On Wed, 2004-05-19 at 08:36, Martin Michlmayr - Debian Project Leader wrote: > One thing that I find difficult is the manual configuration of > common server tasks in Debian. I was installing a bunch > of Windows 2003 Servers *cough* *cough* recently for an > organization and was very intrigued with the Wizard interface > to setting up a server. All tasks including installing of server > components, or modifing typical server roles are through a > unified tool. Of course, manual hacking is still available.
Apart from the specific implementation ideas presented by this poster, it sounds to me like this is an as-yet unaddressed Custom Debian Distribution[0] opportunity, if there are developers who would be interested in undertaking such an effort. In other words, there ought to exist a CDD containing a variety of the best software within Debian targetted at admins wishing to set up a server box (or a set of server boxes) quickly and painlessly. Indeed, a recent network outage at work started me musing over whether it is currently possible to make a Debian "backup services" live CD for use during outages of our (Windows-based) office network. It ought to be simple enough to use so that our non-Linux-savvy net admins could boot the CD on one or more systems so that some basic alternate services are available while the systems running the primary services are undergoing maintenance. I don't believe there is anything like it available today, though I have not done an exhaustive search, so maybe I have overlooked something. Ben [0] http://wiki.debian.net/?CustomDebian -- synrg at debian dot org
