Here here for a common sense answer!
I often create web/gui interfaces for myself and others, most oftly to:
Automate regular/mundane tasks.
Prevent engineer/sa 'oopses'.
Enable less experienced users to do my work for me. ;)
Win points with the boss/customer. (oooh magic buttons...)
Frankly, SMTP MTA administration is overly complex and requires lots of
background knowledge to handle, especially for critical or high volume
sites. I have read so much SMTP MTA related literature that frankly I
cannot possibly remember all of it all of the time.
People get it off, sh*t happens, and engineers make mistakes (sometimes
really really stuuuupid ones).
Now, aside from this lil argument thread, I did not see anyone post any
pointers to web based admin tools for Exim right? Does anyone have a
start at one? Maybe a webmin module? I just deployed a new mail system
for my employers web/domain hosting customers based on Exim and would be
interested. Eventually we'll end up writing something I am sure, but
after the 'crash' I only have 3 people in my organization who are
proficient beyond simple init scripts, so it'll be a while.
So, if someone has a start at one, perhaps I or someone at the office can
contribute.
Best,
Richard F. Rebel
........................................................................
On Thu, 6 Sep 2001, Derek Broughton wrote:
> > Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 15:03:34 -0400 (EDT)
> > From: "Dave C." <djc@???>
> >
> > Really, anyone who is not smart enough to configure a mailer the right
> > way, shouldnt really be configuring a mailer at all.
> >
> > Would you really want your local power company making a 'simple,
> > GUI-based' interface to control your local nuclear reactor so that they
> > didnt have to hire nucler engineers and instead could just hire
> > high school students to run it? I didn't think so.
> >
> > Granted, a nuclear reactor is slightly more dangerous than an Internet
> > mailer.
>
> Sheesh! More unix elitism.
>
> _Nobody_ should have to go to any more trouble than is absolutely necessary
> to configure an MTA. You're darn right I'd want my local power company to
> create a simple GUI based interface - not so that you could eliminate the
> need for 'nuclear engineers' (MY local power company has never used
> engineers to operate the plants anyway - I know, because my father used to
> train both the engineers and the operators), but so that the engineers don't
> make stupid mistakes.
> --
> derek
>
> --
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