Immigration consultancy Malcolm Pacific says it is saving money by using a pure Linux and "open-source" desktop and server system instead of an equivalent Microsoft Windows-based environment.
Linux-based open-source environments feature free software and are growing in popularity, although regional surveys have found that New Zealand has beenslower than other countries to adopt them.
Malcolm Pacific, owned by ex-politician Aussie Malcolm, set up its four-user system for The Hunters Club, a newly-opened facility for immigrants needing a computer to hunt for jobs or get business activity off the ground.
It is being considered a pilot project which may lead to a 50-user installation at Malcolm Pacific's head office.
Sun Microsystems' Open Office, the public licence version of Star Office, has been used for word processing and other office applications.
Mozilla is used for the web browser, X-windows and Gnome provide the Windows-style user interface and Ximian is used for email for the secretary.
But immigrants are expected to use public email services available via the browser.
"All this software is a free download," said IT manager Scott Wylie.
The hardware and setting-up costs, including installation by Auckland Linux consultancy Asterisk, were $13,500. Hardware included a server, four diskless PC workstations and a printer.
It took four days to configure and test the system and two hours to put it together at The Hunters Club.
Wylie said the equivalent quote for a Microsoft-based system was $16,500 and he estimated installation would have added $2000 to that.
He said the decision to use Linux took two to three months. A lot of that time was searching for software suitable for the business.
"You have to filter through the myriad of free products and see what works for you."
He said the system ran remotely with little need for administration. The PCs had been configured to be basically just terminals, using software called Linux Terminal Server to link them to the server.
"I can remotely administer it. I can do nearly everything from a remote location across a secure link," said Wylie.
The server is an AMD 1800 processor-based system and Wylie said usually only 0.5 per cent of its CPU power was used, although it sometimes jumped to 10 per cent.
He expects the system will grow easily with the firm for the next five to seven years, with little need for software upgrades.
