GUI server tools?

[Eric Dunbar]

Where would one go to discuss the future directions Ubuntu should take
in their design philosophy? I'm not sure if the improvements (&
problems) I'm seeing in Ubuntu are Ubuntu-related or merely a function
of GNOME 2.8.

Ease of use:

I've been exploring the "system tools", including the file management
app and see a lot of things I like:e.g. easy (i.e IT WORKS) login to a
SMB server (my YellowDogLinux box)).

Security:

But, I have also found a few glaring (& very easy to fix) ommissions:
e.g. creating a new user through the user creation tool is easy, BUT
(a) the process is un-necessarily confused by having the groups
settings front-and-centre (stick it in an advanced tab -- if you know
groups, then you also will not be intimidated by an "advanced" tab),
and (b) there's no obvious (well, AFAI could tell, no) way to set-up a
non-administrator account through this interface (I'm guessing that
I'll have to edit the sudoers file somehow to create a non-admin
account). In Mac OS X there's a check-box which says "allow user to
administer computer".

This would be a nice feature in Ubuntu since Ubuntu has adopted
Apple's "sudo" solution to the "root problem" (well, I suppose it's
not necessarily Apple's, but, Apple has done an awesome job of
implementing it).

Anyway, where would I make such comments/suggestions/find such discussions?

PS One thing that Ubuntu (& other distros) could do is take a look at
the default settings Apple uses and what settings Apple allows its
users to change. Apple has put a _lot_ of research into determining
what it is that users need/want the most, and what settings cause the
most problems (there's a reason that Mac OS X is _hands down_ the most
widespread, popular and polished *nix desktop).

If a distro were to adopt some (or all) of Apple's human interface
design guidelines this distro would essentially shoot to the top of
the heap for desktop Linuxes (and there's absolutely no reason that
this cannot happen TODAY -- the software functionality already exists
in GNOME, all that's required is a consistent design
paradigm/philosophy).

The way to summarise design philosophies is this:
Windows pretends to give people choice but doesn't. Apple pretends it
doesn't give choice but it does (especially now that it's a real
UNIX). Linux doesn't pretend to do either and gives lots of choice,
but, in the process makes the computer hard to use (except for the
geek).

I really hope that Ubuntu has taken the time to think through a user
interface strategy. It looks like it could become the Mac OS that Mac
OS never did: Apple has the best OS in the desktop world but it runs
only on its own hardware (Apple is a hardware company, Microsoft is a
software company -- which is why they co-exist... each has a monopoly
on different hardwares). Windoze now has a functional OS (ONLY Win XP
Pro/Win 2000) but it runs on a smorgas-bord of hardware, unfortunately
often with poorly designed integration/very ugly hardware. Ubuntu
could be what neither Mac OS or Windoze ever could -- runs on
everything, costs nothing, has the power and security of *nix, and the
design philosophy of Mac OS X.

Eric.

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:31:27 +0800, John <dingo at coco2.arach.net.au> wrote:
> volvoguy wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 09:27:39 -0500, David Feldman
> > <mailing-lists at interfacethis.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>One thing I notice is missing from Warty is a set of GUI tools like
> >>those found in Fedora for administering services - starting and
> >>stopping common servers, setting up SMB shares, etc. Are such things
> >>available?
> >
> >
> > They're not available (installed) in Warty. The reason has been
> > mentioned here before - simply that desktop end-users shouldn't need
> > to be starting and stopping services. Having said that though, I
> > believe I also read that a GUI for this task is being researched for
> > the future.
> 
> OTOH when asked whether U is sutable for server use, C people have been
> known to say, "Certainly."
> 
> 
> >
> > In most cases, people who NEED to be editing services and configuring
> > server software, should know how to do it without the GUI. :-) That's
> > just my $.02.
> 
> That is complete nonsense. I _know_ how to set up a DHCP server and
> writing a GUI to do a comprehensive job of it might be a challenge. but
> mostly people in small networks only want something simple. Some
> workable defaults and a simple GUI does the job for a lot of people -
> just consider all the access points, DSL routers and such that have an
> easily-configured simple DHCP server.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 


-- 
Sincerely, Eric Dunbar