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61
News and Announcements / Zentyal Community Documentation launched!
« on: June 13, 2011, 09:09:25 pm »
The Zentyal Development Team is glad to announce the launch of the Zentyal Community Documentation! This initiative, proposed by Zentyal community members, aims at offering community members a space where they can share useful how-tos, tips, scenarios, screencasts and any other type of information considered useful to other Zentyal server users.
The Zentyal Community Documentation is made available in wiki format and anyone registered in the Zentyal Forum is free to add new wiki pages or to modify them in the Community Documentation Repository. Please note that by contributing you accept the Zentyal Contributor Agreement (ZCA) and your contribution is published under Creative Commons “Attribution-Share Alike” license.
Zentyal Development Teams believes that the community documentation offers a great chance to complete the official documentation with practical use cases, as well as to gather together and structure all the information that until now has been scattered in Forum boards or blogs. In the next weeks we will be going through the documentation we could add and we’re also looking forward to receiving your contributions!
P.S: On a personal note, I would like to thank robb, for lighting the fuse of this project, Sam Graf, for kicking our butts to actually work on a Zentyal Community Documentation project, christian for helping in the definition of the project, and the NetSol team, for writing the first HOWTO without waiting for the announcement. You really encourage us to continue working on Zentyal. Cheers!
The Zentyal Community Documentation is made available in wiki format and anyone registered in the Zentyal Forum is free to add new wiki pages or to modify them in the Community Documentation Repository. Please note that by contributing you accept the Zentyal Contributor Agreement (ZCA) and your contribution is published under Creative Commons “Attribution-Share Alike” license.
Zentyal Development Teams believes that the community documentation offers a great chance to complete the official documentation with practical use cases, as well as to gather together and structure all the information that until now has been scattered in Forum boards or blogs. In the next weeks we will be going through the documentation we could add and we’re also looking forward to receiving your contributions!
P.S: On a personal note, I would like to thank robb, for lighting the fuse of this project, Sam Graf, for kicking our butts to actually work on a Zentyal Community Documentation project, christian for helping in the definition of the project, and the NetSol team, for writing the first HOWTO without waiting for the announcement. You really encourage us to continue working on Zentyal. Cheers!
62
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Comparison of different small business servers?
« on: June 08, 2011, 06:47:08 pm »
I agree that comparing Ubuntu/Zentyal with Microsoft SBS is complex, but this is the case with any two products that are not designed to be pure replicas. However, Zentyal serves many use cases similar to Microsoft SBS and I believe the comparison is more than fair.
You could also say that Zentyal should be compared to Cisco routers, Check Point firewalls, Untangle UTM or Alcatel VoIP switchboard, as it offers some of its functionality and it can be a substitutive in some cases (we have done so for some customers). But I believe Zentyal can be a very good alternative for a more important base of MS SBS users.
It is true it does not have supported, well-integrated ERP/CRM/CMS solutions, but these can be installed easily as it is Ubuntu-based and we do provide support for its integration if required by customers/partners. And as you pointed out, Zentyal has the advantage of integrating many other network features that MS SBS does not.
Anyway, Zentyal is not an alternative for every MS SBS user, but it brings great advantages and costs savings for a large part of them. CALs are a very important share in total savings, but not the only one. The subscription vs license model, the flexibility brought by the integration of network features, the need of less powerful hardware and the cloud services to reduce maintenance and downtime, altogether make a much lower total cost of ownership. Our estimations are that, depending on the case, Zentyal can be over 50% cheaper than MS SBS during the server life cycle. However, it is not too credible if we are the ones claiming so ;-)
So, I do think it makes a lot of sense and anyone carrying out such benchmarking will have our total support.
You could also say that Zentyal should be compared to Cisco routers, Check Point firewalls, Untangle UTM or Alcatel VoIP switchboard, as it offers some of its functionality and it can be a substitutive in some cases (we have done so for some customers). But I believe Zentyal can be a very good alternative for a more important base of MS SBS users.
It is true it does not have supported, well-integrated ERP/CRM/CMS solutions, but these can be installed easily as it is Ubuntu-based and we do provide support for its integration if required by customers/partners. And as you pointed out, Zentyal has the advantage of integrating many other network features that MS SBS does not.
Anyway, Zentyal is not an alternative for every MS SBS user, but it brings great advantages and costs savings for a large part of them. CALs are a very important share in total savings, but not the only one. The subscription vs license model, the flexibility brought by the integration of network features, the need of less powerful hardware and the cloud services to reduce maintenance and downtime, altogether make a much lower total cost of ownership. Our estimations are that, depending on the case, Zentyal can be over 50% cheaper than MS SBS during the server life cycle. However, it is not too credible if we are the ones claiming so ;-)
So, I do think it makes a lot of sense and anyone carrying out such benchmarking will have our total support.
