Disappointed with Ubuntu Server, could be used by such a wider audience

[George Farris]

On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 10:18 -0500, Tony Yarusso wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Anthony Watters
> <tonyozwatters at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > The Ubuntu server should come in two offerings; i.e. the unfriendly existing
> > Ubuntu server, and, more importantly to the masses, a friendly
> > pre-configured Ubuntu server that uses SME Server (http://smeserver.com) and
> > ClarkConnect (http://clarkconnect.com) as a starting point only not
> > crippled, and much better.
> 
> a)  It's not unfriendly to those who run servers and know how these
> things are supposed to work.
> b)  Servers absolutely should not come pre-configured, as that would
> mean that they were full of bloat and unnecessary applications (along
> with the security risks of having too many ports open), and would
> likely not be correctly configured for anyone.
> c)  I don't know what SME Server even is, since they don't have a
> functional web site.  Why would I trust anything like that?
> d)  ClarkConnect looks largely like what I mentioned in b) -
> installing everything by default so you have as much bloat and open
> entry points as possible, something no server admin would touch with a
> 20-foot pole.
> 

Wow, this response seems to completely missed the entire point.

Lets start again.  Yes, contrary to popular "geek" culture, there are
people that would like to:

A) Install a home server from CD
B) Login and be presented with a list of options for configuring that
server
C) Not have to understand how to run the server at the "guts" level.

Do you want to shared your music on your network?
Yes
Where is your music located?
Done

Do you want to share files with others on your network?
Yes
Fine -> Proceed to share definitions.
        Define file locations and security

Would you like to run a web server?
Yes
Fine this is now set up and you can connect here:

Ubuntu does NOT have anything like this at the moment and they should
seriously think about it.  Other home server software kicks there
collective butt.

This is not about running an enterprise/business server which I agree
should be understood at a deeper level.  It is about giving home users a
simple, nice way to get some functionality from Ubuntu.

Cheers