One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Mailing List Established
Greetings All! You may recall my post last month calling for collaborators to help with a new configuration tool for Debian systems. I am happy to report that we now have a project name, a mailing list, and... a team! Anyone who is interested in adding their skills to the project, or would simply like to follow our progress, is invited to subscribe to the 'tweakengine' mailing list on Google Groups. For those not using Gmail, send an email to: tweakengine+subscr...@googlegroups.com For those using Gmail, open the following URL and click Apply to join group: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/tweakengine Note that you are also able, and welcome, to browse our posts without subscribing. Simply point your web browser at the above URL -- no Gmail or Google account required. Looking forward to hearing from you! Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
Re: One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Hi John, Thanks for replying! I'm not a programmer but I do have a opinion. Webmin is already my 'go to' tool for a lot of those chores. The problem is it is too generic and not specific to Debian. A good place to start would be to get involved as a module writer for Webmin that is SPECIFIC to to Debian or generate an installable current Debianized fork with modules that are relative and preset for Debian. If not that then devise a system of I will look into Webmin. Thanks for letting me know about the tool! If the assembled team thinks supporting an existing tool is a better bet, then Webmin sounds like a good candidate. I would be willing to offer critiques from a user point and ideas if you get this rolling. I think its a good idea. Great! Thank you for your offer. I'll post to debian-user when we get a dedicated messaging channel up, and those who wish to follow our progress can subscribe and do so! Thanks again! Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
Re: One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Hi Darko, Thank you for your comments. Cool idea but takes all the fun out of Debian. :-) On a more serious note though, having had the unfortunate pleasure of working with the family of *BSD's and Solaris' -- Debian is by far the easiest to administer and work with. I think the other issue you will have, as have been stated, is that there are so many configurations and variations of configuration options out there, that it would be very difficult to make something as all encompassing that would please a majority. I'm thinking along the lines of a Wiki style system where the (expert user) community contributes the recipes to the database, in much the same way that they currently contribute to the message board database by answering people's posted queries. You are right in saying that there are lots of configurations and variations of options out there. Working out a system that can cope with this will be a significant part of the challenge. I think we might find some help there though in the dpkg system which seems to do a very good job of dealing with its relevant configuration details. Thanks again for your input! Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
Re: One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Hi Lisi, Thanks for your reply, and letting me know about Libranet too. You could do worse than find a copy of the admin assistant and work it up. It was Open Source software so the code is all there. I have the disks that were released when the next version of Libranet became current, and if you were interested could let you have them. I actually have the dead ones too. Sounds very interesting! Do you have a link to a repository or site where the code is available? How easy is it to add new recipes to the tool? Let me know if you have any time to spare on the project too! Thanks again. Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
Re: Re: One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Hi Joel, Thank you for your candid feedback on the idea! Glad to know that a bit of what I am proposing seemed to hit a chord with you! Too bad that I didn't manage to convince you to collaborate on the project -- perhaps down the track?? Certainly, updating the Wikis is a worthy goal! But the size of the database means, yes, it sounds like you are trying to write a dynamic interface to the wikis, while you are at it. Yes! That's it, essentially. You have put it very well here. I wish I had described it in that way. I am, in a nutshell, looking to make the process of applying what we find on Wikis and message boards -- all of which is fantastically helpful -- to our systems just that much easier. Well, how about we start trying to make the wikis more accessible, and more up to date, first? I believe we are essentially thinking along the same lines here. It's just a slightly different take on how we access the Wikis and other great knowledge-base resources that we have out there. Thanks again for your great feedback. Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Greetings All! This is a call to Debian programmers who would be interested in spending a couple hours a month working with me on developing a One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool -- a tool intended to become the central and all-encompassing place to go to configure any and every aspect of your Debian system. CONCEPT OUTLINE = The tool will (subject to the approval of the collaborators ;) : 1. Drastically reduce the need to: a) Google every time you want to tweak feature X of package Y. b) Post to message boards when Googling fails to deliver the goods. 2. Provide users with an (ever-growing!) common repository of step-by-step recipes by which they can tweak / fix / customize / build / repair / upgrade their systems. 3. Present each step of a recipe in the form of a regular shell command, so it can be easily checked, easily modified, and -- most importantly! -- easily applied. 4. Eliminate the need to copy and paste said shell commands by providing a special terminal window as part of the interface. 5. Reduce or altogether eliminate the need to edit the shell commands by intelligently substituting installation-specific pathnames, module names, version numbers, etc. into the commands as appropriate. 6. Allow you to search the recipes using a goal-based syntax similar to the following: PATTERN) I want to: VERB + OBJECT [ + to + VALUE ] EXAMPLE) I want to: change the default GTK font size to 18pt 7. Facilitate the sending of feedback to report successes and failures using a given recipe, automatically collecting and attaching to it relevant information on the system setup as well as any (error) messages that were output during the process. 8. Play The Imperial March every time you report using a recipe successfully. (H. Then again, there could be some licensing problems there.) All frivolity aside, let's start talking about how to automate the system configuration and administration process the same way the rest of the *NIX world is automated! HOW TO GET INVOLVED Those interested should email me ( jofs...@yahoo.com ) with their: * Name * Languages Spoken/Written * Timezone of Residence * Linux Background and Proficiency * Linux Flavors Used * Programming Experience * Ways You Would Like to Help Anyone and everyone who enjoys using Linux is welcome to join. And if you would like to participate but are unsure as to how to do so, let me suggest that collaborators can, initially at least, be of greatest assistance in: * Setting up a project homepage. * Setting up a mailing list or equivalent by which collaborators can communicate. * Helping to flesh out the project scope and requirements. * Drafting up a design document and work plan. * Creating a document code repository on Github or similar. Come and join me in collaborating on a tool that's going to be the biggest revolution in Linux-box interaction since .inputrc got history-search-backward! Look forward to hearing from you! Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
Re: One-Stop Debian Box Config Tool: Call for Collaborators!
Hi Ralf, Thanks for your very prompt and very candid feedback! wrong direction. It would be better to go the other way around and to get rid of similar GUIs and instead to write more good Wikis how to configure an install using a normal editor. If I may be so bold, let me suggest that we are actually thinking along quite similar lines! What do you want provide? A troubleshooting list for all use cases and all possible situations? How many TiB should the database become? Ultimately, yes! The database would potentially become very large but it would be hosted (a cloud service or the like) with the user only downloading the solutions they need as they need them. In one sense, a compendium of the most frequent queries on Stackoverflow, LinuxQuestions, Ubuntuforums et al. Perhaps you -- or another member of the Debian community -- can suggest a medium outside of 'debian-user' where we can discuss in further detail the pros and cons of my proposal. I am sure I can get some good ideas for what form it should take from your objections to it! A good weekend to Ralf and everyone else. Yours Sincerely, Jarrod O'Flaherty.
