News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by Karrot_Kream on Monday October 16, 2023 @04:23AM (#37897058)
> Nobody who is comfortable with an ssh session uses Cockpit

> It's for people who want to point and click, can't do a bash for/while loop, don't understand pipe chaining commands, and don't like using vim.

Lol! Are you ready to deploy an ssh-capable terminal emulator at all times? What's wrong with making simple tasks simple?

I run multiple Raspberry Pi cameras (with nicer camera modules) to watch the pets if the family travels. The RTSP camera streams run in a systemd unit on their boxes. I have some healthchecks to make sure packets are being streamed as other systemd units. Each camera gets its own private IP on a ZeroTier network I manage. Since copilot is only run on demand, it's a no brainer to have around for administration.

Sometimes one of the cameras just starts streaming out blank frames. I'd much rather manage this through a copilot web interface on my phone when I'm on vacation than find a keyboard to use SSH with and restart the camera stream unit. I mean sure, I could write a healthcheck which checks whether blank frames are being emitted, but it's just so much easier to restart it via copilot than it is to write that healthcheck and it only ever happens a few times a year. Shrug.

Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by arghwhat on Monday October 16, 2023 @04:30AM (#37897097)
> Lol! Are you ready to deploy an ssh-capable terminal emulator at all times?

What terminal emulator isn't ssh-capable? Where would you not be able to open a terminal emulator? I am so confused.

> What's wrong with making simple tasks simple?

The limited tasks exposed by cockpit are also simple (or depending on the individual, simpler) in a terminal, but if you want a point-and-click UI for just a few things, go ahead.

That cockpit is very limited and seemingly has no future does not mean you can't like what it does now. Just might be worth considering if there are better-supported alternatives.

Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by Karrot_Kream on Monday October 16, 2023 @04:35AM (#37897118)
> Where would you not be able to open a terminal emulator? I am so confused.

A mobile device. I don't use terminal emulators without access to some non-touch keyboard so I want a simple interface on my mobile device.

> That cockpit is very limited and seemingly has no future does not mean you can't like what it does now. Just might be worth considering if there are better-supported alternatives.

Sure then compare cockpit with other webmin-esque tools, not a terminal emulator. These are different interfaces, much like I don't compare a voice interface with a mouse-oriented one.

Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by lopkeny12ko on Monday October 16, 2023 @04:38AM (#37897140)
Terminal emulators, which can run SSH clients, are absolutely possible on a mobile device. https://termux.dev/en/
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by Karrot_Kream on Monday October 16, 2023 @04:51AM (#37897226)
I know. Android is a capable platform. I'm just not going to use it on a mobile device without a keyboard, sorry.
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by tw04 on Monday October 16, 2023 @06:24AM (#37897816)
There are countless terminal emulators for iOS that support ssh. Termius, prompt, and blink off the top of my head.
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by MaxMatti on Monday October 16, 2023 @09:25AM (#37899571)
And using any of them is more of a hassle than just using cockpit instead.
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by worksonmine on Monday October 16, 2023 @05:00AM (#37897288)
Possible and usable aren't the same thing. You can run it on an android watch as well, but would you?
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by jeroenhd on Monday October 16, 2023 @07:15AM (#37898149)
I use Termux to do SSH once in a a while. It makes me want to install a web UI to be honest. Most of the time I'm fumbling my long sudo password to restart some systemd service that crashed or manually running a maintenance script, that stuff is a massive pain on touch screens.
Re:Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers by arghwhat on Monday October 16, 2023 @09:11AM (#37899393)
> A mobile device. I don't use terminal emulators without access to some non-touch keyboard so I want a simple interface on my mobile device.

Whether you want to use a terminal emulator on your phone doesn't change whether it's available.

I wouldn't want to use a clumsy web app with dangerous buttons that put me a single mis-touch on a poorly thought out touch target away from messing up/rebooting/powering down a server from my phone either, but that doesn't change that cockpit is available.

> Sure then compare cockpit with other webmin-esque tools, not a terminal emulator.

You compare it to the options available, which includes both terminals and webmin equivalents.

I don't know if there's much of a space left for cockpit or webmin equivalents though. There's hypervisors with dedicated UIs like Proxmox and oVirt, but that's not the same.