I realise that there is not a seperate openSUSE Server edition but what is the easiest/preferred way of installing a simple yet fully functional Server desktop GUI. Something that has all the tools and facilities needed to easily maintain a server but without any of the desktop bloat; games, multimedia, office, dictionary, email client, web browser etc.
Thanks,
Nick - openSUSE noobie
On 04/13/2012 10:06 AM, Nick C wrote:
>
> I realise that there is not a seperate openSUSE Server edition but what
> is the easiest/preferred way of installing a simple yet fully functional
> Server desktop GUI. Something that has all the tools and facilities
> needed to easily maintain a server but without any of the desktop bloat;
> games, multimedia, office, dictionary, email client, web browser etc.
The “simple yet fully functional Server desktop GUI” phrase contains a
fundamental flaw. No server with a GUI is as secure as a server with no GUI.
If you still want a GUI, then install a light window manager. I use LXDE on my
low-power machines, but all my servers are installed with a command-line
interface only. You can get either of these options from the NET install CD or
the DVD. Choose “Other” when it asks for the desktop environment.
Thanks lwfinger, I was concerned that I might loose some much neede functionallity if I went with a very light desktop like LXDE.
You just lose the bells and whistles and pretty effects. A server is fully functional with no GUI at all ie just the command line.
Yes, I realize that there is a fundamental difference of opinion between the Windows world where it is assumed that every server does have a GUI and the Linux world where it is assumed that every proper server is text only.
My personal take on it is this; with modern hardware the performance overhead of running a GUI is miniscule. Having a GUI allows quicker and easier maintenance when something has gone wrong and needs to be changed rapidly. Relying on having to look-up or trying to remember various command line instructions can cause extra delay, remember many commands are quite different between each linux distro. The exception is for a server which has a very narrow defined role and will never be asked to do anything different, in which case the lower attack area of a text only install overrides any other considerations.
Just my take on the GUI / text only question. Then again maybe my preference is tainted by the fact that I come from the Windows world.
Nick
Hi
There are other tools, webmin, yast runs a text based interface and also
a web based version. But if your able to have physical access,
for sure, but suggest you do take time to learn some of the key
commandline tools incase that GUI doesn’t fire up one day 
On my local server (no screen or keyboard) I run NX from nomachine and
set the server to start at runlevel 3 (CLI). I can then login with NX
and it fires up the X interface, do what I need to the disconnect which
shuts down X again to remove any load (Its a via C7 cpu and only 1GB of
RAM).
Just a side note I use to manage multiple remote Windows XP machines via
telnet and the command line They were probes for monitoring DSL
performance in telephone exchanges, wasn’t a big problem until they
needed rebooting…
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 3.0.13-0.27-default
up 3 days 22:46, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05
CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU
When I said:
yet fully functional Server desktop GUI. Something that has all the tools and facilities needed to easily maintain a server
As an example Nautilus, if I am correct neither Lxde nor XFCE have Nautilus installed by default. Ok if can be added but that is extra work, just looking for something that has all of these tools straight out of the box.
Nick
Hi
Run a zypper install script after to install all your extra items. Else look at using SUSE Studio and build your own system up with the tools you require. It also includes test drive so you can test your appliance out.
If I go for Lxde because it is supposedly simple, uncomplicated and light will I find that it is lacking required functionality which then required more time to fix?
It is a gui all the programs are GUI. Any GUI program will probably run. It does lack the fancy bells and whistles but it is a basic GUI. What more do you need. 
BTW most GUI system programs are just graphic front ends to the command line utilities.
Note that if you bring in Nautilus, the Gnome file browser you also start bringing in large sections of Gnome. Also if you bring in Dolphin large chunks of KDE also arrive. You might want to look at Midnight Commander (mc at command line) a very nice command line file browser.
On 2012-04-14 13:16, Nick C wrote:
>
> Yes, I realize that there is a fundamental difference of opinion between
> the Windows world where it is assumed that every server does have a GUI
> and the Linux world where it is assumed that every proper server is text
> only.
>
> My personal take on it is this; with modern hardware the performance
> overhead of running a GUI is miniscule. Having a GUI allows quicker and
> easier maintenance when something has gone wrong and needs to be changed
> rapidly. Relying on having to look-up or trying to remember various
> command line instructions can cause extra delay, remember many commands
> are quite different between each linux distro.
For any serious thing in Linux you need to get your hands dirty with the
command line - even if you use it in a graphical terminal. Often you can
use graphical frontends, but not all combinations are contemplated, and
then you need access to the backend.
Even in Windows, servers do not have displays. Nobody is going to sit at
them ever.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)