Re: suggestion: webmin should be added again to debian
On Wed, 2010-01-06 at 22:20 +0100, Hans-J. Ullrich wrote:
> Dear maintainers,
>
> webmin and usermin were taken off the repository for more than 2 years ago. As
> they are both still under heavy development and IMO they are great tools, I
> think, they should get a chance, to be return to debian.
>
> The reason, the ftp-master argued, was "bad spaghetti-code". But I think, this
> is not fair. As long as an application is not breaking the debian rules, and
> as long as it is working fine, and as long as a tool is useful (and I think,
> they are VERY useful, especially for unexprienced and new users) why then
> pretend it from the repository? Especially unexprienced users will find this
> tool usefull and make their introduction to debian much more easier.
If I recall correctly, there were major security issues with some of the
Webmin modules. Webmin is a framework for easy admin for mail, Apache,
database, printer ... so it can touch your whole system if you rely on
it.
Looking at the code to sort it out was a nightmare - it was all too
deeply intermingled and very difficult to disentangle what functionality
went where. Also, the webmin maintainer had a huge job and it proved too
much to keep up with.
Webmin is a wonderful tool,but its ease of use is may also lead to
complacency by the user and the possibility for major security problems.
It was a considered decision to remove it at the time - unless there's
been a fundamental rethink and rewrite of the code, some of the problems
found then are likely to still be there..
> So I think, you should give it a new chance, especially as there are also 64-
> bit-packages available.
>
> Feedback is welcome.
>
> Best regards
>
> Hans-J. Ullrich
>
All best,
AndyC
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