On 08/05/07, Jan Claeys <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Op vrijdag 04-05-2007 om 11:01 uur [tijdzone -0400], schreef Johnathan > Falk: > > One of the biggest things that linux users forget all the time is that > > Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly because of their pretty desktop because if > > desktop beauty was the deciding factor we would all use OS X. The biggest > > thing is that one a windows server you can have Ldap + Kerberos + File > > Serving setup in under 10 minutes with no hassle. On windows its "Hey do you > > want to install Active Directory? Ok I can do that for you type your dns > > domain name and admin password POOF! I'm done." > > And then the result is that Windows-admins don't understand how it > actually works...? ;-) > > But you're right that that is one of the things that makes Microsoft & > Apple popular. It's also why Ubuntu is rather popular too, even if we > don't have as many one-click-wizards (or even zero-click-wizards) yet. >
I think you just pointed out the crux of the matter. To be more precise I think what Ubuntu Server is lacking is decent configuration tools. A few programs provide web-interfaces for configuration, but most of the time you are forced to edit the configuration files by hand. Each configuration file has it's own format and is hidden in it's own secret location. While this is no problem to the advanced admin it can provide a rather high entrance barrier. What Ubuntu needs is a centralised administration framework. Something that can have multiple UIs for different functionality, but with a single backend. I wrote a spec[1] on this topic a while back, but have not gotten around to implementing it. It would also be possible to just write a simple wizard to setup the system AD style via ssh, but that would not be nearly as elegant. Some form of remote administration really is a must if Ubuntu, either as a stand-alone server or as a unified solution) is to be marketed towards the SMB market and I would very much like his to become a priority for Canonical/Ubuntu. Arwyn [1]https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/remote-administration-server -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
