The Linux Experience at Woven Thorns Productions

The Background:
After spending around 15 years running our applications on Microsoft based operating systems, we at Woven Thorns Productions have switched all of our office computers to Ubuntu Linux. This switch was not made as a whim, and was not an easy decision to come to. There were fears of lack of hardware support, costs of training, and availability and costs of support.

We have been using the Adobe Creative Suite for all of the graphics on the Woven Thorns Productions website, as well as various client websites. We have also become reliant on the Macromedia Studio MX 2004 collection of web development applications, specifically Dreamweaver MX2004 and Flash MX2004. None of these products are available for Linux, and making the switch would mean we are no longer able to create media with the same tools we are trained on and have experience with. Despite the difficulty of switching to a new platform of media development applications, the "coming soon" animation on the home page of www.woventhorns.com will mark the last document created with an Adobe or Macromedia product until they open the source to the general public.

The Reasoning:
Despite the overwhelming popularity of Microsoft products and the applications that work well with them, WTP has chosen to avoid the restrictions incurred within Closed Source licenses. If a particular application does not work on our hardware, and we know how to modify it to work, Open Source licenses allow us to make these modifications, Closed Source licenses do not. In fact, Microsoft would be within their legal rights to sue our business if we did make these modifications.

Another restriction when using closed source solutions is the lack of support. Truly knowledgable and in-depth support can only be obtained through the company that has access to the source code. With closed source applications, this means the company that created the software. If the company decides to stop supporting, or sunset, the application then we are left with a useless and often expensive application that would otherwise be supported by other development firms had they been granted access to the source code.

Security is also decreased when many closed source developers use the "They don't know where all the weak spots in the code are, so they probably won't exploit them" method of programming. Open Source developers are often accused of those weaknesses being exposed, but that only gives the product a greater chance of becoming more stable and more secure. Two illustrations I used in a recent siminar are:

1. Just because an inspector approves the quality of your building without actually visiting and inspecting it doesn't mean you don't run the risk of having a poor quality building that is ready to collapse.
2. Open Source code does not require passwords, database connection strings, nor data to be exposed, and if an individual having access to the source code jeapordizes the security and integrity of your software, then you need to rewrite your application.

The Result:
Woven Thorns Productions is now able to:

• Code and Test complex web aplications
• create 3d Models and animations
• edit video
• edit audio
• create complex spreadsheets
• create dynamic pivot charts and 3d graphs
• create raster and vector art
• check and send email
• browse the web
• remote into all of our servers and desktops with reliable security and encryption
• connect to our wireless network
• backup and restore files quickly and easily across the network
  
• and more...

All without paying any money whatsoever for software, training, or installation. The only fees we have paid are for hardware and internet access, which greatly reduces our cost of operations, and allows us to offer our products and services at a much more considerable rate.

All of our support issues have been solved promptly through free online support, and were we to run into a problem that would require modifying code, or simply more complex and in-depth troubleshooting, these services are provided by various vendors throughout the world, most of which charge less than support centers for closed source applications.

This blog is being posted from a widescreen laptop over our wireless network here at Woven Thorns Productions, and the only windows desktop left in the building (which happens to be sitting next to me at the moment) has lost its wireless connection about 5 times since I started typing. I have also had to defragment the hard-drive twice this month, and restart it at least 3 times due to software updates. The Linux-based laptop I am using has had over 15 updates this month, but has not required me to restart once, and the filesystem used by this laptop does not require defragmenting, no matter how often I create, delete, or move files.

The Bottom Line:
The computers running Linux have been easier to maintain, easier to connect to network devices (servers, printers, etc.), and have had fewer problems and maintenance issues combined than the single Windows XP machine that is sitting next to me.

Installing software has become as simple as clicking the "Applications" menu and then clicking on "Add Applications". We just browse through an intuitive menu of available applications which number in the hundreds and range from 3d rendering and video editing programs to email clients and office applications. The program downloads the applications from a reliable source, double-checks the download to be sure it is safe to install and has downloaded accurately, then installs the application and configures it for my machine.

Productivity has increased, and tech support issues has decreased, and it hasn't cost us a day of training nor a penny of license costs. We have no intentions of turning back, and are very pleased with our decision.