On Fri, Nov 30, 2001 at 01:43:47PM -0800, Greg Zartman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> [...]
> Gordon, I respectfully disagree on this point.  It's seems that one of the
> main objectives of the e-smith/SME setup has always been to minimize the
> chance of a person getting in and altering standard Linux configuration
> files.  

No, if people want to muck around under the covers, that's available
(but is unlikely to be covered under support).  But the number of
options presented to users is one of the overriding design goals. Adding
a toggle which says "You should leave this set to no unless you _REALLY_
know what you are doing" is against the spirit of the server manager.

> Adding a toggle in the server-manager goes further towards this
> objective than putting the solution in a HOWTO.  Granted the command line
> solution you have developed makes it very simply to change between the
> profile types.   It's not the veteran SME user that is going to mess this
> up, it's the new-comer to e-smith who has just enough Linux knowledge to be
> dangerous.  They've read the Samba HowTos and FAQs and know they can get
> into the smb.conf file and make changes to parameters x and y and presto
> roaming profiles.  I see people in the experienced users group doing this
> frequently.

Sure - it's a Linux system, and people can play with the files directly.
And they do frequently get into hot water doing so (e.g. setting up
public DNS servers).

> [...]
> There are options in the server manager much more dangerous than this one.

For example the domain master setting? I'd actually like to see that moved
into a configuration/setup panel in the future. It's not something 
you'd normally want to change after system configuration.

> [...]
> I guess I don't see this option in this light.  It seems to me that adding
> this to the server-manager will make the SME server a more turn-key windows
> replacement server.  

That's only partially a goal. We want to provide the features that 
the majority of user uses, while minimising the complexity of the user
interface.

> Take my situation for example.  The ONLY reason I
> starting diving into the e-smith/SME structure was to get samba working
> right for my office.  Not that I'm sorry I took the time, as I've 
> learned a great deal from the experience.

Let's step back a bit. This is a list for developers. We collectively
know more about the system than we would ever expect end users to know.
We (Mitel) have to put our product and support hats on and decide which 
way to go. Things may change in future releases, but we also have 
deadlines to meet.

Gordon
--
  Gordon Rowell                        [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  VP Engineering
  Network Server Solutions Group       http://www.e-smith.com
  Mitel Networks Corporation           http://www.mitel.com


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