In the beginning there were only the mainframes. Administration only
required configuration of one system. Users accessed the mainframe from
dumb terminals. Everyone had access to the same resources and had the same
software, because everyone was on the same system. Then came the personal
computer. Users all got their own systems, and system administration
became exponentially more difficult. LTSP gives us a way to get the
terminal server, singular administration and control we admins want and
still give users the warm fuzzy interface, speed and freedom they want.
One system, one set of updates, one place to make changes. We're going to
look in to some of the history of LTSP, overview the technology involved,
and some of the many potential applications. Finally we'll look at the
best way to implement LTSP, and how its working in production in our
corporate environment.