Where is the 'plug-and-play' Linux office system?
Imagine a computer network for small businesses that costs less than half as much as most companies now spend on their desktops and servers, never needs expensive on-site service calls, and always has the latest software and security patches without the business owner even thinking about it. This has been technically feasible with Linux for at least five years, but no one has gone to the trouble of marketing it. I hope someone decides to build and sell a true "plug-and-play" Linux office computer system soon. It would revolutionize the way small businesses buy and use computers.
My friend Joe Volodorsky and I first started talking about something like this back in 1998. Joe owned (and still owns) AmNet Computers in Baltimore. We roughed out a plan for a "buy or lease" client/server system running Linux that could be maintained and updated remotely. Since Joe was and still is a short-handed, underfunded custom server builder, we contacted other Linux hardware and software companies to see if they would be interested in setting up something like this, with Joe as a "test case" reseller.
