Stefano Mazzocchi wrote:
Keep in mind that sysadms configure stuff over the line, GUIs are useless in those cases. Even more: if you tell a sysadm that he/she has to use a GUI to configure something, he/she would not even consider using it.
Stefano, I'm have to disagree with on that.
A lot of Admins...
(i) Don't have the time to keep writing, adjusting scripts for simple task.
(ii) Don't have the ability to write those scripts
(iii) Are relunctant to use software that relies chiefly on the command line.
(iv) Delegate many of the admin task to less technically inclined staff.
For my current system, ie. Cyrus IMAP/POP + Sendmail feeding of LDAP, I've written hundreds maybe thousands of lines of PHP scripts to make it possible to administer the system. I now have to maintain that code, on top of all my other admin duties. Security issues and everything.
There are web based config systems for Cyrus + sendmail ( eg. http://www.ispman.org/ ), but they did not fit my configuration. Problems if you don't have a standard GUI for configuration...
(i) You ( the developer ) may alienate a portion of your users with non-standard builds of your software, or users that use fringe configs.
(ii) You may also be relying on sub standard quality software.
(iii) You may be forcing your user in a dependency hell, or configuration issues may raise the barrier of entry for you user.
I think it is essential for a project like James to have a builtin web based GUI, eg. like samba's config tool. Something that would be well documented. This would lower the barrier of entry for James users.
People wonder why a terrible piece of software like Microsoft Exchange has so much market share. It's because even a monkey can use it. And it's because if you're an overworked system administrator ( is there any other kind?? ), you can add a new user, reset a password, backup up the system while your trying to meet the deadline for a project status report.
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------------------------------------------------ Kervin Pierre
http://kervin.net/
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