Is Kubuntu right for me?

[Guest]

I am looking for suggestions and have been researching for a bit but am still unsure the best route to take. I will explain my scenario and let the experts be the judge. I am currently looking to set up a file server at my office running Kubuntu that holds my client files and resources. My main comp is a PC and I have 2 laptops and another PC that will be networked in. One of the Laptops (mine) will need remote file access (not control of the desktop) but be able to have access to the files in the eve and weekends if needed for updates, etc. I have a client that I would like to give remote access to their client folder only so they can upload files as well as download their logo files, docs and pictures. Would Kubuntu be the app that can do this? I know I can network everything locally in the office, but am not sure about the remote access part through Linux which is a vital part of the network.

Thanks,
GM

[lmilano]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

Hi Grumpy!

There are many ways to do that. The slickest in my opinion is No Machine NX. You can, from your laptop, open a session where you login to your server in the office. It is a parallel login, a full KDE session that looks in your laptop exactly as if you were sitting in the office PC. Is that reasonable? NX installs just dandy in Kubuntu (and it uses the same underlying libraries, i.e. Qt). How Qt is that?

Is this along the lines of what you need?

[Guest]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

I am not looking for remote viewing, I am looking for the ability to have clients log in and access their folders only and be able to download and upload those files. I trid setting them up on FTP but they complained it was to difficult. I am looking to see if I can find a simple solution where they can utilise a web browser and log into my machine but only have access to their folder.

Maybe I am way off base here.

GM

[lmilano]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

Have you tried using Konqueror in the client and the fish:/ protocol? It is ideal for that. The only caveat would be firewalls possibly getting in the way, otherwise it is just what you described.

Edit: Dolphin probably works with fish, and could be a better/alternative option.

[josefko]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

Have you considered an on-line storage? For example www.box.net is a nice place for it. You can go there, make free account and try possibilities they offer.
If it is a reasonable solution for you partly depends on the type and size of files you want to share.

[Untitled]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

"Would Kubuntu be the app that can do this?"

I'm not sure if this needs clearing up, but Kubuntu is not an app but an operating system. It has a desktop sharing application (KRDC) but I don't think it supports file transfers, so it doesn't sound like what you need.

Possible solutions:
1. You can install an SSH server on your designated file server machine and SSH clients on your and your client's machine, but I'm not sure how easy your client would find this if they didn't like using FTP...
For SSH clients you can use Putty, Dolphin (KDE file manager as found in Kubuntu), Nautilus (the equivalent in Gnome, found in Ubuntu) and others. If you and/or your client use Windows you will have to find a Windows client.

2. If I were you this is what I would do:
Set up a Linux machine (Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Debian or whatever you're comfortable with).
Set up a webserver environment (Apache, PHP, MySQL).
Write a php application which allows users (you, clients) to log in and then download/upload files. Since this is a web application this probably going to be the most intuitive for your client. Click to upload, click to download, works like any other website which facilitates file uploads/downloads.

[sithlord48]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

I am looking for suggestions and have been researching for a bit but am still unsure the best route to take. I will explain my scenario and let the experts be the judge. I am currently looking to set up a file server at my office running Kubuntu that holds my client files and resources. My main comp is a PC and I have 2 laptops and another PC that will be networked in. One of the Laptops (mine) will need remote file access (not control of the desktop) but be able to have access to the files in the eve and weekends if needed for updates, etc. I have a client that I would like to give remote access to their client folder only so they can upload files as well as download their logo files, docs and pictures. Would Kubuntu be the app that can do this? I know I can network everything locally in the office, but am not sure about the remote access part through Linux which is a vital part of the network.

Thanks,
GM

you might find this post useful (or least parts of it)
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3101969.0

[josefko]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

2. If I were you this is what I would do:
Set up a Linux machine (Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Debian or whatever you're comfortable with).
Set up a webserver environment (Apache, PHP, MySQL).
Write a php application which allows users (you, clients) to log in and then download/upload files. Since this is a web application this probably going to be the most intuitive for your client. Click to upload, click to download, works like any other website which facilitates file uploads/downloads.

This is exactly what www.box.net have done for you. You can be done in an hour only setting up GUI options how it should work according to your needs. And you can have much more like shared folders and mail announcements about downloading your files.
Kubuntu then can be right for you as an operating system for running Firefox.

[Ole Juul]

Re: Is Kubuntu right for me?

FTP should be just drag and drop from any file manager that supports a mouse. All the Linux GUI file managers do that and I would expect Explorer to do that in MS-Windows, although I've never tried it. Perhaps the OPs client does not have an FTP client that they personally find comfortable. If they are using FireFox as a web browser, there is a plugin called FireFTP which is very friendly and could possibly do the trick.