Topic: To those who are interested

[DanB35]

Wow, seems to be quite a bit of heat here.  Let's see if we can take it down a little bit.

Iowatorts, the problem here is that webmin is fundamentally incompatible with the way the SME server does things.  Settings for the supported services are controlled through a configuration database, and whenever updates are installed or configuration settings changed, the config files are rebuilt from templates.  Webmin doesn't know anything about the config databases and changes the config files directly, which means any such changes will be lost when the server does its thing.  If you only use webmin to control settings and services that aren't part of the base install, you might be fine.  And certainly, if you're just trying it out for test purposes, knock yourself out.  The reason for the very strong reaction on the part of most of the folks here is what I've just stated--it's fundamentally incompatible with how SME does things.

If you'd checked a bit (see https://www.google.com/webhp?q=webmin+site:contribs.org), you'd find that webmin is frequently discussed here, and the conclusion is always "don't do it!".  There's a reason for that.

Now, it's entirely possible that you have a niche use case for which (1) the stock SME tools won't do the job, (2) there isn't a supported contrib to do the job, (3) webmin will do the job, and (4) webmin won't break the rest of the system.  But you must recognize that that's a lot of "if"s, and it's likely to be a pretty rare combination of events.  Your stated reason for wanting webmin was for a "status" page, which could easily be accomplished with phpSysInfo (http://wiki.contribs.org/Phpsysinfo), and wouldn't risk breaking anything.

At the end of the day, it's your system, and you can do whatever you want with it.  But despite how harsh some of the responses here might seem, they are trying to help you keep a working, stable system.

[ReetP]

And be patient, the interface will change in few month.

Xavier / Kid of Leognan,

I am not sure what you are referring to with this comment, and perhaps you would like to elaborate so that users are not confused ?

The SME interface will indeed change in time, and there is already preliminary work in hand on this. If you wanted to be involved in this then, as ever, the dev list and bug tracker are the places to do the work.

However, I note that you have added 'SME Server Debian Edition' to your nick ? There is no Debian edition, so I would surmise that you are trying to build something yourself, in which case you need to find a new name for it because it won't be SME. So please either change it or remove it so that users are not confused.

I look forward to your explanation.

John

[iowatorts]

This was a beta test to see if it met my business needs which it did not, the installation was based on a copy of CentOS 6.5/6.6, and no I don't plan on using this software again, it has been erased we have moved on and now are running a modified copy of Debian 7.7 Wheezy, which seems to fit the bill just fine. I appreciate all of the hard work you put into making this package but it is just a Modified Flavor or Debian or CentOs just like Ubuntu is with Debian or CentOS being a modified form of Red Hat.. mainly all scripts and some code pasted together that you modified to make SME a working OS. I can do the same thing, it doesn't take much, that's why there are so many releases and flavors out there, take your pick. I am not installing a product that people get pissed off about especially since its open source, now if you were modding a game console there is hardly any room for error, but once again its the same code, cracks repacked in a shiny new package. It is much easier to build an os to our specs and leave it at that. I will NEVER touch a premade package again due to the lack of interface, and tools and people who want to put others in a flaming war. I don't have the time for it and it is childish. I am finished with SME Forever, part of this is my fault for being lazy and trying to install a one shot business solution, I blame myself for that but not the conduct on this board. I am Dell Certified as a Technician,worked for them for many years and even in a forum when i am off shift treat people with such disrespect if they have questions. If you are going to support a product,be professional about it, this only reflects in the amount of users that will want to use your product free or not, by the conduct and professionalism that you maintain yourself at. Act like children and get cranky, then you get no one wanting to use your product do the the way you support your product..see my point?

This is my final post, thank you all for who was trying to be helpful but this product at this time does not meet our needs as a company being open-source as a viable business solution.



 

[stephdl]

Hi iowatorts

As a Professional you are, I hope that the next time, before to try a Product, you will read first the documentation.

RTFM

[Stefano]

@ALL: locking this topic, we are wasting our time with a (professional) troll

[ReetP]

Hi Phil,

I am sorry that you seem to have taken so much offence to advice that was offered by people who understand and use the system.

You may not realise that this was probably the first distro to ever give you an easy to manage linux server out of the box. For many people starting with a linux server it can be a pretty daunting task and SME was designed to make basic administration simple whilst focusing on stability and security.

The reason why users here (and remember that everyone here is a volunteer, not paid) said 'don't' was not that they don't want you to try new things, but that what you did goes against the core design philosophy of the system, and it WILL break it, and they know that. We have plenty enough users trying to break things as it is without needing any more !

You state at the top of your first post 'It works perfectly'. The reality is that is doesn't work perfectly on SME, and that is extremely misleading for other users. Yes it may 'install' perfectly but working on a repeatable basis does not mean it 'works'. You clearly did not read anything and understand what was going on behind the scenes - if you had then you would have taken an entirely different approach.

You say SME is only a bunch of scripts pasted together, and to a degree that is true of any software. However, it does not reflect on the enormity and complexity of the task, and the work that has gone on over years to build something that is stable and secure. Yes, it may only take you 5 minutes to manually set your server up if you know what you are doing. But trying to automate that is actually a huge task. If like me you were watching samba 4 being built to integrate with SME you would realise the complexity. I am sure with your qualifications that you should know that.

You have gone on about your knowledge and experience, but perhaps if you had read the manuals, forums and bugs etc first you may have seen that what you were trying to do was not going to work viably. Quite frankly I haven't a BA or years in computers, but I could tell you after your first post that your system was broken even though you didn't realise it.

Beyond that, why did you want webmin ? Just a for stats page which you could have got via another contribution/plugin ? If you wanted it for managing your server you have that functionality in the server-manager panel. What would webmin give you over that ?

Perhaps SME is not really suitable for your requirements, but you never explained what you were trying to achieve or wanted from it, so no one has been able to help you.

I don't feel that anyone has really 'flamed' you - they have just told you the facts which you don't seem to want to believe, and seem to want to fight against.

I can assure you that no one round here wants to lose users. But you can't help those who don't want to listen or understand or help themselves.

Unfortunately SME is not necessarily the right product for everyone, but that’s life.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Rgds
John