OS / "computer" on USB stick ?

Hi,
For my last year at work I did a trial of using Ubuntu instead of the standard Win XP install on my supplied Dell computer.
Running a help desk and several remote servers was almost seamless from the remote desktop.
Even Word documents were no trouble, and often a formatting problem could be solved by opening it in the Ubuntu WP, sorting out the errors, and saving it back to word.
For Mac or Windows specific programs such as Celcat or Filemaker, remoting into a desktop from Ubuntu was easy enough.
The uni could have saved a lot of $ by going open source, but the bean counters were not prepared to move from a commercial platform.
Chers

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Originally Posted by austastar

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The uni could have saved a lot of $ by going open source, but the bean counters were not prepared to move from a commercial platform.
Chers

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They're either getting kickbacks of some form or another, or planning to climb the corporate ladder at said commercial software vendor! [wink11]

Possibly, but maybe scared of having nobody to pursue in court if anything sotware goes pear-shaped.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by austastar

Possibly, but maybe scared of having nobody to pursue in court if anything sotware goes pear-shaped.
Cheers

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I admire your opinion of application software!

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Originally Posted by AK83

They're either getting kickbacks of some form or another, or planning to climb the corporate ladder at said commercial software vendor! [wink11]

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Or they don't want to explain to their boss that there is no level 3 support to call when things go bad because they cheaped out on the support contract. Plenty of linux distros offer a supported version but then its no longer free...

Regards,
Tote

I've tried a few distros of Linux and have currently settled on Mint. As a Windows user, I find it better suited to me than Ubuntu or Xubuntu.

Having said that, I still don't like Linux. It's a pain in the proverbial compared with Windows when installing apps. I spent days trying to get Dropbox installed with Ubuntu (and failed) but only half a day with Mint (with success).

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Originally Posted by p38arover

Having said that, I still don't like Linux. It's a pain in the proverbial compared with Windows when installing apps. I s

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welcome to linux. thats what its like

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Originally Posted by Eevo

welcome to linux. thats what its like

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not my experience i have to say...

10 years ago i would have agreed with you but not these days

on many machines it is easier to get a stable linux install than it is a windows install esp if you are using industry standard hardware...

very late model mac hardware being the exception

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Originally Posted by incisor

not my experience i have to say...

10 years ago i would have agreed with you but not these days

on many machines it is easier to get a stable linux install than it is a windows install esp if you are using industry standard hardware...

very late model mac hardware being the exception

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linux has come a long way in 10 years yes but i dont believe its better than windows for the average user. i still feel linux is less out of the box ready.
fresh windows install will see my tinkering for aboout 5hours
fresh linu install will see me tinkering forever.

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Originally Posted by Eevo

linux has come a long way in 10 years yes but i dont believe its better than windows for the average user. i still feel linux is less out of the box ready.
fresh windows install will see my tinkering for aboout 5hours
fresh linu install will see me tinkering forever.

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again that's certainly not my experience...

these days your tinkering with windows for ever to keep networking and other basics going after updates

with a linux install that is not an issue, even more so with an LTS release

a few minutes reading up on your particular distros pack manager and tick a few boxes and your done

esp for your average joe blow internet user thats needs a browser, and email client, an office package and so solitaire :p

i do ubuntu studio, kubuntu, and non free debian kde boxes for people that i used to sell apple boxes to, for those hat cannot cope with windows and thats lots of oldies on limited budgets

you get one or two support calls and then nothing for months... not good for cash flow but great for them...

boxes for gamers is a whole different kettle of fish...