Re: remote admin

Eric Bambach
2005-04-14T21:15:09Z

On Thursday 14 April 2005 12:14 pm, J. wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Apr 2005, Eric Bambach wrote:
> > Ssh is the de facto standard for remote administration but It lacks the
> > ability to give you a GUI interface.
>
> What ? Search for SSH GUI and google returns +770,000 matches.. ! Other
> than that it can be used to encrypt just about any connection, like for
> example X .

Have you *TRIED* X over SSH over slow connections? There are better
alternatives.

> > SSH Is quick and dirty
>
> Send a message to one of the SSH lists with that line in the subject. ;-)

I'm afraid I dont know what you mean. As far as I've experienced, if you want
a remote shell you unpack, configure, install, ssh-keygen, sshd, then on your
local box ssh myhost.com. Im sure it can go downhill from there for more
advanced needs, but for grabbing a shell SSH is pretty easy especially if it
is preinstalled in your distribution.

> > remote administration and comes standard (or should ) on all Unix
> > variants. (openssh.com)
> >
> > TightVNC is a rather "unrobust" remote X server but it gets the job done.
> > This will let you connect remotely and get an X GUI session open.
> >
> > If you can afford it, ...........
>
> <CUT>
> ...
> </CUT>
>
> Then take 10min's of your precious time and look at some of the +200
> projects that provide OPEN/FREE remote X administration.

Could you back up your claim? Can you provide a SINGLE application besides X
over SSH instead of inventing a random semi-large number. Instead of
providing good advice you instead be-rate my advice and give an offtopic OSS
fanboy rant.

> Waf, waf..
> The first computers were TIME-SHARING comp's . They had to be because they
> were to expensive to buy. Don't tell me we have to buy software to work
> remotely ??????? Back to the stone-age again.... Hmmzz.. Smell old Micro
> soft users.. waf, waf..
>
> Sorry people, but if small schools have to start buying stuff for these
> relatively simple but fundamental tasks then w're definitely on the wrong
> track in the OSS galaxy.

Just because you have to pay for something doesn't mean its evil and you
should immediatly dismiss it. If it fits your needs for goodness sakes pay
the $50/computer and feed the writers who made the software.

The main concern isn't always price, especially if the price is low or
reasonable for the service provided. Why should this admin spend his time
hacking a random FREE/OSS solution when there is a reasonable paid
alternative that fits his needs better? Perhaps a free/oss solution will fit
his needs better, but to automatically choose free/oss over a paid solution
is just unwise fanaticism.

> > HTH!
> >
> > On Friday 15 April 2005 12:39 am, S. Barret Dolph wrote:
> > > I would like to be able to do some admin stuff on our school computers
> > > from home. What is best way to do this? Are programs such as "Webmin"
> > > better than remote logins or just different.
>
> Ehm, webmin is also a remote login .. No difference inbetween the two, if
> you put it generaly like that. You always have to login to your system .
>
> Let me just say this:
>
> Webmin can provide a lot of things to you AND to someone who is NOT
> you. Make sure you only allow connections from your static IP to your
> schools static IP address by firewall and learn to use hosts.allow &
> hosts.deny. Pump all data thru secure shell, ssl or any other form of
> encryption. Keep an eye on the logfiles, pick decent passwords, restrict
> acces and change the password a couple of times a year.
>
> Would be great of you also could setup a VPN, but is definitely not
> required.
>
> > > The administrative tasks are usually
> > > more school administration than computer administration but not always
> > > just that. For example, I am now working on getting chinese input on
> > > our school computer. School administration work is usually just things
> > > like updating documents and making sure that the latest materials are
> > > available to them.
>
> Again, would be great if we would know what distro <-> pc you use and if
> you know how to handle a X configuration. Because your already almost
> there...
>
> > > Cordially,
> > > S. Barret Dolph
> > > Taipei Taiwan
>
> J.
>
> --
> Don't worry Ma'am. We're university students, - we know what we're doing.
>

--
----------------------------------------
--EB

> All is fine except that I can reliably "oops" it simply by trying to read
> from /proc/apm (e.g. cat /proc/apm).
> oops output and ksymoops-2.3.4 output is attached.
> Is there anything else I can contribute?

The latitude and longtitude of the bios writers current position, and
a ballistic missile.

--Alan Cox LKML-December 08,2000

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