FAQ

• What sets Umbrella Linux apart from other distributions ?
  Traditionally, Linux distributions were created to help install Linux onto a single PC. Umbrella’s goal from the start is to manage the whole cluster of Linux workstations and servers in a coherent manner.
• Why Ubuntu ?
  Linux is made of hundreds of thousands of software pieces – programs or libraries, each developed by (an) independent (team of) authors. Linux distributions compile, pre-configure and package these independent programs into a coherent set. As far as compilation goes, there is a pressure on distributions to make the compiled-in configuration as dynamic as possible for highest versatility. Therefore, the binaries are not that much different across the distributions. Because Umbrella does its own run-time configuration of these binaries, there is not much difference – which distribution’s binaries to use as a base.
  Ubuntu was chosen, because it offers the widest hardware support at the moment. However, because of Ubuntu brave experimentation with snap and such, it might very well be possible that future versions of Umbrella will be based on Debian directly. Even if this switch does happen, the difference for the user and for the system administrator will be minimal.
• Why bcfg2 ? It is a dead project !
  Automatic system configuration has a long history, littered with remnants of bit rottent software. Many approaches were tried and forgotten. On the other hand, while every program is written in some programming language, it is not the language, which matters, but what the program itself does. Similarly, the most valuable part of Umbrella is the description of the configuration itself. It can be expressed in another language as well.
  Still, Bcfg2 is very versatile and convenient language ! It can be argued that it is the best in its class. Dead project ? No problem, Umbrella is based on its own fork of bcfg2, which will be maintained as long as Umbrella does.
• What is the use case ?
  Umbrella can take over all the IT infrastructure of an organization – both small and large. It can help configure and manage workstations, users, software updates, network communication services (like E-mail, jabber, WebDAV calendars, organization web site) in a coherent, secure and testable manner. It can also serve as a base for development of organization’s own software and services without reinventing the IT infrastructure management. With some local configuration adjustments (on top of what is provided as a standard Umbrella Linux distribution) on a proper hardware, it can scale from managing dozens to 1000s of computers.