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difference in perspective (re: GUI)

Technically, you don?t need a GUI on a server, but those coming from a Microsoft based background are used to having a GUI and all the bells and whistles of a desktop on their servers. From a Unix perspective, the GUI is not needed as one can do most of what they need remotely or export a display if the wish.

An example, I used to work in an IT department with a Unix sys admin and a Windows guy (I do both). The Unix guy (when he actually had to be in the same room with the servers) just used an old VT100 terminal to access and administer the server (presuming he didn?t just xhost or remotely login in. The Windows guy had to go into the server room to administer the Windows servers (until he got VNC running). He tended to be in the server room a lot, which was not all that pleasant as I kept the room cold! At some point, a graphics display (and video card) was added to the Unix server (all the Unix servers were run off of a display switch at that point) but the only time the Unix guys (I was one of them officially) went into the server room was to deal with hardware problems. The only reason that the Unix servers were even running a GUI was because it made the Windows admin happy (he was learning some Unix).

So, basically, you are dealing with a perspective issue, Unix guys rarely want (or need) to walk into the server room to actually administer the machine, so they don?t need a GUI on the server. Windows, being a derivative of desktop software, include/require a GUI to do most tasks and this is what Windows admins are used to. This does appear strange from a Unix perspective, as one juts remotely logs in or exports a display from the server and works with that. Having a headless Unix machine (or many) is just a norm with many Unix/Linux/BSD admins.

Posted by: B.O.F.H.   Posted on: 05/19/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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