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Script Start Going Open Source

Entrigue Systems will release Script Start, a Windows logon scripting tool, free of charge to open source developers in September. The aim is to spur custom development of Script Start -- something for which its users have been clamoring, according to Entrigue's President Jon McDonald.

"The open source community and our users have repeatedly requested that we make Script Start open source so that the solution can more fully and rapidly adapt to specific corporate and system integrator implementations," McDonald said in a prepared statement.

Essentially a logon script processor, Script Start provides a GUI-based tool to let network admins map drives, install printers, configure Outlook profiles, adjust Internet proxy settings, configure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections and customize clients during user logon. The goal is to help in-house IT professionals focus their attention on more important projects, rather than running from cube to cube.

To get the release rolling, Entrigue will obtain Open Source Initiative approval for Script Start. Entrigue officials are still deciding on whether the company will license the software under the GPLv2 or GPLv3 licenses. The company will also launch an online forum to help Script Start developers share updated code, techniques and information.

Entrigue will continue providing a commercial version with full customer support and service at $990 per domain controller with an unlimited number of client machines.

About the Author

David Kopf is a freelance technology writer and marketing consultant, and can be reached at [email protected].