How Ubuntu helps to keep your business. Practitioner practice

How Ubuntu helps to keep your business. Practitioner implementer.

Hello!
We all know how to build our business and even successfully run it, but often very few people understand where it is possible and necessary to save on IT office support using the most efficient tools.

This article is intended for everyone to go to the open world of IT, as well as implementers of free software on workstations.

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I do not urge you to completely withdraw from proprietary software, but still I recommend trying a dose of STR.

Currently, I am a member of the Ubuntu Russian LoCo Team community, and I am its representative in Moscow. I got my first experience of implementing UBUNTU when I worked as a system administrator in the Administration of the Pskov Region (APO) for 2008. In those years, the theme of Ponosov and others about copyright was actively conspired. In order to program the legalization of software and operating systems on the AWP of employees, it was decided to take appropriate measures. The funds were respectively not available in the budget organization, and therefore they decided to switch to open source software at the management level. This is how ubuntisation began.


Photo from the scene of the UBUNTU presence (April 8). Assembly of Deputies. Unfortunately, there are no other photos.

Let us turn to the main topic of the article. We divide the whole process of implementing UBUNTU into 4 stages.

The first stage in the implementation of open source software at AWP is the choice of what the user will have on the table / knees.
It may be:

• thin client;
• laptop / netbook;
• stationary desktop PC of any form factor;

UBUNTU is well placed on all these solutions, but on thin clients in most cases (90%) it will be used as a terminal. Terminal connection server can also be on UBUNTU.


The result of the first stage is such that UBUNTU can be supplied to all types of workstations, as well as to the server of terminal connections.

It is important for specialist implementation. By installing UBUNTU to the user, you get a completely controlled environment. I recommend to think in advance about the means of protecting the OS from being erased by the user at the hardware level and your remote access from any available Internet, as well as service scripts. I also recommend mastering the creation of your own distributions assemblies, with your own non-dull wallpaper.
Instructions for creating your distribution: remastersys

In the second stage of implementation, we need to get acquainted with the user's desktop.
We will break into categories of typical office software:

• To work with the network and the Internet
• To work with graphics processing
• For work with text documents and tabular documents
• Multimedia / Games
• Remote Desktop Management

All these applications are duplicated by analogs on free software. For a complete list of compliant software for paid to freely distributed, see here: link


The result of this stage should be a fully trained user for using open source software.

It is important for specialist implementation. Be careful about the documents the user works with, because library office only partially replaces MS Office functionality, and if important documents lose their formatting, it will be very bad. There is a tricky version, if you don’t live without MS, then you can make a terminal application server based on MS Windows, by installing there a minimum number of RDS licenses. Be sure at this stage to train the user and take a receipt that all his necessary files are in place.

In the third stage, you need to consider the collective work of users. Here you can bring the following list of fronts of work:

• Printers / scanners and other peripheral equipment
• shared folders
• data backup
• user management and software update

When connecting equipment, you should make a list of the available and read in this document on the compatibility of equipment with UBUNTU link , so as not to waste time. If you have, for example, a network printer, then it will definitely work on Ubuntu.
Network storage of files without any problems is organized on UBUNTU, and also full control over user directories and automation of work with them, for example, backup, is easily organized.
Data backup is necessary for common network directories, as well as important documents of the user himself. It is important to explain to the user that only a certain directory guarantees the safety of his information.
You can control a remote PC using both hands (ssh / vnc) and automated in various ways. It is important to determine for yourself the ways / tools to control a remote PC.



The result of this stage is an absolutely transparent scheme of the user's presence in the IT infrastructure and minimal control over it.

It is important for specialist implementation. Choose management tools that you know how to use. If you write scripts perfectly, but do not use LDAP, then write further scripts until you are confident in your knowledge and do not get enough experience to migrate users to LDAP.

At the fourth stage , we need to build a list of all possible hazards (threats) and have the means to solve them.
Let's give a list of hazards, which partially echoes the previous steps:

• the danger that users will delete OS UBUNTU
• the danger that the user will mess up with the desktop, for example, hide the program panel
• danger of accidentally deleting files from a shared directory
• computer viruses
• theft of a laptop with corporate data
• unauthorized software update
• Information leakage, loss of user control
• And so on

Having built a list of threats, you can start looking for measures to address them.
The danger in the form of removing the OS we decided on the hardware level in the first step.
Any desktop settings, you can restore the script and reboot the system.
Deleting files is governed by the frequency of data backup.
There are no viruses on UBUNTU, except for malware that the user of the conscious can only install manually.
Theft of laptops with data is solved by the basic functionality of UBUNTU for encrypting the user directory and storing all data on a remote server.
Software update is a big problem when the system is fully operational for years when it is used in normal conditions. Any software update may affect its functionality and may lead to the appearance of new undocumented bugs.
Information leakage is quite difficult to deal with. Here, the best way is to reduce user rights in the system and complete logging of all events, including the buffer.


The outcome of this phase is complete control over all threats.

It is important for specialist implementation. You can describe for yourself another model of threats and determine their level of importance and means of control.

Thank you for reading to the end.

Here we come to the most important result that it is not at all necessary to implement paid software and operating systems, when, if the user's work has the character of typical office work, then you can perfectly solve these tasks with the help of OSS and UBUNTU in particular.
Distribution UBUNTU is free and will never be paid, like all updates from him.

Last tip from the author: Use only the LTS version of the UBUNTU distribution.
If you have difficulties in working with the system, then please visit our forum: forum.ubuntu.ru. We will be glad to see you.