Ubuntu server GUI

[Thierry Carrez]

JAWUD wrote:

> Windows server system is very popular and I think it is because of the GUI it
> has.

I don't think Windows server system is popular because of its GUI (at
least not in the big corp space). It's popular because it is very
integrated.

> There are several options for a GUI. First one is to run X/gnome and make a GUI
> for the server. Remote server management can be done with VNC. This is the
> windows way of server management. Running X/gnome takes a lot of resources and
> VNC is not so fast.  So this is not a nice option.

There is a common misconception in the Linux world that the "Windows way
of server management" is to go to log on to the GUI (either at the
console or using the remote desktop). Windows sysadmins use MMC with
lots of snap-ins from their workstation (including the infamous
rightclick > Manage on a computer object in Active Directory "users and
computers" snapin) or VirtualCenter-like admin tools provided by
software vendors to administer their own software across a range of
machines.

It's true logging onto the machine GUI is still needed for a number of
tasks, but that's a bug more than a feature (and there are quite a few
bugs in the way they've been doing it).

> The last option is to make a remote GUI system. Here’s a example: a user
> installs the “Ubuntu Server Console” program on his desktop. It’s a GTK or QT
> app which can be used to connect to a supported ubuntu server via ssh so it can
> be configured. In my opinion this is the best option. It has a nice and rich GUI
> and there is no web server or X/gnome. It’s comparable with Rapache.

It is also comparable to the way Windows admininistration works. Except
that they go through some "everything but the kitchen sink" open ports
to connect high-level GUIs to low-level RPC calls.

-- 
Thierry Carrez
Ubuntu server team || Canonical Ltd.