63
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: June 07, 2011, 03:36:39 pm »
I just sent a small notification to 120+ Dutch members. Let's see the reaction.
Regarding merchandise, we have made some limited T-shirt edition, like the ones in this picture taken at FOSDEM. We could make a new edition if we can cover the costs.
Regarding merchandise, we have made some limited T-shirt edition, like the ones in this picture taken at FOSDEM. We could make a new edition if we can cover the costs.
64
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Official documentation for Zentyal 2.0 now available!
« on: June 07, 2011, 12:42:21 pm »
Hi Robb,
Community documentation is ready to roll. The wiki consists mainly in two parts: official doc in wiki format, only editable by Zentyal staff and Forum Moderators, and community contributions, editable by any forum member. Login is done with the forum account.
Before announcing it, I would like to gather some feedback about the structure we should use and how to link both parts. In order to ease the process, I suggest to set in community contributions the same structure we have in the official documentation, based in Zentyal profiles (infrastructure, gateway, UTM, office, etc). What do you think?
Cheers,
Community documentation is ready to roll. The wiki consists mainly in two parts: official doc in wiki format, only editable by Zentyal staff and Forum Moderators, and community contributions, editable by any forum member. Login is done with the forum account.
Before announcing it, I would like to gather some feedback about the structure we should use and how to link both parts. In order to ease the process, I suggest to set in community contributions the same structure we have in the official documentation, based in Zentyal profiles (infrastructure, gateway, UTM, office, etc). What do you think?
Cheers,
65
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 31, 2011, 08:19:50 pm »
Hi mmullenders,
I can see that the board has already taken off. Great! Let me know the progress as I can't really follow it ;-)
Regarding the users, we do not have the location settings from each one, but we guess their location from their IP. Moreover, for some reason mailing lists are not the communication channel that is working the best for Zentyal users, so my advice would be to avoid it.
I am not very keen on spamming forum users with lots of announcements, but maybe we can send a short email to Dutch-based-IP users with a short notice saying something like "Hey, there's now a Dutch-based board in the forum. You can check it here. Sorry if this email is not of your interest". What do you think?
Cheers,
I can see that the board has already taken off. Great! Let me know the progress as I can't really follow it ;-)
Regarding the users, we do not have the location settings from each one, but we guess their location from their IP. Moreover, for some reason mailing lists are not the communication channel that is working the best for Zentyal users, so my advice would be to avoid it.
I am not very keen on spamming forum users with lots of announcements, but maybe we can send a short email to Dutch-based-IP users with a short notice saying something like "Hey, there's now a Dutch-based board in the forum. You can check it here. Sorry if this email is not of your interest". What do you think?
Cheers,
66
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 30, 2011, 08:44:02 pm »
Hi mmullenders,
I just created the Dutch board (I used Google translate to write a description but I am not sure whether it makes any sense at all ;-) ). Please, let me know whether you want me to change anything in the board configuration.
Now it's time to rock&roll and get Dutch users to use the board! Let me know how you want us to help (news, Facebook/Twitter, forum announcement, etc). We're at your service :-)
Met vriendelijke groet,
I just created the Dutch board (I used Google translate to write a description but I am not sure whether it makes any sense at all ;-) ). Please, let me know whether you want me to change anything in the board configuration.
Now it's time to rock&roll and get Dutch users to use the board! Let me know how you want us to help (news, Facebook/Twitter, forum announcement, etc). We're at your service :-)
Met vriendelijke groet,
67
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Comparison of different small business servers?
« on: May 27, 2011, 09:22:57 pm »
Thanks for your suggestion.
Linux Format, on their June 2010 issue, published a comparison of 7 Linux firewalls, including ClearOS and Zentyal (then called eBox Platform). They chose eBox as the best (disclaimer: we learned from their comparison once they published it, not before, so we had absolutely no influence on their verdict
), though ClearOS came close together too.
The Register also published three articles last year analysing Zentyal, ClearOS and SME Server. However, at least on Zentyal's review, their analysis was somehow shallow and sometimes based on wrong assumptions, which obviously got to somehow wrong conclusions.
And finally, and in a more informal way, this year there was a post describing some impressions about Zentyal.
Regarding the two case studies you propose (schools and small companies), we, as a vendor, are actively working on both of them. Regarding schools, although we have several success stories, the most important is the School 2.0 program, aimed at providing schools in Spain with one notebook per child and evolve learning methods to make the most of Internet-based technologies and contents. Zentyal is the server that is being deployed in some pioneering regions to guarantee quality and secure access to the Internet. Based on our experience, we are currently working in a bundle (hardware, software, configuration and services) for schools that could be distributed through our partner network.
