grep 'Open Sense Solutions' FOSSBiz

LXer Feature: 23-Aug-2006 Grepping for businesses that focus solely, or even mostly, on FOSS is prooving to be quite a challenge. Open Sense Solutions is a Greenbay, Wisconsin-based provider of GNU/Linux desktop solutions. Their Groovix public access system is not only popular, but libre too. Michael Pardee was kind enough to answer the questions Don Parris threw at him.

Open Sense Solutions, LLC is a Greenbay, Wisconsin-based provider of GNU/Linux desktop solutions. Their Groovix public access system is not only popular, but libre too. Michael discusses the technology and cost savings that Groovix offers, as well as some other aspects of Open Sense Solutions' business.

Tell me about your consulting services. What sorts of customization do you offer?

We specialize in desktop GNU/Linux, but we've worked on other Open Source projects ranging from a photo sharing website to an Internet-filtering proxy server. We like to talk with organizations, find out what their needs are, and deliver a complete custom system that meets all of their requirements. Because the software is all Open Source, we can change everything about it. We can translate the interface to a different language, change the default behavior, make it more user-friendly, interface to other site-specific systems, or add completely new functionality. Most customizations are very simple, but would be impossible with closed source software.

What are some of the things you can do with Groovix?

Groovix SLIM software enables Simultaneous Local Independent Multi-user operation. This effectively turns one computer into two or more from a user perspective. We accomplish this by adding extra video cards, USB keyboards and mice, sound cards, and USB slots for memory sticks. Groovix public-access computing software provides a secure, private, and simple computing environment. This environment can be run completely from a live CD or DVD, or installed on the hard drive.

Our Groovix enhancements to Ubuntu simulate having your machine set-up by a Linux expert. These enhancements include our own repositories and utilities to tweak hardware and software settings. We install extra programs and have an automatic "non-free" software installation utility for programs that we cannot pre-install due to licensing issues. Our enhancements are a little like the "Automatix" or "Easy Ubuntu" programs, except we do not enable repositories from untrusted sources and focus on the hardware that we support. One of our most popular features is the Connect2Groovix utility which allows customers to share their screens with us for easy debugging and training.

When a Groovix system goes idle, a user's settings are erased. How does that work? Are users warned that they have been idle too long?

In the Groovix public-access environment, the home directory and any other files created by that user are deleted on log out, and new defaults are copied into place for the next user. Timeouts and warning methods can be specified by the administrator. In a typical case, if no keyboard or mouse activity has been detected for five minutes, a warning pops up and gives 30 seconds before logging the user out. In other cases where there is high traffic, one minute of idle time is followed by five seconds of screen fading until the user is logged out. We can also specify a maximum session time with a warning when the time limit is approaching.

Your Groovix configuration page offers sound for up to six users. What about the other 4 users, in a 10-user configuration?

We are proud to openly list pricing for basic configurations on our web site, but once you go beyond a 4-user system we prefer to talk to the customer and make specific recommendations tailored to their usage. If multimedia applications will be used regularly, six users per machine is our recommended limit, although 10 users with sound is feasible for some situations.

Based on what I've seen, it looks like an organization could save approximately $200-$400 per user, plus up to $400 per year in electricity costs over a 10-box LAN setup. Is that about what you're seeing happen with your customers?

The University of Vermont told us that they saved 50% on their upfront hardware costs alone by switching to Groovix 4-user public-access computers. Your numbers agree with our estimates suggesting 50-80% total cost of ownership savings compared to Windows single-user computers. Even compared to a GNU/Linux thin client solution, a Groovix multi-user solution can save an organization 50% while improving performance. Besides the obvious hardware, software, administration, and electricity costs, customers are also seeing cost reductions in other areas, such as only having to pay their facility for one network drop instead of ten.

How many GNU/Linux (Groovix and Ubuntu) boxes have you sold in the last 6 months?

About 50. We like to sell complete systems and guarantee operation right out of the box, but now we're starting to see more software-only sales. Ubuntu's great hardware compatibility is reducing our dependence on a specific set of hardware. With our automatic installer and Connect2Groovix screen sharing, we can help people get a Groovix system up and running anywhere in the world without having to ship hardware.

Do you offer GNU/Linux training as well as support?

We do not offer any formal training programs. However, when a customer calls with a question, we like to educate them (if they're interested) instead of just fixing their immediate problem. For some customers we handle all of the administration remotely, but for some large deployments we end up doing a fair amount of training.

What are your support hours?

Our official hours are 9-5 central time, but we routinely set up appointments for support after hours and check voice and e-mail for urgent issues. We have received many compliments on our support and that is one of our greatest strengths.

Do you offer standard servers with GNU/Linux pre-installed?

We have set up a few servers for customers who bought hardware from us, but we are mainly focused on desktop GNU/Linux. We are occasionally tempted to enter the large Linux server market, but our expertise is in desktop Linux and we want to focus and capitalize on this growing market.

Do you offer Windows-to-GNU/Linux migration consulting?

Definitely. About half of our customers are switching to Linux from Windows and they are relying on us to hold their hand through the process. Most Linux users know how easy Linux is once you are familiar with it, but forget how hard it was to get started. Large organizations usually have hardware, software, processes, and attitudes in place that need to be evaluated before switching. Sometimes customers are not ready to switch to Linux, but we recommend changes that will help them transition to Linux in the future.

Who are your customers (businesses, individuals, non-profit orgs)?

We sell to everyone. We are very popular with libraries, universities, schools, and Linux-related businesses. We also sell to Linux newbies, Linux experts, families, retirees, and students. We focus primarily on the U.S., but we've done some international business and see interest from all over the world. Because everything we do is Open Source, we don't know how many other people have downloaded and used our software.

What kind of fluctuation do you see, in terms of business growth? Are your sales picking up? Are you seeing more interest in GNU/Linux

We are seeing slow but steady growth, and have learned a lot about the importance of marketing. General interest in GNU/Linux is growing rapidly, and so are the number of businesses trying to capitalize on it.

What is the most common challenge you face in selling boxes with GNU/Linux pre-installed?

Hardware. Most Linux companies don't want to touch hardware, and for good reason. Every 6-12 months the manufacturers stop making the motherboard we spent weeks choosing and testing. By the time Linux drivers are ready for new hardware, that hardware is often not produced anymore. The situation is a lot better now than 5 years ago, but it is still a significant challenge to guarantee 100% Linux compatibility. Some manufacturers have started to mention Linux compatibility, but for the most part you are not guaranteed anything when a new model comes out. We'd prefer to sell software only, but until more hardware manufacturers can guarantee full Linux compatibility, we see hardware/software integration in our lab as the only way to guarantee a perfect system.

There are lots of stereotypical descriptions of users who just can't use GNU/Linux. Do you see any particular stereotype being destroyed?

On a small scale, we have successfully destroyed the "Linux is only for geeks" myth. Wine, CrossOver Office from Codeweavers, Cedega from TransGaming, and virtualization technologies will be crucial in destroying other stereotypes. Once existing specialty applications can run seamlessly under Linux, Linux adoption will skyrocket.

Footnotes, Links, etc.

Ed. The article incorrectly stated that the Connect2Groovix utility is non-free. Everything Open Sense does is libre, including Connect2Groovix.

• Open Sense Solutions, LLC