[Server-devel] CentOS SME and the XS

[Stefan Reitz]

Wad,



maybe I lack the bigger picture. 

"My own school server distribution" is not what I am aiming at.

Looking at the responses on http://forums.contribs.org/ so far, this appeal won't go anywhere anyway...

Having a working OLPC XS server is one important step towards global success. 

An administrative interface (beyond bash) another one.



German software development (no big thing) is - supposedly - with the "DAU" in mind.

This requires for lack of 1:1 translation a little linguistic excursion:

A commonly understood German acronym is the "GAU" = "Groesster Anzunehmender Unfall". This term was coined with the implementation of nuclear power plants and means litterally: "maximum credible accident" and describes a worst case scenario.

Software development later coined the term "DAU" = "Duemmster Anzunehmender User". Which is literally close to "Dumbest Credible User" - encountering the DAU leads for lots of software to a similar (not only sounding) GAU. The closest English equivalent seems to be PEBCAK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEBKAC) but it is too wordy and lacks the allusion to (nuclear) desaster.

Maybe we should have the DAAdmin in mind when designing the server...



Right now the XS admin interface doesn't allow for much but severely trained admins. 

This is potentially bad for sustained field usage.

I tried, but have not found documents on wiki.laptop.org suggesting / outlining an administrative interface for the XS (as guidance for those of us considering this relevant and who would be willing to spend time implementing it). Is there something I missed?



So far it takes well trained admins to get the server set up.

Will it take less specialized personnel to replicate it (any given XS) and keep it running?



I am sorry. I feel like I am bashing someone for something that is not his fault. This is not my intention. It is just that the XO is being turned loose before the environment is production ready. And I understand everybody's eagerness to get the XO to its users (I am glad I got mine...). The de-facto timeline really puts a sqeeze on the server development team.



No offense meant

Stefan





P.s.: Another thing I couldn't find was a spreadsheet / graphic describing the interaction of the various parts of the server (and the XO). Like with respect to functionality and ports.

Something of that sort would probably make it easier to contribute to the project without getting entangelt in pre-existing interdependencies.





> CC: wad at laptop.org; server-devel at lists.laptop.org
> From: wad at laptop.org
> Subject: Re: [Server-devel] CentOS SME and the XS
> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:12:04 -0500
> To: stefan_w_reitz at hotmail.com
> 
> 
> Stefan,
>      Great.   You may end up suporting your own school server  
> distribution.
> 
> I would prefer that effort be spent on critical missing  
> functionality, like
> laptop backup, server backup, getting a stable presence server, etc.
> 
> But if instead of doubling the resources working on the school server
> you choose to duplicate it, that is your choice...
> 
> The decision to revisit the OS choice has already been made, but it  
> was also
> decided not to do so until critical services were in place.
> 
> wad
> 
> On Feb 27, 2008, at 10:26 AM, stefan reitz wrote:
> 
> > Dear fellow travellers,
> >
> > I did something y'all might not approve off. I posted to my  
> > favourite linux server distribution's forum for help / server  
> > administration adoption.
> > There is a slim chance something big might really come from this,  
> > but looking at the XS' administrability, I felt compelled to.
> > I did not mean to downplay any of your efforts in turning the XS  
> > and OLPC in general into a success. This is not about vanities. It  
> > is all about administrability.
> > Please don't be offended - and keep up the great work.
> >
> > Best regards
> > Stefan
> > _______________________________________________
> > Server-devel mailing list
> > Server-devel at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
> 

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