Regarding small companies, a couple of months ago we announced the availability of a SOHO bundle (a solution integrating hardware, software and services for very small offices at a very low cost) as a prototype and we are running it in a few customers. If the prototype is successful we will distribute it through our partner network too.
So, that's the current status. Obviously we are glad to help in working on a whitepaper comparing several small business servers. We could offer at least support to help setting up the benchmark with Zentyal and carrying out the tests.
Cheers
Linux Format, on their June 2010 issue, published a comparison of 7 Linux firewalls, including ClearOS and Zentyal (then called eBox Platform). They chose eBox as the best (disclaimer: we learned from their comparison once they published it, not before, so we had absolutely no influence on their verdict
), though ClearOS came close together too.The Register also published three articles last year analysing Zentyal, ClearOS and SME Server. However, at least on Zentyal's review, their analysis was somehow shallow and sometimes based on wrong assumptions, which obviously got to somehow wrong conclusions.
And finally, and in a more informal way, this year there was a post describing some impressions about Zentyal.
Regarding the two case studies you propose (schools and small companies), we, as a vendor, are actively working on both of them. Regarding schools, although we have several success stories, the most important is the School 2.0 program, aimed at providing schools in Spain with one notebook per child and evolve learning methods to make the most of Internet-based technologies and contents. Zentyal is the server that is being deployed in some pioneering regions to guarantee quality and secure access to the Internet. Based on our experience, we are currently working in a bundle (hardware, software, configuration and services) for schools that could be distributed through our partner network.
Regarding small companies, a couple of months ago we announced the availability of a SOHO bundle (a solution integrating hardware, software and services for very small offices at a very low cost) as a prototype and we are running it in a few customers. If the prototype is successful we will distribute it through our partner network too.
So, that's the current status. Obviously we are glad to help in working on a whitepaper comparing several small business servers. We could offer at least support to help setting up the benchmark with Zentyal and carrying out the tests.
Cheers
68
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 26, 2011, 07:40:53 pm »
That's right. I think there is no point in having the community documentation in other languages than English.
I am looking forward to see your scenarios
I am looking forward to see your scenarios
69
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Language discussion
« on: May 26, 2011, 05:36:15 pm »
Hi Escorpiom,
I think the sticky text stating what the subforum is intended for is a great idea. I think it is obvious that the main language used in the forum is English, but it is never bad to insist in the message.
I think the sticky text stating what the subforum is intended for is a great idea. I think it is obvious that the main language used in the forum is English, but it is never bad to insist in the message.
70
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 26, 2011, 05:30:01 pm »
Hi mmullenders,
I think it is a great idea. There are over 100 forum users from the Netherlands. Probably only a fraction of them would actually be active enthusiasts, but I think numbers are big enough to launch the initiative. Should we create then the Dutch-based board?
Hi robb,
we are now polishing the community wiki-based documentation and we will launch it in a few days. I think that the free availability of documentation, if properly updated by board moderators and forum members, should help avoiding letting valuable information get "locked up" by language. What do you think?
I think it is a great idea. There are over 100 forum users from the Netherlands. Probably only a fraction of them would actually be active enthusiasts, but I think numbers are big enough to launch the initiative. Should we create then the Dutch-based board?
Hi robb,
we are now polishing the community wiki-based documentation and we will launch it in a few days. I think that the free availability of documentation, if properly updated by board moderators and forum members, should help avoiding letting valuable information get "locked up" by language. What do you think?
71
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Language discussion
« on: May 26, 2011, 10:58:14 am »
Hi,
robb, Escorpiom, I understand perfectly your point. In fact our initial approach, when we were known as eBox, was that IT guys do (or should) understand English and thus we would use English as the only official language. However, this turned out to be a mistake: although Zentyal is used in several high-tech environments by very experienced IT professionals, a large part of its user base belongs to part-time sysadmins, small business managers, freelances, consultants, students and home users. These people, if they come from a non-English speaking country, do not use English on a daily basis and many do not feel confident enough to ask for support in a different language than their own mother tongue.
So, with our initial approach we found out that many users were left out and that we should consider localization as an important issue. We received several requests to open up a Spanish-language board, and then jquintao offered his help to be Portuguese-board moderator. These boards have proved to be very useful to provide support for non-English speakers. However, the main language is still English and most of the posts are written in this language.
Recently, mmullenders offered to start a Zentyal Users Group in the Netherlands, which I believe could be a great use for language-specific boards.
In summary, I think having language-specific boards is positive for the project for two reasons:
1) They allow us to expand our user base to those who have difficulties in communicating in English.
2) Users always have the alternative of starting their own Zentyal language-specific forum elsewhere instead of this forum, and that would not be good for the project.
