Linux

Recently, I asked for opinions on desktop Linux. Thanks very much to those that replied. I've set up an old laptop as an experiment. I'm using Debian, Gnome, and Systemimager. It's been an interesting project (especially getting SystemImager and a splash screen program to do what I want).

I'd like for my desktop machines to mount /home over the network. I could use NFS, but of course that has all the well-known security risks. Is there a better network filesystem that is easy to use, fast, and more secure than NFS?

I'm brainstorming about ways of setting up Linux desktops machines for people used to Window users on a LAN. It could be any size of LAN.

I'd like people to be able to sit down at any Linux machine on the LAN and log in -- probably use a LDAP directory for that, and NFS-mounted home directories. I wouldn't want to NFS-mount the entire thing for performance reasons.

So, some of the things I'm thinking about are:

• Desktop environment: KDE or Gnome? Which would give Windows users all the tools they'd want? Which would they feel most at home with? I'm thinking it's KDE, but Gnome has a more polished "feel" too it.


• Image management. How could the desktops be updated? Just rsync everything except fstab over? Can we actually have a single system image? Is XOrg powerful enough to just recognize hardware at boot and Do The Right Thing? Can we build a unified initrd somehow?


• Distribution. Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu? Do the Ubuntus bring anything to the table, if we take as a given that an experienced Debian admin is managing all this?


• Laptops. What do we do about the home directories there? Some sort of automated rsync thingy?


• Installation. FAI? Or some homegrown thing that just boots up, partitions, and runs rsync?