Webmin? Good, Bad, Ugly?

[Brian Fahrlander]

Damien Hull wrote:
> Is Webmin good, bad or just damn ugly?
> 
> I would like others opinions. I use Webmin for all my linux servers. I 
> know I should be using the command line. However, I work with a lot of 
> people that are new to Linux. They don't know anything about the CLI.
> 
> Other Questions:
> 
>     * Is Webmin a good thing for new Linux users ( server side not
>       workstation )?
>     * Is there another option?
> 
> All suggestions / opinions are welcome.

     I'm a fan; it does good work, especially when you need to fiddle 
with something you've never really dealt with before; like squid.  It 
can make a reasonable 'default' config file that the service can 
understand, until you get time to.  I've never had it mess up a service, 
unlike, for instance, LinuxConf.

     It does have a security footprint, though: I've not dwelt on the 
details, but it's something you'd want to use inside the firewall, with 
no external access, unless you don't trust your users.

     But being able to hand off certain functions to part-time admins, 
like in the case of someone needing to edit /etc/aliases, it's a great 
tool.  I believe the repos don't have it by default, due to the security 
concern.

     I suppose it's a conditional thumbs-up.


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  Brian Fahrländer                 Christian, Conservative, and Technomad
  Evansville, IN                              http://Fahrlander.net/brian
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