I’m partially involved in a project that aims for the full replacement of Windows as a desktop OS in a BIG institution in the autonomous goverment in Valencia. Although I don’t want to give too much details by now, I’ve proposed to the project manager a strategy based on Fedora/CentOS/Red Hat.

The main problem of a big institution is there are several kinds of desktop users (and desktop needs). In a first approach we’ve defined three variables:

• Features: Do we need the shiny new features of the desktop world, or can we live with outdated (but stable) applications? In this variable Fedora is a big winner as a cutting edge distribution.
• Stability: I know that new applications can be stable enough, but for the user that only does ‘1, 2, 3’ every day, it doesn’t matter if there’s Firefox 3.5 or 1.5. We want stability and support as long as possible without upgrading. Here I suggest CentOS.
• Support: Sometimes the work in a desktop is critical and we may need paid support, and Red Hat has a good reputation for our customer, so RHEL is the best choice.

Another big problem is the number of desktops, and a nice tool to help administrate all the computers would be a good point for the proposition (we’re providing solutions, not new problems heh).

The bonus is that we can manage all three distributions with Spacewalk (or Red Hat Network Satellite, although the reason behind the desktop migration is money), and the customer loves the idea of a three level solution related to the same vendor.

I’m optimistic about this project, and customer feedback it’s also good, so I’ll keep you informed.