BIND and Webmin

[Kevin Darcy]

JD Almand wrote:

> Bill Manning wrote:
> >
> > % > My DNS & Bind book is all about editing conf files and
> > % > I'm trying to avoid that if possible, especially since
> > % > this Webmin interface seems so nifty.
> > % > All suggestions are appreciated, and please remember,
> > % > I'm a DNS newbie.
> > % My experience, for what it's worth, is that you'd do best
> > % to learn (and love) vi to edit BIND zone and conf files.
> > %
> > % I also tried Webmin to help non-Unix/Linux people to manage
> > % BIND 9.1.0 zone and conf files, but found that it messed up
> > % the zone files.
> > %
> > % The Cobalt graphical interface for BIND 8, on the other hand,
> > % seems O.k.
> > % Tony
> >
> >         FWTW, vi is one of my favorite things... :) And a well crafted
> >         zone file is a thing of beauty... Nevertheless,
>
> Absolutly true...
>
> >         I have come to the conclusion that "Real Soon Now" we are
> >         going to "encase" the DNS in epoxy and rivet a disclaimer
> >         on the outside:
> >
> >         "No human serviceable parts inside"
>
> And when that happens, the world will be a sader place.
> IMHO there is nothing easier than vi.  People complain because its
> "old tech.", or they just refuse to learn.

Sorry, I'm a diehard "vi" partisan (as opposed to say, one of those creepy
EMACS weenies), but I certainly wouldn't agree that "nothing is easier than
vi". It has a sharp learning curve right at the beginning, and if you want
search&replace functionality, you need to learn at least the rudiments of
regular expressions, which *many* newbies find very arcane. The
"modal" aspect of "vi" -- insert mode versus edit mode versus command mode
-- also flummoxes many newbies.

Like it or not, graphical text editors like wordpad, Netscape's Composer,
etc. *are* easier to use than "vi". Many folks don't need anything more
than that, so there's no incentive for them to learn anything else.

What really gets my goat, however, are the folks here who use ISPF -- a
somewhat powerful non-GUI mainframe text editor -- and when their project
gets moved to a Unix box, refuse to learn "vi" and insist that we install
the Unix "ISPF emulation" product so they can edit files. When in Rome, do
as the Romans do, I say. When I was forced to do mainframe stuff, I learned
just enough ISPF to get my job done. I didn't just sit on my ass and insist
that someone install a "vi emulator" on the mainframe (if such a thing
existed).

But enough griping from me...

As for "encasing" DNS administration in GUI's, Bill Manning should meet
some of my "admins" sometime. Then he would understand. But I would
distinguish maintenance of DNS *data* from maintenance of
DNS *infrastructure*. GUI's are quite appropriate IMHO for the former
category.


- Kevin