Ian,

I agree with Aju. An indication of the chapter headings to date would help people viewing your post decide on other entries so as not to repeat what you already have.

Jim B

People,

My own view here is that, generally speaking, the move to Open Source requires some good reference points (or, more likely, comparisons) so that the journey of a thousand steps feels like the camping holiday you had last year, but in a different county, country or continent, depending on your experience.

Having been down this road before, my 'chapters' in the manual would look like this:

1. Where to start or, more correctly, where are you starting from?

This would need to cover the basics in terms of identifying: the kind of infrastructure currently deployed; the anthology of applications currently used within the set-up
; security etc. Getting the needs of the users (oand how to make sure that the impact on the users is kept to a minimum)

2. Where do you want to go, and how long have you got to get there?

Here, we would like to be thinking about the likely components necessary to, perhaps, 'mimic' what currently exists in the 'Microsoft World' and suggest some steps which can be taken to minimise the impact of any changes along the way.  In addition, some suggested 'bedding in' or tiral period for each change, depending on the urgency of the project.

3. Where to shop for Open Source Freeware

Suggestions of good examples of operating systems, software applications and tutorials which will make it easier to get to where we want to go.

4. One step at a time and stick to doing the simple things well

Advice on making the first and subsequent steps, suggesting hardware to suit the task in hand, installation of the operating system, 'finding your feet' etc. Offer some 'minimum steps' which should help to get you close to your destination with the minimum fuss.

That's all I have for the moment.  I hope it helps ...