From: "Richard Chang" richard@hinditron.com
I just want to shift to FLOSS and know that all the above are possible using LINUX. I want to, in >addition to the above, implement a messaging server thru which we can chat within our office. Is there >any such application thru which we can chat, using "gaim" or something. Provided we are not >connected to the Net always. I want to be able to chat with one-other. I know it is possible in M$ world >using I believe Exchange Server or something like that and Netmeeting on the client side. Is this
possible in our TUX world and if yes are there any free software
available.
Yep, all of this is possible with GNU/Linux. First, choose the distro you would like to use for the server and clients. I would recommend a more "user friendly" distro for the client PCs while a more functional(read: server oriented) distro for the gateway. I guess you have all the networking infrastructure already.
1. Internet Connection Sharing: Use NAT(Network Address Translation) & IP masquerading. It can be implemented using IPtables. Or if you want to keep tabs on the employees use Squid. Squid is a proxy server.
2. Chatting : Use jabber. It's free and gaim supports it ;) You need not connect to the internet because you want localized chatting. Ofcourse, once you're connected to the internet you can use gaim to chat in all supported networks.
As for Ms.Word, Excel, etc... I suppose you can use OpenOffice.org. But you will need fast machines for acceptable usability. Give us details about your network and I guess we can help you setup your network ;)
Regards, Dinesh.
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