From owner-freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Dec 27 17:25:17 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5C22316A4CE for ; Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:25:17 +0000 (GMT) Received: from rproxy.gmail.com (rproxy.gmail.com [64.233.170.207]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EE63243D41 for ; Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:25:16 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from shaun.meyer@gmail.com) Received: by rproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id z35so380007rne for ; Mon, 27 Dec 2004 09:25:13 -0800 (PST) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=beta; d=gmail.com; h=received:message-id:date:from:reply-to:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:references; b=tk9FTEH2/SmIJ4zhl37DfNTQY0NvFyE3CT2J83Ga5tboNAMOtn2GgJ0cd6qFAo0sQpicLJftx8WeXXisKARodCQfZuODsZ6U3NTyhRQQj8hct0N/Bjlb1avPCUAjib0sFyM/oiD1S/5EMRjNRClhFgJywTAwmpntjaEADnINgDw= Received: by 10.38.96.15 with SMTP id t15mr871rnb; Mon, 27 Dec 2004 09:25:13 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.38.104.7 with HTTP; Mon, 27 Dec 2004 09:25:10 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 11:25:10 -0600 From: Shaun Meyer To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <8cb27cbf04122708111005f3eb@mail.gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <8cb27cbf04122708111005f3eb@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: How to deploy FreeBSD desktops ? X-BeenThere: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Shaun Meyer List-Id: FreeBSD Evangelism List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:25:17 -0000 > Can anyone give me advice on how I should go about deploying and > maintaining FreeBSD desktops, in a company setting? I know how to do > it for my own FreeBSD desktop but how would I manage 30 to 50 > simultaneous installs? Are you talking about being able to push software down? (Ie, I want to upgrade Python on *all* my machines) If the machines are all fairly identical hardware, you could compile package from ports to packages. Set up your own Package server and have the others check their versions against yours. >Also what would be an effective way to track > ports so that I don't inadvertently portupgrade to an unstable > version of software? Would I set aside one computer for tracking > ports? That is, suppose I have Gnome 2.6.2 in use but I want to > evaluate 2.8.0. How should I test it? www.freshports.org? Something to consider would be "Why Upgrade", especially in a corporate setting. If it ain't broke, and you can't justify a reason to upgrade stay with what you know is stable. If you do want to test it yourself, a free machine off to the side that could fetch either packages or compile it's own ports separate from the other machines could be used. If you like what you see, compile the package on the Package Server, and wait for cron to trigger all the machines to check for updates. >Superficially, it would seem a > simple thing but how can I be sure that my use of 2.8.0 replicates > what be normal usage, throughout the company? So, computersA-D have KDE installed. You want to switch the company to Gnome with the click of a few buttons. That would involve changing a decent amount of .files - You might consider a file versioning system. All the ideas I've thrown up here are not really beautiful ideas, but they could work. If anyone knows of any projects designed for what I've been talking about - please let me know! -Shaun -- You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream. Frank Zappa