Linux may be cheap, but you can't simply mix, measure and pour. Just like any great recipe, it takes time, effort and mistakes.
Linux isn't just making headlines, it's cooking up some business. The day surely will come when a customer asks you to concoct an Internet server solution based on Linux. Hey, no problemââ,¬"you're a smart systems integrator, right? While installing and building Linux servers has never been simpler, if you've never done it before, it's easy to miss a pinch of this or a pat of that and get burned. There are many ways to roll a Linux-based solution, and not all of them will fit your customers' specific needs.
So it is that we followed the trials and tribulations of a small New Jersey-based brick-and-mortar cellular-telephone equipment reseller, First Communications.
First Comm recently decided to use Linux to build its first Internet server. The company decided on Linux because of its low entry cost and the abundance of free software. While the company's internal tech-support staff and integrator had ample experience with Windows NT and NetWare, they didn't know Unix or Linux.
They quickly discovered that the Linux world was quite different and rife with issues they had never anticipated. Sound like a recipe for disaster to you? Pull up a chair, and read on.
