The UMBC Linux Users Group Mailing List

[Date Prev]
[Date Next]
[Date Index]
[Thread Prev]
[Thread Next]
[Thread Index]
Match: Format: Sort by:
Search:

Research Problem


I am the Controller of a small company.  Last year when I took this job, I inherited a Windows/Novell network.  The company's IT systems are plagued with problems because the former owner and Controller always bought cheap stuff and had no clue how any of the IT stuff worked.  Although I am not an IT person, I have gained more than a little knowledge over the years and now the systems here are adequate but not perfect by any means.  I told my boss that we need to upgrade and we need some conformity in our systems.  He has asked me to get together some figures on what it would cost to upgrade everything (not that we could ever do it all at once) but he wants me to price out several different operating systems.  He has read some things about how inexpensive Linux is and so here I am trying to gather info.
 
These are the programs that we are currently using that absolutely need to run on whatever system we go with:
 
CADD2000 by AutoDesk  (this is our business!)
Adobe Photoshop
Quickbooks
Timeslips
Palm Pilot
 
I have called these companies and none of them support their product on Linux.  I need to know if these programs can be made to run and run well on Linux.  If so, how much programming time am I looking at to get them up and running?  I am going to start calling IT companies but I thought maybe you computer whizzes could give me an idea so I would know when I am being sold a bill of goods.
 
                                                                                            Lynda