open & MS Exchange connectivity through Gnome Evolution (both offered in the latest release of Ubuntu 10.04) however back at the socially networked media hungry home PC things are a little different, luckily that’s where Linux Mint lives and the latest release is most certainly a housemate you’ll enjoy having around.

For those of you unfamiliar with Mint here’s the nutshell – it’s a comprehensive and totally free operating system for your computer built on Ubuntu and privately developed. Mint is aimed at the home user and is basically Ubuntu but further designed with added style and media/web functionality, the developers do a superb job and it’s highly recommended (with good reason). Let’s take a look at version 9, “Isadora”, starting with the installation..

For those of you familiar with Ubuntu Lucid-Lynx 10.04 the installation routine (apart from being greener) is virtually identical, stick the CD in (or mount the ISO), boot, select “Install” and follow the prompts for name, time zone etc (it’s not rocket science)….

The first port of call, the applications (programs) menu. As with everything in Mint it’s thoughtfully designed to be clear and accommodating with minimal clutter while offering a set of default favourites to get you started. We have Thunderbird eMail, Firefox web browsing and media bits & bobs plus instant and direct access to the screen resolution utility (nice touch), and with it being Linux of course there’s the terminal. The system utilities are slipped in if you want them and expanding to “All Applications” opens up the full nine yards into Open Office and the extensive range of other pre-bundled apps….

So, on and in to the control centre which is again very nice and cleanly presented for your configuration settings and system tweaking pleasure….

At media level there’s certainly no shortage with a selection of codec loaded video players to choose from and Rhythmbox to take care of the tunes and podcasts, all tried, tested, well established applications and all ready to roll from first boot to play W.H.Y….

Getting social we have the superb micro-blogging client “Gwibber”. This is a great inclusion, it’s a quality utility in general and a real high point for Linux systems socialites. It’s increasingly difficult to keep track of our dynamic internet life which is why Gwibber get’s our vote by providing a single control portal for Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Flicker and others, all our updates, all in one place, tidy….

System security is taken care of with the firewall utility and the domain blocker, both popped up for us as nice GUI utils and although Linux being Linux there’s no real need for a firewall it’s a “nice to have” for home user paranoia, as is the domain blocker (net nanny), also specific to Mint is their excellent backup and restore tool to take care of your data and system state….

Mint is created with style, intelligence and a real feel for the product (check out the “Husse Quotes” in Terminal). It’s self tagged as being the 4th most popular operating system behind Windows, OSX and allegedly ‘Ubuntu’ but for me it should be an easy number three, however as there would be no Mint without Ubuntu perhaps rank should dictate. Still, it’s obvious that for the home user demanding instant usability Mint 9 certainly delivers “Out of the box” with it’s pre-included range of media codecs and inclusion of such niceties as flash. Businesses may not find it’s flexible release dates to their liking and having managed corporate ICT myself for many years I can understand why, but only just, and only for “those” infrastructure roadmaps and, let’s be honest, when and where was the last Microsoft “fixed” roadmap? All we were given was Vista…!

As a Linux enterprise-desktop option for any SME I think it’s most certainly worth evaluating Mint alongside vanilla Ubuntu. Mint is, after all, Ubuntu under the skin. From a sys-admin perspective it offers the same configuration options and can be tweaked and adjusted as required, it even includes the APTonCD utility to pre-create a selective and transportable repository from a combination of existing or downloaded packages, invaluable for creating an easy enterprise resource.

What we have here is a mere overview of Mint 9 and I would really recommend you give it a go, after all let’s not forget we’re talking about a FREE operating system, and one which will without a doubt be inherently more stable than that dodgy Windows platform you’re working on, what have you got to lose, get it installed. Your old computer will be new again (and greener).

Download Mint from the main website  – http://www.linuxmint.com

To promote and advise on the suitability of modern day Linux as the refined and viable enterprise desktop client it has become MEBBI™ Solutions are working together with NTI Leeds to produce and run a regular “Desktop Linux” workshop for platform and system integrators. The day will be hosted at NTI’s superb training facility at Old Broadcasting House in Leeds and is presently introduced as follows..

Integrate to Enable
Across todays IT enterprise is a growing realisation for the alluring benefits of open source software.

Selective implementation can increase the security, stability and performance of existing systems, return direction & control to constrained service delivery and provide substantial reductions in total cost of ownership (TCO).

