Using Debian in Commercial Environments?

sydb asks: "I am currently persuading my employer to try out Linux. We are heavily dependent on IBM software technologies just now, and it's a very conservative operations organization. As a challenge, I am trying to persuade them to use my preferred distro but there are hurdles: IBM doesn't officially support Debian as a platform, though I have anecdotal evidence that most of it can be persuaded to work (with alien etc). Does Slashdot have experience shoe-horning Debian into this kind of scenario? Most importantly, how have things gone getting IBM support? My rationale for pushing Debian boils down to its vast array of packages available to apt-get, easy upgrades, apt-get itself, and the overall quality and consistency of the system."

Conservative and don't like Debian?

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine if you tried to introduce them to Gentoo! They'd probably faint.

Dear slashdot

[Mike Hawk]

Despite the fact that my employer has a software environment that they are comfortable with, and that I have very little to gain and everything to lose, I have moved my software evangelism to the workplace. Can you help?

I know!

[blankslate]

... just skin it up like XP and don't tell them?

Re:Dear slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes... try Debian. The answer to a question no one asked.

Debian + Commercial

[starling]

Wouldn't that result in some kind of explosion?

Re:Conservative and don't like Debian?

[mrchaotica]

Hey, that sounds like a plan! Upgrade all the systems while they're asleep!

Sys Admin Rule #1...

[vwjeff]

If something goes wrong, make sure you can blame someone else.

Why do so many people stay with Microsoft? Here is your answer.

Re:What have you been smoking?

[jdreed1024]

Either you live in some alternate universe in which vendors work on bugs for individual users

No, but I live in the universe where, for a large sum of money in the form of yearly support contract, a vendor will fix a bug that's screwing over a large company if you hound them enough.