Re: [Devil-linux-develop] setup program.

[Bruce S. <bw...@re...>]

> We could go a completely new route:
> Setup is only very basic, just enough to get the network up and
> running. Then use Webmin for the rest.
> We would only need to add DL specific changes to Webmin, which has a
> pretty nice web interface. Webmin is all Perl.

Aside from the fact I don't know perl, there are advantages and
disadvantages to both approaches.

The advantages of a web interface is it looks much nicer, easier to
use, and easier to program (at least it would be in PHP).

The disadvantages of a web interface is it's a potential security
hole.  This gives root access via a web interface to the machine, and
someplace for bad people to brute force attach the password remotely.
Without a certificate, passwords would be sent plain text across the
network.  And it could accidentally be exposed to the internet.  One
more disadvantage is the overhead of requiring a web server to be
running all the time (increase the memory requirements!).

The setup/console/curses approach requires physical access to the
console of the machine (unless ssh is activated), making it much more
secure.  Plus the lower resource requirements.  Of course the
disadvantage is it's clunky to use and looks like crap.  That's why I
was hoping there was something like 'dialog' that looked better and
was easier to program.

Are the potential security risks worth going to a web based admin?
More thoughts?  :-)

 - BS