IBM's Redbooks publication arm has published a freely downloadable 260-page book on migrating to the Linux desktop. Linux Client Migration Cookbook: A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide for Migrating to Desktop Linux aims to provide a technical planning reference for organizations that are considering a migration to Linux-based personal computers, the Redbook website says.
The book is available in hard-copy, PDF, and HTML formats and provides information not tied specifically to IBM hardware or software products. For example, in Appendix A, "Using Enterprise Management Tools," analysis is provided of the management tools provided by two enterprise Linux distribution competitors: Red Hat (Satellite Server 3.4.0) and Novell (ZENworks 6.5 Linux Management).
Although the cookbook includes some technical how-to's for Linux developers, the overall focus is to walk the reader through some of the important considerations and planning issues IT managers will encounter during a migration project, the publisher said.
Within the context of a pre-existing Microsoft Windows-based environment, the authors attempt to present a holistic, end-to-end view of the technical challenges and methods necessary to complete a successful migration to Linux-based clients, the site said.
Section topics include:
- Choosing Linux
- Planning the pilot migration
- Performing the pilot migration
- Using enterprise management tools
- Application porting
- Desktop automation and scripting
- Client personalization
The book is authored by Chris Almond, Art Cannon, Jeroen van Hoof, Sekhar Vaddadi, Christian Patsch, Oliver Mark, and Tom Schwaller.
To browse the cookbook in HTML format, go here.
Another Redbook publication, focused on migrating to Linux from Solaris and published just last week, is available here.