How to Run a Microsoft-Free Shop

STEP 7 We humbly asked Linux to remove Windows, Apache to remove IIS,Evolution to remove Outlook, Netscape 6.1 to remove Internet Explorerand StarOffice to remove Office.

With the game plan in place, set up a "sandbox" in one corner of theenterprise - a couple of servers and desktops, and some other hardwarefor networking and firewalls. Here, the various Linux applicationswill be brought online, tested, tweaked and prepared for deploymentthroughout the network.

STEP 8 We made a list of all business units we harmed and became willing tomake amends to all.

Prepare memos that list ways a particular application improvesoperations - whether it's saving disk space (Red Hat Linux distributionis about 25MB; Windows XP requires 2GB), memory, acquisition costs, orupgrade and maintenance costs. One CIO, though he thinks it's doubtfulhe could migrate away from Microsoft, says a major benefit would bethe time he'd take back for strategic planning. Right now, he wastestime figuring out how to proceed with nonstrategic products likeOffice.

STEP 9 We made direct amends to those business units (except when to do sowould have gotten us fired).