TooMuchGreen

Check this out, it’s a Windows XP themed Ubuntu distro from China. Microsoft are “apparently” not going to take any legal action against the producers (Ylmf), although I’ll wager that’s said through clenched teeth

So, what’s the lowdown. Well, Ylmf is built on the latest version of Ubuntu (9.10) and includes all the standard goodies + a few extra niceties to compliment the blend. Here’s a brief run through of the install and a few added shots from the end desktop..

Initial splash, already nicely themed..

 Read more... (estimated reading time 2:05 mins)

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.  Read more... (estimated reading time 47 secs)

One of the easiest and most popular cost saving routes into Open Source is a simple “Open Office >  MS Office” replacement. Open Office is a free and completely compatible alternative which even across a relatively small enterprise network can contribute substantially to major reductions in T.C.O through negating one area of software licensing expenditure. Compatible as it is, though, reluctancy for change at operational level is a big one, even more so at the user end as they’re the ones who like (?) to complain about the minutiae (of document formatting?).  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:55 mins)

For any business network security at the client end is the most vulnerable area and the most difficult to “police”. Even with a rigid and up-to-date AD policy & virus checking software update system implemented you’ve still got the userbase to “manage”. Running an I.T department is certainly not just about fixing computers and making sure eMail flows smoothly, this is something I know all too well from many years of experience (or should I say “exposure”).  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:29 mins)

So, another government organisation was brought to it’s knees on New Years Day by the W32 Conficker worm virus (professional etiquette prevents me from revealing my source and the institution in question), nice timing, and a happy new year.

The result of the attack was a 100% national lockout of all computer user accounts & till systems, quite something and a nice introduction to 2010 for the poor I.T staff who had to drop their games consoles to tackle a major security breach whilst the rest of the UK were sat finishing off the Christmas chocolates and watching TV with their feet up.  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:22 mins)

The major mental hurdle for any business assessing open source options is invariably that of support -  migration support (impact on existing business), user support (familiarity training) and on going support (upgrades/roadmap etc). Such concerns can and do offset the most substantial of cost savings, but what’s the actual situation?

Microsoft obviously factors into the mindset, with a 90%+ market share support is obviously more than available with tried and tested products offering guaranteed cross platform interoperability and familiarity, so much is true however it all comes at a price. I’m not here to knock Microsoft solutions, there are a multitude of reasons they presently run the business enterprise however it would be incredibly short sighted given the present global economic climate for any savvy I.T manager to not at least cast an inquiring eye over cost effective alternatives from the perceived “other side”.  Read more... (estimated reading time 3:20 mins)

Up and away from the industrial depths of server side technology and groupware the lighter side of the “home-user” Linux desktop continues to offer a changing face of optional identity. Obviously at ground level we have base GNOME, KDE and XFCE window managers but around the big three rotate a whole array of tweaked distros all claiming to offer the definitive desktop interface of today. Some are barely functional, some are too functional, some try too hard and are confusingly neither and some have completely missed the point, but, there are an odd one or two which actually survive the statutory 60 minute evaluation period and for me gOS is one such release.  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:10 mins)

“When business, education, and governments are cost conscious, they move toward Linux. Even in times of economic strength, they want control od their operating systems. Ubuntu Linux saves money. The open source nature of Linux allows organisations to control and customise their operating systems.

If desired, commercial support is available from Canonical. Even with that support Linux saves money, and provides a higher degree of control when compared to Microsoft Windows.  Read more... (estimated reading time 47 secs)

It took a couple of weeks (I had to move house) but it looks like I’m at a happy stage with the 1.6GHZ Atom Silverthorne  Dell Mini 12, it’s sociably streaming the BBC iPlayer and running Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala sharp, clear and snappy at 1280×800. Initial dabbling had me set with Jaunty 9.04 which although more than workable for server development wasn’t delivering the multi-use laptop  operating system interface I was after. The GMA workaround under Jaunty didn’t accommodate iPlayer too well and was giving jerky and disjointed playback, not what you want whilst chilling out to the ocean calm of Attenborough’s “Life”.  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:09 mins)