Ubuntu On The Business Desktop

rchapman wrote to mention a Mad Penguin story about a consultant who installed Ubuntu on his work PC, and managed to use it for over a month before his boss even noticed. From the article: "This is not a typical review, because you've read enough of those. Instead, lets pretend I'm a typical worker, who just happens to have a soft spot for Open Source software. I want to use Linux, but I have a job to do. The price of Freedom should not be my salary. I don't have time to fiddle, all I care is whether or not it can do what I want, right now. So what do I want out of my system?"

Freedom?

[GypC]

The price of Freedom should not be my salary.

Exactly! That's why I surf porn on the company network. The fascists won't be telling me what to do...

BBL, I have a special meeting in HR to go to. I wonder if I'm getting a raise.

2560x2048 ?

[graphicartist82]

2560x2048 spread across 2 monitors? I hope he means 2560 x 1024 .. Otherwise that'd be one helluva 17" LCD monitor!

Linux Addict

[kspiteri]

My name is Simon, I am a Linux addict, and this is my story.

So long for Linux Anonymous.
--
Run for Fun [blogspot.com]

Huh?

[GypC]

The fonts are so smooth I want to spread them all over my body.

Nausea forced me to stop reading at this point.

Re:Huh?

[Skye16]

I had to stop reading too, but that was because I was too aroused.

Re:Freedom?

[paranode]

BBL, I have a special meeting in HR to go to. I wonder if I'm getting a raise.

Be sure to tell them that you probably only do about 15 minutes of real, actual work. When they get surprised mention that you are not being challenged and have no motivation. That raise will come your way! ;)

Prior to getting fired

[Anonymous Coward]

Our company was running Windows 2k on the desktop and I took the liberty to install OpenBSD on my desktop (to try it out). Now I didn't have to worry about the stupid "Administrator" password, or not being able to use certain programs. The only problem was that I had never used it before and I couldn't get Wine to work correctly or compile programs very well. My boss found out that day and called me into his office. He asked me what the hell was I doing to company property and I told him how more secure and better OpenBSD was. He had no clue what I was talking about and said: "You don't need to be messing around with our company's computer equipment and you're not even in the IT department. You're a customer support rep." He also stated something regarding company policy, destroying company property, or something to that effect (I wasn't listening). So needless to say I was asked to clean out my desk and leave that day. I wasn't pretty, but I never reformatted OpenBSD off of my computer, so the IT guy had to see the OS on the desktop and must have thought I was a bright guy for doing what I did. Now that was years ago, but I still feel proud for what I did. Although, now I live at home with my mother and haven't found a new job since.

Oh Arial! Arial!

[winkydink]

my dingbats are aflutter!

Re:Haven't used Linux...

[DogDude]

...on my desktop ever. To be honest, if you know what you're doing with computers, there's no reason not to stick with Windows on your desktop in a Windows environment. For those apps that you HAVE to have, there is no real replacement for a real Windows machine (point-of-sale software with hardware). When I need to do some Windows admin stuff, I just do it. All of the basic apps installed under native Windows with no problem. Windows gives you everything you need and more easily than Linux ever could. And of course uptime and reliability... we haven't had to talk abuot that since Windows 2000 came out. Not an issue. Suffice it to say that when my Linux using friends are scrambling to figure out how to get their machine to boot, figure out how to do simple things like change the screen resolution and griping about .config files, I'm always up and running without a glitch.

Re:Why the boss didn't notice

[Otter]

Yeah, I once had a coworker who simply stopped showing up to work altogether and it took well over a month for our boss to notice. I don't find this story quite as astonishing as "Simon" seems to think I should.

Fonts

[RasendeRutje]

"The fonts are so smooth I want to spread them all over my body."
That does it, I'm installing right now! I want to spread fonts all over my body too!

In a cubicle far, far away...

[Billosaur]

Boss: What's that? [pointing to screen]

Worker: Ubuntu. Been using it for a while. Works so much better than Windows and I'm much more productive.

Boss: Excellent! Good job! Keep it up!

[Boss shuffles off to his office, closes the door, and kneels before raised, circular object on the floor. Hologram of hooded figure appears.]

Figure: What is it?

Boss: My Master, there is a Linux-user here!

Figure: I see. The Rebels are becoming bold, moving faster than anticipated. No matter!

Boss: What shall we do?

Figure: Do nothing. I will send Darth Ballmer to deal with this "Linux-user."

Boss: Very well, My Master.

[Hologram disappears]

Re:Freedom?

[thrillseeker]

"I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work."

Re:Ubuntu hype

[iamdoctorron]

Hello, I have been using Ubuntu on the business desktop for about two years and I absolutely, positively LOVE it! It lacks for nothing. I'm a sysadmin for a large publishing company in Chicago, and when my boss noticed (after 23 months) that I'd been using Ubuntu/Gnome to successfully administer a Novell server/SAN, a subnet of OSX Macs, and a gaggle of '98, NT4, and XP Pro machines he nearly fell over. When he realized that I have gone that time with about 3 reboots (none of them necessary--all due to power failures that outlasted the UPS) he almost choked on his tongue! ;') He was so impressed that he asked me to implement Ubuntu on EVERY desktop that's now Windows-based in a very high-production environment once we implement our company-wide desktop upgrade next month. Ubuntu lacks for NOTHING. Its quick on doggy boxes, super stable, and easier to install than Windows. With RPM support its software library grows every day. And Gnome kicks butt! My only prior experience with a UNIX-like OS on the desktop has been FreeBSD, which I used to run a semi-large ISP for over four years. While it is also stable and almost legendarily secure, the availability of pre-compiled binaries is limited (PCBs are a boon for inexperienced users) and it just doesn't offer Ubuntu's main advantage--d/l it, burn it, boot it, run it -- and with mostly everything a new Linux user needs bundled in and ready to go! As long as you grasp the idea of an IPv4 address you CAN install Ubuntu with little or no hassle. As an aside, I also use it at home on an old G3 iMac to run routed/ftpd. Works like a charm, and installs just as easily. X/Gnome is just too slow on that box to be useful though, IMHO. After all, it IS 7 years old! I will never give up Ubuntu. Never. Kudos to the Ubuntu team, and I hope for all our sake that this revolutionary OS gets the recognition (and user share!) that it so well deserves. Regards, DoctorRon

Re:Ubuntu hype

[xs650]

That's not a Linux problem, you obviously need to replace your customers.

Note to Linux zealots: Even though you are nodding your heads in agreement, that was humor.