Thomas Adam wrote:
--- linuxgirlie
wrote: Meationed a while ago about a project my partner and I are working on called Karoshi. More information can be found at www.karoshi.org.uk We are coming up to version 2.0 for those that are interested.
Interesting idea, although it does make me chuckle to think of the overhead and need of using X on a server brings. You really shouldn't need X on a server, and if you do (for dedicated things like apache/squid, etc) then you're doing something wrong.
Maybe for you, Thomas. The reality is that most Linux newbies are scared by a CLI, and can take time to get used to it. Using a GUI in the mean time is a good way to start getting used to a new OS. It is also friendlier for those who are used to accessing their servers (perhaps only a single other server for some schools) from the console attached to the system. With modern hardware, the overhead of running an X server is rarely an issue, in terms of memory usage. OK, there may be issues with security on unpatched systems, but that's the same with any networking software that isn't kept up to date. If the X server isn't being interacted with, then it should not place any load on the CPU. The Addison Linux people showed a server based on Debian (IIRC) at BETT that had a GUI - a nice shortcut to the smb.conf file that was then opened in Kate. This made it easy to add new shares to the server - almost as easy as the equivalent process under Windows. Webmin is certainly a competent alternative for remote adminstration though, but management from anything other than the localhost isn't always appropriate in some cash-strapped environments. Whilst I am quite happy to work on my servers from the "comfort" of my office via SSH, providing GUI tools lowers the entry barrier for schools considering adopting Linux, which can only be a good thing. Tony