Topic: LAMP dist

[jonash]

Hi,

I will install a LAMP server for a friend. He will only use it as a web server, and maybe a file server. He is not familiar with Unix/Linux at all.
Im thinking of installing Ubuntu server with webmin, to make him do some admin by himself.
Is this a "good" solution, or is there a better solution out there somewhere? I thnk the Linux dist. is just a matter of taste...

[Stefano]

ahem....

why not sme?
ubuntu as lamp server with webmin... damn.. sme has allready all the features you are asking for

ciao
Stefano (fron the beach)

[jonash]

I can of course use SME, but there are so many features, which isn't use in this case, and the admin is a little more complicated than an "ordinary" linux host.
That's why I asked the question in General Discussion....

Jonas

[arne]

No, it will be the other way, unless Ubuntu and Webmin has changed a lot during the last time.

Webmin will normally require a lot of manual configuration before it is working in any reasonable way, so for practical reasons it is not much usable. If you can do the then manually configuration that Webmin actuelly will require, you actually do not need Webmin.

SME server runs directely out of the box so it will be much more easy and much more fast to set up. It will also be much more safe because the new beginners fault that normally will be there during manual configuration will be eleminated.

Please correct me anyone, if my knowledge about Webmnin should not be updated, or if it is possible to set up a LAMP server based on Ubuntu/Webmin that will work "out of the box". I think that for practical reasons this will not be working very well.

Am I incorrect about this ? (It is difficult to find time to test all new versions of everything, so I would be interested in an advice or a correction.)

My impression of Webmin is that it is more a set of "bolts and tools" to develop your own admin system rather than a admin system that works out of the box. (Does anyone has other experiences ??)

[mercyh]

I would agree with arne.

I can of course use SME, but there are so many features, which isn't use in this case

and this goes double with Ubuntu which is trying to be a desktop as well as a server.

[arne]

Well there is a Ubuntu server distro. As far as I remember this comes without the desktop stuff, but wth a LAMP server with some preconfiguration. But I would not expect this to work wery well "right out of the box" after installing Webmin.

I would expect that the Ubuntu/Webmin alternative will require something like ten-twenty times more wirkhours to set up, if you do now enough of manually Linux server configuration to set it up at all.

SME server can be sat up in a safe way in minutes if you know it, and in a evening or two if you don't know it.

Something could have happened on the Ubuntu server/Webmin preconfig side, so my info could be incorrect, but I would not believe it. (Have tested Webmin during a number of years, but have never understood the real benefit of a graphical configuration tool, that in real life will require that the user have deep knowledge of manual text based server configuration.)

[mercyh]

Well there is a Ubuntu server distro.

I have never worked with the server distro.

[thomasch]

I will install a LAMP server for a friend. He will only use it as a web server, and maybe a file server. He is not familiar with Unix/Linux at all.

SME Server is definitely the way. You'll get your webserver and file server online in less than 1 hour. Guaranted.
The server-manager is much easier to understand for a novice user than Webmin.

However, as your friend will use it primarily as a web server, you should be cautious with PHP version.
SME 7.x carries PHP4 built in. Your friend may need PHP5 which will not work out of the box of SME 7.

thomasch

[jonash]

I had a look ob webmin, I thought that it should have some sort of usability, but I hardly found any!
I couldn't even find out how to add a share in samba! I tried for at least 2 minutes..

He will only use the apache and a disk, so I will give him an Ubuntu server.... Then he only needs to copy the html files in the windows gui.
I will have a look at the server every now and then, and he will give me a beer...