Linux in Government: Planning for Open-Source Application Deployments

The next wave of Linux desktop releases will fit into Microsoft network
infrastructures like a hand in a glove. Start looking for announcements in May. You
will feel compelled by the Linux value proposition, so postpone Microsoft
upgrades until you have had a chance to see the new products.

A recent
article published on DesktopLinux.com says that Linux will
command 6% of SMB desktops by 2008. The article sites four reasons for the increase
in Linux desktop use:

Increasing cost of IT -- SMBs are ever more reliant on increasingly
expensive IT products and services for managing their businesses. This
expanded investment has resulted in higher expenditures, leading SMBs
to seek free open source alternatives.

Open standards and freedom from vendor lock-in -- Open source software
generally adheres to standards better than proprietary software, reducing
reliance on vendor-specified file formats.

Government Policies -- open endorsement by Asian and European governments
is giving credibility to Linux and open source.

Blue Chip support -- products and support available from brand-name
vendors such as IBM, HP, and Novell lend credibility and increase
confidence among SMBs.

We agree with much of this study, but we also see a major shift in strategic
corporate initiatives that will increase Linux desktop market penetration
to 25% within the next 24 to 36 months. The reasons given for a 6%
adoption rate do not take into account Windows vulnerabilities and enterprise
searches for desktop alternatives.

Studies of Linux desktop adoption make little sense without adding "other
OS vulnerabilities" to the list of reasons for Linux adoption. Many organizations
consider their Windows desktops to be a single point of failure in their
enterprises.

CIOs of major telecommunication firms, for example, view the computing
environment as a significant threat. As soon as customer service offices at these
firms began accepting e-mail and using the Internet to manage phone
accounts, they became flooded with spam, viruses, spyware and exploits.
eGovernment initiatives, which also use e-mail and Web services, face
threats similar to what these telecommunication firms and similar
enterprises face, as they all experience heavy demand for customer service.

Original cost savings studies advocating a switch to e-mail, on-line
support and eGovernment Web services rarely factored downtime into
the costs associated with adding Internet services and using Microsoft
Windows desktops. Considering the high volume of bad e-mail alone, workers have lost significant
productivity. Several
studies suggest spam runs as high as 51% of workers' total
e-mail volume. In fact,
a
recent report by Frontbridge indicated that
spam accounted for 90% of all e-mail at one point last August and
averaged 82% for that month. Of that total amount, a significant percentage
contained malware, which downloads a tiny program and broadcasts information
about users and networks to crackers.
New Features and Functions Add to Linux Adoption
Many analysts claim that Linux desktops will experience troubles similar to Microsoft
desktops once it gains market share. Such analysts, however, fail to understand
the inherent safety features of UNIX, from which Linux derives much of
its native security model. Separation of the desktop from the kernel,
separate user space and the use of text-based interfaces provide added
security to the Linux desktop. Furthermore, on new Linux desktops, that security
design remains transparent to office workers.

The next wave of Linux desktops from firms such as Sun Microsystems
and Novell will provide increased functionality within Microsoft
infrastructures. Expect to see access to Microsoft's Active Directory,
equivalent network browsing, single login features, full scale sharing
of directories and resources and the ability to run native Microsoft
applications. Additionally, video and audio functionality will be on par with
Microsoft workstations. Access to Exchange servers and Outlook clients
already has become common place on the Linux desktop, as have system
management services.
Getting Prepared
Government agencies immediately can start the process of moving to open-source
alternatives on the desktop. Begin by cutting the costs of your
office productivity suites, and move to safer Internet browsers and e-mail
clients. Also, begin investigating different application delivery
methods, such as Citrix,
Tarantella,
Microsoft
Terminal Server and Sun
Microsystems' Sun Ray thin-client solutions.

Let's examine what we can do immediately with open-source office
productivity suites, the Mozilla Firefox browser and the Thunderbird
e-mail client. In 2004, we saw the OpenOffice.org office suite take
approximately a 16% share of the total office productivity market. With
the release of OO.o 2.0, one can expect that share to increase significantly in 2005. The
Guide
to New Features demonstrates major improvements in interoperability with Microsoft
Office. Considering the success of migrations such as Novell's to
OpenOffice.org last year, expect further movement to this office suite as
OASIS
Open Document compliance is attained. In fact, another
article, published in the Guardian
Unlimited, states, "Installing OpenOffice, a free open source alternative to Microsoft's
Office suite, could be the first cost-saving move to loosen the US
giant's grip on the UK schools market."

One way to prepare for the switch to the Linux desktop involves
adopting OpenOffice.org on existing Windows desktops. Such
an addition would allow office workers to become accustomed to the main
applications they would use day to day. OpenOffice.org can coexist with
Microsoft Office and allow users to increase compatibility with various
versions of Office.

Another way to prepare users for Linux is to adopt
Mozilla's Firefox Browser,
as discussed in Walter Mossberg's article
"How to
Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows",
published in the Wall Street Journal's Personal Technology section.
Also consider using Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail client.
According to the Web site:

Thunderbird gives you a faster, safer, and more productive email
experience. We designed Thunderbird to prevent viruses and to stop junk
mail so you can get back to reading your mail. Read on to find out more
about the reasons why you
should use Thunderbird as your mail client and RSS reader.

By deploying OpenOffice.org, Firefox and Thunderbird, you can enhance the safety of your existing
Windows' desktops and prepare for a transition to Linux. You also can
continue to reap benefits from your hardware investments without having
to replace existing computers--a benefit often overlooked in studies
of Linux cost-benefit ratios.
Start Looking for a Linux Guru
Government agencies can get a head start on open source demand this year
by hiring candidates with strong Linux skills. The market
will surprise you when you start looking for people with essential Linux
system administration skills, because they demand lower salaries than
one might expect.

Good Linux people tend to have trained themselves and know how to
work on other operating systems, such as Windows and UNIX. They also tend
to know more about networking, desk-side support and trouble shooting
than a typical Windows engineer does. Linux people also can mentor and train staff.
In short, Linux gurus save you a lot of money, because they know where to find free
software and how to use it.

One caveat: good Linux administrators typically do not have
certification. If you specify certification in your job descriptions,
prepare yourself for a letdown. Linux people rarely seek to prove their
skills by taking exams. If you do find applicants with certification,
you might take a cautious approach, as they often lack the depth of
experience you probably need.
Final Notes
In future articles, we explain open-source alternatives in greater
depth and show you how Linux can provide a low-cost and secure solution
for government offices and agencies wishing for more security and
increased productivity.
Resources
"Linux in
Government: How Security Exploits Threaten Government
Infrastructures"

"Linux in
Government: Security Enhanced Linux - The Future is Now"

Tom Adelstein lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Yvonne, and
works as a Linux and open-source software consultant with Hiser+Adelstein,
headquartered in New York City. He's the co-author of the book
Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop and the upcoming
book Essential Linux System Administration, to be
published by O'Reilly and Associates. Tom has been writing articles and
books on Linux since early 1999.