[ubuntu-uk] Desktop or Server?

[Matthew Macdonald-Wallace]

Quoting Chris Ray <chris.ray at bazaarsystems.co.uk>:

> As a Ubuntu newbie I'm thinking of migrating a couple of servers I have
> from openSuse to Ubuntu.  They need updating anyway, (running Open Suse
> 10.2) but I could spend the time moving distros.
> What I need are server functions; DNS, DHCP, Postfix, Samba, etc. But,
> as the servers are remote, I also want to get to an X desktop via VNC.
> I have no concerns about command lines, grep and awk do not scare me,
> well maybe awk just a bit;  but a GUI is so much easier browsing for
> updates or moving files around.
> I was impressed that Ubuntu has separate Desktop and Server editions but
> worried that the Server edition appears not to load X or Gnome. (unless
> I missed an option somewhere?)
> I can understand dropping Open Office, Gimp, Media players, etc., from a
> server edition, but why a GUI desktop?

Because Server's don't need a desktop... :P

> So, as I see it, either I missed something in the Server setup, or I
> have to choose between adding server stuff to a Desktop install, or
> adding GUI stuff to a server install.
> I cannot be the first here.  Any advice greatly appreciated.

You can quite easily install Gnome etc onto a server if required  
(although I'd recommend something light and fast such as fluxbox, xfce  
or icewm) you just need to use "aptitude install" once the base server  
is setup.

Personally I tend not to use a GUI on a server because it's just one  
more thing to patch/maintain and the commands do what I need them to.   
If I need to do bulk moves etc then I tend to use either *.ext or a  
for loop to get the work done, but I guess that's just me.

Kind regards,

Matt
-- 
Matthew Macdonald-Wallace
matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk
http://www.truthisfreedom.org.uk/