Justin B Rye wrote, "setting things up for automated installs of thousands of packages on thousands of computers isn't quite a matter of ticking an "enable configuration management" checkbox."
Agreed. It's easier. APT and openssh-server combined with distributing a public key enables configuration management and much more: system monitoring, backup, diagnostics, networking, GUI and user-management. This system makes a group of computers as manageable as one for the system administrator. It's so good that automated installs give no advantage over manual installs. A script on the the system can be run by the administrator to install, remove, and upgrade anything anywhere. Compared to automated updates on that other OS it is much more reliable. It is also completely configurable. The one negative is that it might have some negative consequences for health in that fat old guys like me rarely have to get out of a comfortable chair. On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 9:04 AM, Justin B Rye <justin.byam....@gmail.com>wrote: > robert pogson wrote: > > Perhaps "enable" would be a better word than "allow". > > Yes; "allow" is almost always arguable (except for things like PAM), > and I have a natural bias against it since my work on > debian-l10n-english frequently involves correcting sentences along the > lines of "APT allows to manage installs". > > > It changes focus from the > > system to the user which is consistent with the ideals of Free Software. > > On the other hand my "makes it possible" was designed to introduce a > bit of wiggle room; setting things up for automated installs of > thousands of packages on thousands of computers isn't quite a matter > of ticking an "enable configuration management" checkbox. > > > I > > remember the last position I had where I begged and bullied our PCs to > update > > with that other OS. Changing to Debian GNU/Linux and using APT enabled > us to > > increase the number of PCs in the system several times while decreasing > the > > effort. I felt my life was changed from labouring in waist-deep water to > > leaping over tall buildings with ease. > > > > I don't think it is possible to over-sell APT. [...] > > Try harder! It's a 100% bug-free solution to all life's problems, > requiring no human intervention at any stage, and I especially love > its rich chocolatey flavour! > > Personally I already liked Debian even in the days of dpkg/dselect, > but yes, when APT came along it provided a whole extra level of > awesomeness that other operating systems just aren't in a position to > emulate. > -- > JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian > sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package > -- Robert Pogson Have server, will travel...
