The Chief Software Architect of TrustCommerce has written a detailed analysis of his company's migration to open source not only on the server, but also the desktop. “These days, we now hear the term “Microsoft-free office” spoken in much the same tone of voice. A new enabling technology (Open Source/Free Software) will allow businesses to rid themselves of an older, less functional technology (proprietary software) which has become more trouble than it is worth. “
“With the release of KDE 2, I became very excited for Linux's prospect on the desktop. I idly discussed the possibility of switching some of our non-IT staff to an open desktop with our network administrator. He liked the idea (it would be less work for him, after all) but was very hesitant to propose it to the management. I kept the idea in the back of my head. “ “TrustCommerce was just beginning to enter a period of rapid expansion; we were hiring more aggressively than we ever had before. A new receptionist was hired to replace the previous one, and also received Linux on his computer. No problems there (especially once we had upgraded to the more stable Mandrake 8.1), and somehow our default policy had suddenly changed - instead of Windows, new hires got Linux. This turned out to be the key to the success of this project. We didn't switch people, for the most part; we hired them and got them used to using open source tools from day one.”