I agree it is challenging to keep several languages in the forum and that they might look like isolated islands, but I also believe it is the best approach. Moreover, we can give more use to these boards as a communication channel for local users groups or for translation teams. Anyway, this is just my opinion and I am open to get convinced during the discussion
robb, Escorpiom, I understand perfectly your point. In fact our initial approach, when we were known as eBox, was that IT guys do (or should) understand English and thus we would use English as the only official language. However, this turned out to be a mistake: although Zentyal is used in several high-tech environments by very experienced IT professionals, a large part of its user base belongs to part-time sysadmins, small business managers, freelances, consultants, students and home users. These people, if they come from a non-English speaking country, do not use English on a daily basis and many do not feel confident enough to ask for support in a different language than their own mother tongue.
So, with our initial approach we found out that many users were left out and that we should consider localization as an important issue. We received several requests to open up a Spanish-language board, and then jquintao offered his help to be Portuguese-board moderator. These boards have proved to be very useful to provide support for non-English speakers. However, the main language is still English and most of the posts are written in this language.
Recently, mmullenders offered to start a Zentyal Users Group in the Netherlands, which I believe could be a great use for language-specific boards.
In summary, I think having language-specific boards is positive for the project for two reasons:
1) They allow us to expand our user base to those who have difficulties in communicating in English.
2) Users always have the alternative of starting their own Zentyal language-specific forum elsewhere instead of this forum, and that would not be good for the project.
I agree it is challenging to keep several languages in the forum and that they might look like isolated islands, but I also believe it is the best approach. Moreover, we can give more use to these boards as a communication channel for local users groups or for translation teams. Anyway, this is just my opinion and I am open to get convinced during the discussion
72
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 26, 2011, 09:57:38 am »
Hi mmullenders,
there is a language discussion going on in the forum about whether language-specific boards are required or not. Let's reach an agreement there first and then we will continue here. Is it ok with you?
Regards,
there is a language discussion going on in the forum about whether language-specific boards are required or not. Let's reach an agreement there first and then we will continue here. Is it ok with you?
Regards,
73
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Zentyal Users Group Netherlands
« on: May 24, 2011, 04:40:15 pm »
Hi mmullenders,
It is a really cool idea. We are completely open and supportive with this kind of initiatives. You can count on our support with the infrastructure and to gain more visibility for the Group within Zentyal users. However, as none of us speaks Dutch yet, we would need a Dutch-speaking person who could be responsible for coordinating the activity.
If you are ready to take this responsibility, maybe we could start by opening a Dutch-speaking board in the Forum so that we can make a better idea of how many interested people there are, in a similar way as Spanish and Portuguese-speaking boards. What do you think?
Regards,
It is a really cool idea. We are completely open and supportive with this kind of initiatives. You can count on our support with the infrastructure and to gain more visibility for the Group within Zentyal users. However, as none of us speaks Dutch yet, we would need a Dutch-speaking person who could be responsible for coordinating the activity.
If you are ready to take this responsibility, maybe we could start by opening a Dutch-speaking board in the Forum so that we can make a better idea of how many interested people there are, in a similar way as Spanish and Portuguese-speaking boards. What do you think?
Regards,
74
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Official documentation for Zentyal 2.0 now available!
« on: May 24, 2011, 04:23:09 pm »
Hi Robb,
we have been discussing the idea with the Forum Moderators and we are now preparing a wiki-based community documentation. It will be launched pretty soon.
Regards,
we have been discussing the idea with the Forum Moderators and we are now preparing a wiki-based community documentation. It will be launched pretty soon.
Regards,
75
Installation and Upgrades / Re: Official documentation for Zentyal 2.0 now available!
« on: April 19, 2011, 05:32:38 pm »
Hi MagicFab,
the license is correct. We have traditionally published the documentation under a creative commons license, hoping to receive contributions and improve it under a community-driven model. Deploying it on a wiki was always on our roadmap, although we expected that to certainly imply some extra effort in maintenance from our side, so we waited for the first contributions before doing so.
However, realising that by version 2.0 we had received no contribution whatsoever, we dropped the creative commons license, as by the moment there seems to be no benefit for the project and the community does not seem to care about it (you are the first one to raise the issue since we published it six months ago). If you have a different opinion please, let me know, I am open to suggestions.
Cheers,
the license is correct. We have traditionally published the documentation under a creative commons license, hoping to receive contributions and improve it under a community-driven model. Deploying it on a wiki was always on our roadmap, although we expected that to certainly imply some extra effort in maintenance from our side, so we waited for the first contributions before doing so.
However, realising that by version 2.0 we had received no contribution whatsoever, we dropped the creative commons license, as by the moment there seems to be no benefit for the project and the community does not seem to care about it (you are the first one to raise the issue since we published it six months ago). If you have a different opinion please, let me know, I am open to suggestions.
Cheers,