Ubuntu Server intrepid GUI

[Derek Broughton]

Amedee Van Gasse (ubuntu) wrote:

> madanabhat27 at gmail.com schreef:
>> Thanx for th tip but how exactly do I get a gui for apache, sendmail,
>> dovecot and other such server software bundled with the OS ?

> If you feel unconfortable with editing simple text files, there is
> always something called "webmin" (Google it), but I recommend very much
> against is because:
> 
> * it is somewhat insecure if you run it on a server that is accessible
> from the interwebs

"It" isn't insecure, putting it on a server accessible from the Internet is
(ie, the insecurity is with the sysadmin, not the application) [and what is
with all these apparently tech-savvy people who are calling the
Internet "the interwebs"? - ugh]

> * webmin can mess up your configuration files in unspeakable ways if you
> don't know what you're doing (and by the question you asked, I think you
> don't, not yet anyway)

Again, "webmin" doesn't do that, though individual webmin modules could -
but frankly, it's a darn sight easier to mess up configuration files in
unspeakable ways when you're hand editing them.

> If you want to use webmin, go ahead. But remember that when you ask for
> support on this list, we will always assume that YOU have edited your
> configuration files, not webmin. If webmin changes something away from a
> default setting, YOU are responsible for it.

But if you hand-edit them, you're not?

> In case you didn't get the hint, I want to scare you away from webmin. ;-)

My point precisely.  The typical *nix geek's reaction to gui configurators
ranges from scorn to apathy.  There is absolutely no valid reason
to "scare" admins away from webmin - but they _should_ be aware of the
downsides.

> [*] Even in the 2008 version of that other OS, you don't need a GUI any
> more. Everything can (and sometimes must) be scripted. It seems like
> Bill^WSteve is starting to learn! :-)

"Scripted"?  You mean like webmin?
-- 
derek