The way I see it, Puppet has set the bar. This is like Sendmail in it's prime. Sendmail has tons of options and supports just about anything you want to do with email. Then came along Postfix <http://www.postfix.org/>.
When Postfix came on the scene, it had to support the common features people used with sendmail, mainly sending email etc. One of the best features, IMO, was the ability to configure Postfix via command line and much simpler configuration file. This was a huge feature for me. I don't think Postfix will ever match Sendmail feature for feature, put it does provide a nice "alternative" for sending email. My goal is not to re-invent the wheel, but use it to make yet another car. I have used puppet in production environments for over a year now, and I would love to have an alternative in some cases. As for features, MadHatter only wants to make Hats (RHEL, Fedora, etc). Support for other distros is not within the initial scope of the project. Just as Cobbler had a strong focus on RHEL based distros day one, so will MadHatter. I am glad you pointed out the need to seek functionality beyond what Puppet will or would do. I have not done a very good job of highlighting MadHatter differences. Just like any project, Puppet could do anything. Just add more code ;). As it stands today, I would like to seek the following functionality: * The ability to manage each resource via an API (Cobbler API). Since each MadHatter resources are basically blocks within an INI style file, we can expose resources via Cobbler's command line and Web interface. This provides lots of flexibility to the end user, as they can edit and manage resources in small atomic chucks through multiple interfaces. Coming from a Systems Administration background, I believe managing configuration though configuration files offers a welcome comfort zone. IMHO, it allows for better integration with other tools that wish to manage resources. Again, I am sure the superior talent at Reductive Labs can do anything. I just find it hard to achieve this kind of interaction with resources via a configuration language. Although code generation is also a possibility. * AMQP as a primary communication channel. It's very common for large shops to turn to messaging to scale past HTTP or synchronous communications. Puppet has support for messaging in some areas, but MadHatter plans to provide the option of using messaging for primary communication. This is to support scaling and using multiple configuration servers with ease. I will offer more details on this feature via the wiki in the coming days. Thanks for your constant feedback. I will use this dialog to update the wiki with better examples and more clarity for the MadHatter project. On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 4:33 AM, Jeroen van Meeuwen <[email protected]> wrote: > On 02/03/2010 05:43 PM, Kelsey Hightower wrote: >> Thanks for the feedback, it seems as though I need to add a lot of >> clarity to the wiki. The goal would remain a runtime tool. Configuration >> would happen in the same way that Puppet does today. >> >> The goal is to replace puppet using the cobbler framework. I have a >> prototype that works as you describe. The order of events does not change. >> > > OK, well, at least this makes it a little more clear ;-) I don't see > why, though, so maybe that's worth another set of paragraphs as well. > > Currently, as it stands, I just have to strongly disagree with your > vision of "replacing Puppet using the Cobbler framework", but that's not > actually worth anything without some sort of motivation; > > In order for Cobbler or Koan to have the same or similar functionality > currently implemented through Puppet, along with it's abstraction level, > multi-platform capabilities not to even mention the workforce and cloud > behind it, is to re-invent the wheel; not a very unhealthy thing to do > in certain situations, but very quickly very much pointless if you're > not seeking functionality beyond what Puppet will or would do. > > It might be way more beneficial to work on better integration, and/or to > make Puppet meet your expectations. > > Kind regards, > > -- Jeroen >
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