Pointless rant: Red Hat Enterprise Server sucks!

[Tony E - Jaraeth]

Kurt Granroth wrote:
> Okay, okay, maybe RH ES doesn't really suck.  It is, after all, the most
> common server Linux (in the guise of CentOS, commonly).  And it is ultra
> stable.  Plus, every third party package has support for it.  In fact,
> that's why I'm using it.  Zimbra only supplies x86_64 packages for RH ES
> variants.
> 
> But come on!  It's not 1997 anymore.  Why do I have to do so many bloody
> things by hand?

While I see and sympathize with your point, it helps to be fully aware
of how to use a particular distribution of Linux.  RedHat, Slackware,
Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo ... all have different configuration settings.

> Let's start by setting the hostname.  In SUSE, this can be done like so:
> 
> 1. Start up yast
> 2. Select the Hostname module
> 3. Enter my hostname
> 
> That's it.  Under CentOS 5:
>
> 1. Try to find a central config app... and fail.  There's no such thing!
> 2. Search online and find that you use the system-config-network utility
> to set it.
> 3. I am doing everything remotely via a text console (no X... it's a
> server after all) so I start it up.  Oops!  It only supports modifying
> the network card (and in an ULTRA simplistic manner -- no advanced
> settings at all).  Apparently setting the hostname is something only GUI
> sysadmins will want to do.
> 3. Okay, fine.  Let's do it by hand.  Search online to find what files
> need to be modified.
> 4. Modify the /etc/sysconfig/network file
> 5. Modify the /etc/hosts file
> 6. Restart the network
> 


As you mention aboce:

Edit /etc/sysconfig/network
Set "HOSTNAME=some.host.com"
Edit /etc/hosts as you so choose
Edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0(:1, etc)
Done.

This has been the case for RedHat for way longer than I remember, before
RH7.3.  This may seem stupid, to not have a configuration wizard, and
yes, as you also pointed out, you *could* use "system-config-network",
but it is my own opinion, that any good admin, can work faster on a
command line and doesn't always rely on tools that may not set things up
properly.

As a general rule, I don't use a shell script I didn't write.  Call me
retentive and stubborn, but I have come across many distro's which have
TUI (Text User Interface) for doing certain steps (as RedHat's multiple:
"system-config-<program" tools) and never have I had one do exactly what
I want, including Yast.

If Yast works for you, cool :) I don't trust it to set up things the way
I want, and as such, I configure FreeBSD, RedHat Linux, Slackware,
Gentoo, etc... all by hand.

It's not a matter of moving into the future... it's a matter of control,
and I like seeing the wires under the hood of my Linux system.  Some
people don't, 's cool, to each their own.  Just be sure to know how to
configure any system you administer via command line in case some
cracker decides to hack your favorite TUI.

> Shame on you, Red Hat!  You've been around for a very long time.  Plenty
> of time to create a coherent set of configuration utilities that work
> equally well in text mode as in a GUI.  SUSE has had this for *years*.

Better start yelling at Slackware, which has been around longer.  And
Gentoo, which is newer.  *BSD too.  If you want a GUI or TUI, more power
to you... and maybe I'm old, be real admins use command lines ;)

To quote Dilbert:

http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/tech/eta/doc/dilbert.gif

</rant>

~ Tony E



> Kurt
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