Re: Need a bit of Raspberry Pi action
The problem with that is are there MDM systems that can manage an entire fleet of Raspberry Pis (or any Linux machines) from one keyboard/mouse?
I am genuinely interested in this as at work, we have a need for a lot of digital signs, and my own preference would be for RPis rather than some windows PC built into the display. Windows has System Center, which, while it's often a strange beast, and also a pain in the arse, does make it relatively easy to manage a fleet of machines, whether your fleet is 1,000 or 1,000,000.
The reason I say this is that I've noticed a lot of people suggest various Linux based solutions when El Reg posts something like this, but these companies don't just need a solution that is cheap. They need a solution they can distribute to thousands of places with little or no technician involvement, They need a solution they can also monitor and maintain in those thousands of places with little or no technician involvement. System center does offer that.
It's also worth remembering that if you buy (or licence) a product from someone, the law offers you a lot of protection in the event that product doesn't deliver what you requested. Protection which you may not get if you go for any open source product (you will get some protection if you hire an outside contractor to install/support it, but that will likely only apply to the services they provide and may not provide any help in the event the product itself fails).
I am not knocking Linux, the Pi, or Open Source at all. I am fans of all three, but making the point that when specifying a system for Enterprise use, you have to think of a lot more than just the cost and OS. You do have to think of things like scalability, will the project still be active in 5 years, ten years or event longer. I've seen various open source projects just stop with no warning when the lead maintainer does something else. When installing a system across thousands of computers, you can't just switch to another product if support for yours is terminated, and you can't keep using the same product because if there are security flaws, they will likely not be patched.
Companies supporting large installations of their products tend not to do that, often giving month or years notice before ending support for a major product, because they know their clientele can't switch quickly. New versions need to be tested properly before roll out.