very useful to include a  snapshot  list of currently available applications. Instead, 

we direct you to learn more by visiting the Linux at IBM Solutions page:

http://www.ibm.com/linux/solutions

4.5  Client administration planning

This section describes some methods for efficient administration of the Linux 

client. For a corporate network with more than 20 clients or so it becomes 

impractical to install and maintain clients individually. An added advantage for 

maintenance of the Linux client is that remote logon is possible, either through 

ssh, telnet, or even an xterm connection.

The topics discussed in this section have to do with administering installed Linux 

clients after a migration. We do not discuss initial installation or roll out of the 

Linux clients in this section. Topics in this section are relevant to migration 

planning, as it is important to consider the impact of post migration administrative 

tasks.

At the end of the section we highlight two enterprise desktop distributions to 

show how the administration issues are solved using tools provided by those 

products.

Planning tip:

 Even though this section provides details on daily 

administration tasks, after a migration, these topics are still relevant. It is very 

important to consider the impact of post migration administrative tasks during 

migration planning.

4.5.1  Operating system and vendor distribution updates

Keeping up with security concerns, and a constant stream of enhancements and 

bug fixes that are submitted by the OSS community as well as distribution 

vendors, means that there is an essentially continuous stream of updates and 

patches that are available. Methods for managing the update process include:

Automation of all OS updates and patches.

Facilitate the OS update process for the end user.

Force critical OS updates and patches when necessary.

In the automatic update process the operating system will be updated at regular 

intervals. This means that a client will never be  out of date . The process is 

completely out of the end user's control.

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Linux Client Migration Cookbook   A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide for Migrating to Desktop Linux