Small Office, Home Office

When starting a small office, home office, or small business, you run into a myriad a problems.  The greatest of which is the cost of starting up. Free/Open Source Software gets your business up and running with minimal costs. As your company grows, you will also not be burdened by restrictive and costly user licenses.

Ubuntu and Fedora Linux Operating Systems

Ubuntu Linux provides an easy to use and manage platform for your desktop and server. It comes with a wide range of easy to install free and open source software including productivity, finance and file and print services.

Office Productivity

OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.

OpenOffice.org is also compatible on a variety of platforms including older versions of Windows such as Windows ME and 2000.

It also supports the ISO OpenDocument format, which means that your business will be using an internationally recognised and interoperable document format that is supported by government and industry.

Personal Information Manager

Evolution provides integrated mail, addressbook and calendaring functionality to users of the GNOME desktop.

Free from worms and viruses, Evolution also provides intelligent junk email controls, web calendars, multiple account management and desktop intergration with instant messanging and easy access to your tasks and schedule right on your desktop.

Business Software

In addition to spreadsheets, there are several finance and human resource applications that can help you run your business. SQL Ledger and GNUCash help you manage your accounts. SugarCRM for customer relationship management.

Office Server

Out of the box, Linux operating systems come with easy to use and manage file and print sharing, safe internet connection sharing and firewalls. Better yet, they do not come with expensive user licenses and are not limited in any way. Be assured that your IT costs will not spiral out of control with unmanageble and costly user licenses. Take advantage of enterprise features and free upgrades that would otherwise not be affordble as your business grows.

Printing and Faxing

Most Hewlett Packard Printers and All-In-Ones are supported by Linux thanks to their open source drivers.

Support

Whether you are a do-it-yourself shop what works with the community for support, or would prefer to hire support staff or service providers you have multiple options. For businesses looking for capable IT staff that can give you a leg up on your competition by implementing FOSS solutions, look for LPI Certified IT staff.