[ubuntu-uk] Home/Small Business Server

[Dave Morley]

On Tue, 2011-09-27 at 08:54 +0100, Matthew Daubney wrote:
> On 27 September 2011 08:47, Dan Attwood <danattwood at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Well the main benefit of a web based UI is that you don't need all the
> >> > desktop GUI libraries on the server,
> >>
> >> >Yes, because HDD space is expensive these days!
> >
> >  My understanding is is not about space. Extra libraries means extra attack
> > vectors, extra things to update and to go wrong.
> > Even Microsoft seems to have grasped this with Windows server 8 having the
> > desktop as an optional extra.
> 
> Again, you seem to be thinking this would go into places where people
> have a clue. The kind of target market for these kind of things is a
> small office with maybe 4-10 people or a slightly technical person at
> home with a couple of machines. They'd probably have someone else plug
> it into their network behind their ADSL router, and have someone else
> come and quickly explain how to connect machines to it and look after
> it. It's already behind a firewall (at the router) and it's very
> unlikely you'd have something like this directly connected to the net
> doing router like tasks. It may be issuing DHCP/DNS whatever to the
> network, but it would not route network traffic.
> 
> If you where putting something in place where people where worried
> about that kind of thing you'd use the standard Ubuntu server, as
> they'd probably have an IT staff who could be trained. Not just the
> admin person who also gets the job of doing what the guy on the end of
> the phone says.
> 
> Again, we're back to people thinking of a server as "a big thing that
> runs lots and lots of services, has to be lightweight, fast and more
> secure than anything else ever" when really, they're not!
> 
> -Matt Daubney
> 
Matt I still think a full blown desktop is a faff.  If you're not in the
office and need to access the box forwarding x over a hotel network is
not going to be fun in any shape or form.

Hence my daft but functional ncursor suggestion.  I've used the like of
MC over a dodge network to swap around some files and that functions at
a similar speed to if you have direct access to the box.

I think in all honestly if you are running the box headless then the
concept of a desktop becomes less useful.  I do however agree the your
average SOHO user is going to panic the minute he/she sees the terminal
and nothing else.

I think a welcome screen, byobu for general info, and a page of ncursor
buttons that do the bulk of the essential duties would be more than
enough.  On the whole this is a box that the average SOHO user is going
to want to setup once and then not tinker with again after that.

They have wordpress/drupal/wiki style web pages that they will care
about the most which is ermm web based admin and it's this that will
have the most changes applied to it.

For the SOHO user this is a box that sits in the corner and does what is
required of it with the minimum of fuss or admin.

  
-- 
Seek That Thy Might Know

http://www.davmor2.co.uk
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