It seems to me that there are at least two different dimensions to
this whole area:
1. Server configuration: namely, managing the directives that define
the server's operating environment
2. Server management: starting/stopping/reloading, checking log
files, etc. - day-to-day stuff
The former is likely to be a major undertaking, particularly with
the potential for a complete rework of the config grammar for Apache
2.0. The latter, however, ought to be reasonably do-able with what
we have now. It also shouldn't require a lot of Deep Thought. As
someone pointed out earlier, perhaps the Netscape model of a
separate admin server to do this stuff to the main one is a good
place to start. For a first pass, a package of CGI scripts ought to
get us going, which can possibly be turned into a real module later.
Security is a significant issue.
I'm a little concerned about the notes I've been reading about
efforts to do GUI stuff in C++, or the latest Java workbench
environment, or whatever. I think we shouldn't lose sight of the
fact that Apache is currently (though not for long ;-) UNIX-only,
and not all of these environments are going to be available for all
the various UNIces. Nor will a fancy NT-GUI tool fly with someone
who uses an X-based workstation. Let's try and keep a fairly common
denominator..
#ken :-)}
