Hi Eoin and list I agree that shell scripts are not for beginners. Really I think Ubuntu is already really good for the beginners, although a different bred of OS , I don't see what is more difficult then let's say windoze. However for a beginner administrator, let's say someone who is trying to set up a small business network, an FTP server etc, it is a different story.
Take me for example, I still would not call myself an expert but I have come a long way from last year. Last year I set up an FTP server(VSFTP) it took me 1-1.5 days. Now I can set one up in 15 minutes because I know what to do. I read through the online tutorials and I was instructed to type vi /etc/vsftpd.conf. I then had to learn how to use vi(which I hate). Then I had to figure out that the tutorial probably should have said sudo vi /etc/vsftpd.conf. To boot VSFTP was not my first choice there was another open source one that turned out to not be very good. I was discouraged and then tried setting up Webmin which took more time to learn and in the end did not really do want I wanted it to do so I went back to manual editing. I have a small business. Things are gong well enough this year but last year was a real struggle. 1.5 days really hurt. I can't stand close source software but the better business move would have been to pay $100-200 on a closed source one click install windoze App. There is tons of great open source software out there but we have to lower the barrier to entry. We are fighting Billions of dollars and political influence, we can't just be as good as windoze we have to be a lot better to get noticed. If someone had a script like this for me it would have really helped: #!/bin/bash echo "we are going to install vsftpd" sudo apt-get install vsftpd echo "you will need to edit the following configuration file to get this working\ please change the listen to address to your ip\ if you want more then anonymous access please add a user name and file permissions sudo gedit /etc/vsftp.conf echo "now we need to start the server" sudo /etc/init.d/vsftpd start echo "please check your your FTP server now by typing= ftp your-server ip" I think a new administrator could get a server off the ground in an hour or so and at no cost. His/Her boss would say great this cost me $20 (or whatever the hourly wage is). If I was the new administrator last year and I made $20 an hour, my boss wold have said " this cost me $240. We should have paid for that Windows one click app. Ubuntu is awesome but maybe it needs to be easier for administrators. I would be happy to write a dozen of these scripts but I will need help to develop a big repository. Thanks-Patrick Eoin Rogers wrote: > > > On 14/11/2007, *Patrick* <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote: > > So my suggestion is a > halfway point between the "hand-holding" of the GUI and the sometimes > confusing world of the CLI. > > > > IMO, beginners like the hand-holding. It's vital for Ubuntu not to get > confusing for the end-user. Getting them to run shell scripts may be > going a bit too far! > > - Eoin Rogers > > -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
