Bug#705576: [RFR] wml://intro/about.wml
robert pogson wrote:
> Justin B Rye wrote, "setting things up for automated installs of
> thousands of packages on thousands of computers isn't quite a matter
> of ticking an "enable configuration management" checkbox."
>
> Agreed. It's easier.
Okay, now I think you're detectably exaggerating. And I'm sorry to
have to break it to you, but the truth is, APT doesn't have a rich
chocolatey flavour, either.
> APT and openssh-server combined with distributing a public
> key enables configuration management and much more: system monitoring, backup,
> diagnostics, networking, GUI and user-management.
Yes, all of these are made possible. But you have to do some systems
administration work to set them up; we don't want to sound as if we're
claiming that APT and associated utilities provide a big red "do my
entire job for me" button for systems administrators.
I'm just trying to find a way of making the biggest claim we're
entitled to in a phrasing that sounds good without being needlessly
misleading (so clearly I'm not cut out for PR work...)
> This system makes a group of
> computers as manageable as one for the system administrator. It's so good that
> automated installs give no advantage over manual installs. A script on the the
> system can be run by the administrator to install, remove, and upgrade anything
Remember, single-PC home admins never need to write that script - and
they don't need to configure any fancy distributed keys or site-wide
user management policy enforcement stuff in the first place. Once you
start having to work out what set of logins should be in which
netgroup, that's extra work that Debian just makes much easier - it
doesn't completely magic it away.
> anywhere. Compared to automated updates on that other OS it is much more
> reliable. It is also completely configurable. The one negative is that it might
> have some negative consequences for health in that fat old guys like me rarely
> have to get out of a comfortable chair.
I'll defer to Christian "L10N King" Perrier for advice on this topic.
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
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