[Koha] New Debian install - OPAC invisible

[Mirko Tietgen]

Hi,

Mark Tompsett schrieb am 08.10.2015
> Greetings,
> 
> We owe them the best solution.

I don't think I owe anyone anything when it comes to free community
support. But I'd rather not decide what is the best solution for
everyone.


> requires Apache and Networking configuration knowledge.
> Knowledge which is not easily condensed to "a simple command that
> leads to the result people ask for".

True, there is a second command (add Listen 8080 to ports.conf).

All things Koha require a lot of special knowledge. We could close
the list then and make it autoreply "get paid support" to all questions.


> Why should default not be disabled? Perhaps […]

Perhaps not. Who knows. When someone asks about a Koha installation
on a local IP address, I'd assume a test installation on a dedicated
(virtual) machine, not a production system, unless they tell me
otherwise.


> Most of time, it likely will work, but not in all cases. Is
> debugging all those cases part of Koha's scope?I don't believe so.
> This is why a support company would be recommended. They would be
> able to navigate any pitfalls provided by the users configuration
> which could vary wildly from user to user.

So we close the list? I do not see why we should make any difference
between the Apache setup (magic only a professional can do) and Koha
(much more complex than doing some webserver config). Maybe we
should go as far as labelling free community support dangerous,
because we can never take into account all things that may or may
not be, while suppport companies could get the whole picture before
making recommendations?


> As stated before, name-based access is the default. Name based
> installations are the simplest. All that is needed is the hosts file
> hack. But a DNS entry is the correct solution, because otherwise
> someone has to run around to every computer on the network editing
> their hosts file?!

A "hack" with a wrong DNS entry is the right solution? Sounds fishy
to me.

I do not assume any other computers needing to access it in this and
many other cases. There must be thousands of local test
installations out there. Many of which lead to getting a support
company once people tested and decided they would actually like to
migrate to Koha.


> That's the wrong way to do networking, but best
> practices regarding networking is definitely beyond scope. 

You can either let people do it in a way that works, or explain the
way you think is better. "Don't do A, but B is too complicated, hire
someone" is not a constructive answer.


> Also, knowing where to put the hosts file hack ON THE CLIENT is hard.
> http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Koha_on_ubuntu_-_packages#Tweak_Hosts_File

Oh, even more reading required for the easiest solution. :P


> Next, if someone decides to move their Koha on the internet, having
> already set up for name-based access makes the transition easier.

Because they all run on myDNSname.org? That will be lot of fun once
I spend the 12€ to buy that domain.


> [lots of imagination stuff]

I imagine nothing of that. I see a question that from years of
experience (I'm a support provider, we know a lot of stuff :P) I can
me assume to be about a local installation and I give advice that is
easy to follow. If that leads to a follow-up question, fine. In
dozens of cases it lead to something like "great, it's working now,
thanks a lot, koha is awesome".

Cheers,

Mirko

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