The Roaming Computing System (Windows Edition)
The Roaming Computing System (Windows Edition) is a complete, unified, organisation-wide, computing system.
Original implementation by Pete Boyd. Continued development by Pete Boyd and Matt Fawcett.
The system includes a server (running Debian, a Linux operating system); as many workstations as you want (running Windows XP and a wide range of free software applications); and a firewall. The server provides a domain for people to login to no matter which workstation they're using, file sharing, a print server and a mail server.
Here you'll find details of what this system comprises and guides to setting one up. The system has been developed since 1999 and continues to be developed now in 2008.
Main changelog | WPKG packages.xml changelog | todo list (plain text format)
Version 3 Series
Version 3.6 - Due mid 2010.
Version 3.5 - Released September 2009.
Version 3.4 - Released February 2009.
Version 3.3 - September 2008. A fairly minor release, adding some minor software, upgrading many software applications and fixing some issues. Notable updates: Firefox 3 major upgrade, OpenOffice 2.4.1 minor upgrade.
Version 3.2 - April 2008. Notable updates: OpenOffice 2.4; GIMP 2.4; Debian server 4.0; automated workstation software upgrades; pfSense firewall appliance; administer mailboxes using web browser.
Version 3.1 - June 2007 - added some new software applications and updated the rest; if no mail server required then it's now possible to use Debian 4.0.
Version 3.0 - November 2006 - totally updated system; new technique of automatically installing all software applications using WPKG; lots of new desktop applications; added print server; mail server moved from dedicated Windows server onto the Debian server; IPCop replaces FloppyFW firewall/router; updated TWEAK.
Version 2
Version 2 - 2002/2003 - Debian 3.0 domain server with Pegasus Mail 4.11 on the server. Windows 2000 Pro and Mercury Mail 3.32 on the mail server. Windows 2000 Pro, OpenOffice 1.0.3.1, Mozilla 1.3/1.3.1 Browser and Composer, IrfanView 3.80, NoteTab Light 4.92, Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.1, Nero 5.5.10.20, F-Prot anti-virus 3.12, Flash Player 6 and 7-Zip 2.30 beta 30 on workstations. FloppyFW firewall and router. TWEAK was developed to configure RCS 2.0 workstations. Minimum hardware required: Pentium II 366/450MHz equivalent CPU, 64/128MB RAM and 10GB hard disk for workstations; 10mbps network shared through hubs with 100mbps backbone.
Version 1
Version 1 - 1999 (and later updates) - Windows NT 4, Mercury Mail 3.?, Adobe PageMaker 6.52, Netscape 4.7x, Pegasus Mail 3.12c, Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.05 and Microsoft Office 97 on the server. Windows NT 4 and WinZip 8.0 on workstations. Minimum hardware required: 100MHz Pentium Classic equivalent CPU and 32MB RAM on workstations; 10mbps network shared through hubs.
Note there is no clean upgrade path from 1.0 to 2.0.