The purpose of this paper was to point out benefits of Free software and realize them by implementing a workstation based on Free software. First, we looked into the definition of Free licensing and Free software. Using the Free software definition, we pointed out various material and immaterial benefits of Free software. To realize these benefits, we searched for a complete package of Free software to form a complete workstation. To try the criteria against real life demands, Helsinki Business Polytechnic Helia was used as a case example. Based on the evaluation of demands, a system was described and implemented, resulting in a meta-distribution. Finally, possible cost effects of rolling out this distribution to production workstations was briefly discussed.

The work resulted in a meta-distribution that was implemented and installed into several computers in non-production environment in Helia. It was shown that Free software solution can provide Free alternatives to programs that were in use in the case organization. Only a couple of legacy programs did not have Free alternatives, but for those, other solutions were described to allow usage from Free workstations. Details of implementing central authentication were left for further research. As a result of wide availability of Free software, nearly all licensing costs can be eliminated from workstations. Administration tools tested show great promise of reducing manual work compared to current situation in case organization. Administration will also be made easier by the lack of virii and simplified license handling.

Previous research has handled the development process of Free software well. This area is evolving fast, and some papers on Free software from end-user organization point of view was published during the writing of this paper. Still, there has been little academic research on implementing Free software solution on workstations before.

It seems that the license should be given a high priority on software choice, preferring software that uses the licenses recommended in this paper, or at least meets the Free software definition. In addition to removing licensing costs, a Free license can help combining the benefits of tailor-made and shrink wrap software. It can also improve security both in technical and legal sense. Many organizations could benefit from Free workstations, even though there are transition costs that are difficult to forecast. Based on the experiences in the case organization, the possible move to Free workstations can be a slow, gradual process, where Free software is first used together with proprietary software.

The main limitation of this thesis was the lack of a large scale market test. The best way to test the solutions presented here would be installing the proposed solution in at least 500 production workstations, but the time frame of a thesis does not allow the luxury of waiting until such a big move is decided and implemented. However, many limited tests were done in both test and production environment. All systems recommended here have been tested by both writer and other users in Helia computer laboratories, producing hundreds of pages of documented experiences. New Free software was installed in Helia’s production workstation during (and probably because of) this research, even though Linux is not yet officially supported in production environment in Helia. Draft versions of this paper and related documents have produced a lot of feedback from Finland and abroad.

Possible further studies should concentrate on a larger scale market test, and detailed cost analysis based those experiences. On the technical side, centralized authentication with LDAP with integration to other systems, even over organizational borders, could simplify user authentication and help sharing resources. New advanced methods of file sharing, such as AFS, could prove interesting in improving security, availability and better support for moving users. Technical research reaching further could look into resource sharing, new methods for software installation and lighter workstations. Resource sharing, such as harnessing the processing power of idle workstations, has frameworks in the low level in Linux, but not yet too many practical implementations.

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