In this comprehensive single day workshop Desktop Linux provides system integrators with the prerequisite insight and skills needed to implement and deploy a secure, stable and cost effective open solution across a new or existing infrastructure.

Through a series of hands on installations and configurations we introduce the Linux operating system and bundled suite of open source business-ware, highlighting it’s suitability as a viable and supported enterprise client for Microsoft server based networks by demonstrating Active Directory integration and system deployment.
We explore commercial and third party support, vendor release schedules and view projected savings across TCO via real world case studies & comparisons against proprietary options.

Produced by sector experts in enterprise service delivery “Desktop Linux” is intelligently structured to provide the necessary overview and accompanying technical knowledge required for open source platform integration in a single day workshop, bridging a previously unaddressed niche of introduction to what although proven across areas of cost effective stability and security is an operating system choice still seen as perceptually difficult to integrate as a business desktop solution.

The “official” course title and agreed structure are still to be finalised however if you are interested in attending or would like to request expanded information on proposed content and scope, MEBBI™ Solutions would be happy to discuss any queries or arrange pre-booking.

To contact MEBBI™ Solutions CLICK HERE.

Although already a superb and proven operating system, Ubuntu hasn’t really pulled in the “visually slick” vote when compared to competitors such as Mac OSX, although until Windows 7 neither did anything Microsoft turned out, however with the release of version 10.04 they’ve applied stylish intelligence into developing the brand with a fresh look and feel they call “Light“.

Eye candy server side isn’t an issue of course, as proven by the Internets base infrastructure administered predominantly from the command line. At the back end of the WWW stability and scalability is king and Linux server is without a doubt the best tool for the job. In house enterprise management is obviously a different animal and for MS Active Directory & Exchange admin a functional GUI is necessary.

Back at the desktop though and “Light” comes as a timely and necessary face lift to further compliment a much anticipated distribution release already bursting with exciting new features. As is the case with new releases they’re always tagged as being “the best yet” and so forth, however 10.04 is so much more than just an upgrade with a few new desktop wallpapers. Gone is the old “Linux for Human beings” strap line to be replaced with an aptly expanded overview of the operating system ethos :

“Good software is “light” in the sense that it uses your resources efficiently, runs quickly, and can easily be reshaped as needed. Ubuntu represents a break with the bloatware of proprietary operating systems and an opportunity to delight those who use computers for work and play. More and more of our communications are powered by light, and in future, our processing power will depend on our ability to work with light, too.

Visually, light is beautiful, light is ethereal, light brings clarity and comfort.“

Here are a few more representative images of the new look, further artwork & extra information is available on the Ubuntu wiki HERE.

Ubuntu 10.04 example CD/DVD..

Ubuntu 10.04 new GTK theme..

If you are interested in Ubuntu 10.04 or would like to find out more about Open Source alternatives for your business we would advise contacting MEBBI™ Solutions who offer a full consultancy and integration service. Visit their website HERE.

The video was created by Amitay Tweeto who lives in Bet Shemesh, Israel. The 25-year old freelance graphic designer and UI consultant entered this contest because he thinks Linux is suffering from bad PR and when people think of Linux they think “technical,” gray stuff for programmers only. Amitay wants to let people get to know the other side of Linux, the flexibility they can get with no technical background. I think he did a good job

Entries are open NOW for the 2010 competition > CLICK HERE for details.

TooMuchGreen has officially regressed to it’s former blog status, it likes being a blog and we enjoy blogging through it.

The “business” side of things is now fully re-branded as the wonderful MEBBI™ Solutions.

MEBBI™ Solutions provide all the services previously offered by TooMuchGreen plus a few new additions, why not visit our lovely new website and have a look around..

http://mebbi.net

Sector awareness for the benefits of open source adoption is rapidly growing amongst the forward thinking enterprise. An open source solution provides not only a comprehensive replacement but delivers added security and performance boosts to existing systems whilst offering huge reductions in immediate expenditure and long term cost of ownership.

Perhaps it’s time you spoke to MEBBI™.

We’ll shortly be holding some integration workshops at NTI in Leeds so keep an eye on the TooMuchGreen blog for details. Areas covered will include..

• Ubuntu Linux client builds
• Network & domain configuration
• User account creation and access
  
• Microsoft application optional installs
• Network share (SAMBA) connectivity & mappings
• Microsoft Exchange eMail & groupware integration with Evolution
• Microsoft Active Directory connectivity & authentication with Likewise
• Active directory enterprise user account management (GUID & OU configurations)