Yast or Adminmenu equivalent for Debian Sarge?
 

Hello all,

I'm new here but I have searched to see if I can find a thread to answer my question. I couldn't, so I'm gonna post it :)

I've recently installed Debian, using Morphix and an apt-get dist-upgrade to Testing. My previous distros were Red Hat and SuSe.

Now, I really like apt and I think it makes Debian worth sticking with. However, I don't like the fact that there seems to be no central admin/config tool, along the lines of SuSe's Yast. Can anyone recommend a config tool, for Debian, that will perform a similar role to Yast, or dare I say it, Windows Control Panel?

Like I say, apt is cool but I'm considering switching away from Debian, perhaps to Libranet, as I've heard good things about Adminmenu but still has Debian underneath.

Cheers,

maybe you can try to download a tar file for adminmenu and compile it under your debian?

Yep, that's a possibility. I'll have a look. Thanks.

i'm having a look too, will tell you if it works here :o)

Not sure if this is what you mean or not, but most packages under debian that contain configurable software use debconf.

In a perfect world, for any piece of software that needs to be configured under debian, you just figure out which package that software came from, then
See also http://wiki.debian.net/index.cgi?DebConf

The creator of Morphix (Alex de Landgraaf) has ported several RedHat gui configuration tools to Debian. There is a repository here: http://www.morphix.org/debian/binaries/ You can download the packages and install with the command "dpkg -i <packagename>" There are tools for configuring keyboard, network, display settings, etc. I have used the xconf package to set my display resolution and refresh rate, and it works great. As with most things Linux, the packages are under development and may not work perfectly, but they do give some same easy GUI functionality to Debian that Suse's Yast or the Mandrake's Control Center provides.

linuxconf is a good option. you may find deb packages here:

http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/linux...n/l/linuxconf/

Just check out its docs before you get into it though.

Another option is 'systemconfigurator'. I haven't used it, so i dont know how well it works.

Siddhesh

Libranet is a Debian distro
 

if you move to Libranet you are not "switching away from Debian". It is a Debian distro just as Knoppix and so many others are. But it is a very fine version, with superior admin tools to any other Debian distro.

I've checked out the free version of Libranet and it appeared to be pretty much Debian-compatible. It seemed to me that Libranet's Adminmenu is just a frontend to call and launch the usual admin utilities that come with Debian.

For newbies the easy access to these utilities from Adminmenu may be a very welcome feature but a bit more experienced users, who are already familiar with Debian's utilities, are likely to find that Adminmenu offers them no additional value. Also, the new Sarge Debian-installer is in my opinion easier than Libranet's installer.

webmin
 

I'm surprised Webmin hasnt been mentioned, but it has pretty much deprecated linuxconf in sarge and sid (linuxconf is only avail in the woody repositories). From apt-cache show:

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using
any browser that supports tables and forms (and Java for the File Manager
module), you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and so on.

You can download modules from it listed from "apt-cache search webmin"

People either love it or hate it.. I personally have no need for it because everything can be done from the command line.

Well, I just purchased Libranet 2.8.1 a couple of weeks ago and I have to say that I disagree that an experienced Debian user will find no added value in Adminmenu. I also disagree that the Sarge installer is better or easier. Libranet works great without breaking Debian compatability. After attempting to install Debian Sarge on a laptop and running into one problem after another, I bought Libranet and everything works. I was running Debian Sid/Sarge on my desktop and promptly wiped it for Libranet. It is a matter of point and click to install flash plugins, java, turn un the num-lock, set up a firewall, add user accounts, update packages, and more from adminmenu. You can even recompile the kernel with a simple point and click operation. In addition, it is the only distribution I know of that automatically installed Nvidia drivers during installation. All these things can be done by an experienced user with a little time and effort. However, it is well worth the purchase price to have the configuration tools on hand in one place.

I had some e-mail support for purchasing Libranet, but I didn't need to use it. I only e-mailed support to tell them I am ready to purchase Libranet 3.0. If you have the money and want an easy to administer Debian system, I strongly encourage you to buy Libranet (and no I don't work for them :) )

I just have to put a plug in here for mepis,david