[CentOS-devel] NethServer as CentOS Variant and SME SIG Proposal

[Jim Perrin]

On 01/10/2014 05:50 AM, Alessio Fattorini wrote:
> Hello everybody,
> my name is Alessio Fattorini and I'm part of a team of FLOSS developers 
> that is working on a project named  NethServer. We’d like to share with 
> you our experience and our ideas for the future developments.
> You could think of NethServer as CentOS with some extra packages, 
> particularly
> a powerful and extensible web interface that simplifies common 
> administration tasks.
> NethServer is for the sysadmin who appreciates the effectiveness of a 
> user interface which saves time compared to direct configuration file 
> modification and for users who want to approach CentOS without having 
> Linux skills.


The Clear folks have proposed a SIG/Variant as well that on the surface
sounds somewhat similar. Is there overlap here, where
cooperation/coordination between the two groups would be beneficial?


> We didn't reinvent the wheel, NethServer is a partial rewrite of the 
> original SME Server code, focusing on maintainability, extensibility and 
> standard compliance with CentOS.
> We think we achieved those goals with:
> * A dynamic, streamlined user-interface
> * Standard components, tested widespread configurations
> * Minimal differences with upstream (CentOS)
> * Easy installation
> * Simplified administration tasks
> * Use of templates and text-based db for configuration (configuration 
> will always be consistent)
> * Built-in extensibility
>

Where does this code live currently? is it available via git or similar?

> NethServer architecture explicitly supports developers by making it easy 
> to install and integrate additional software. We quickly added some 
> pre-configured modules, installable with a “single click”, for example:
> LAMP framework
> Caching + filtering web proxy (with SSL filter)
> SOGo Groupware
> Mail Server with Antispam and Antivirus
> VPN (OpenVPN and IPsec/L2TP)
> Firewall (Shorewall)
> Intrusion detection (Snort)
> ownCloud


Are these packaged in rpm or handled via some other installation method?


> More informations could be found on the official project website: 
> www.nethserver.it.
> 
> As soon as we read about CentOS variants, we have developed the idea of 
> ​​releasing NethServer as a CentOS variant and we are thinking of a SME 
> SIG, a group exploring the needs of small enterprises (we are based in 
> Italy, where the vast majority of enterprises is really small). 
> According to you, does NethServer meet the basic requirements?
> 
> We’ll be at Brussels Dojo and FOSDEM and we'd love to discuss directly 
> with you our ideas.
> Cheers,
> Alessio and the NethServer team


Certainly. Please stop by and we can discuss in a bit more detail.


-- 
Jim Perrin
The CentOS Project | http://www.centos.org
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