If they’re talking about active directory then in fairness they do have a point. Linux doesn’t have anything anywhere close to the utility of AD. It’s got some of the functionality but it’s nowhere near the full solution that Microsoft offers.
At some point Microsoft are probably going to realise there’s an entire aspect of their operating system they haven’t erroneously stuck AI in and ruined it. But until then for managing large networks you can’t beat AD. It’s just unfortunate that the operating system on the other end is so crap.
No, it’s other crap too. And I’m not convinced AD is as important as people pretend it is, especially with everyone pissing themselves to take everything off prem and into the cloud.
AD is great because it’s already there, not because it’s actually superior.
Are you really claiming user management isn’t as important from a business perspective?
Everyone using local accounts is a nightmare to manage if you have more than 5 computers. No self-respecting IT department would want to put up with that.
And you also seem to have no understanding of the sheer amount of functionality AD offers.
Hardly. It’s incredibly important, especially at such scale. But while AD scales well for a business, it does not scale in a way that makes sense for everything being sold as a service online. Even with Azure, there are other options that are frequently more practical.
Just me trying to manage an organisation with just Linux tools would be a nightmare.
I remember back in 2015 trying to manage a bunch of Apple Mac workstations for a web design company and there was only about 12 of them and it was so irritating. And that’s Apple, who do actually have some, but not very good, user management software.
How does it been in the cloud make it any worse. User management is user management I don’t really care if it’s hosted locally or not. I’d prefer it to be hosted locally but I’d take Entra over not having it at all.
It “been there” is what makes it superior. In Linux it isn’t there.
How does it been in the cloud make it any worse. User management is user management I don’t really care if it’s hosted locally or not. I’d prefer it to be hosted locally but I’d take Entra over not having it at all.
The big difference is the gaping Grand Canyon sized feature gap between M365 and on-prem AD. Sure you can enforce some desktop policies via Entra but rarely the specific one you’re after. And if all you’re really using AD for is central authentication and you’re not using group policy much anymore, alternative options start actually being options
I’ll be the first Linux fan to say it’s better to manage windows from windows, and that includes using the Windows Server stack to manage your Windows clients, but Microsoft’s really making that less and less compelling as they move everything into the cloud and off of local software and instead into less featureful web apps. At some point it makes far more sense to just kick them to the curb and instead deal with the wonkiness of Linux where at least you get control over changes and updates
If they’re talking about active directory then in fairness they do have a point. Linux doesn’t have anything anywhere close to the utility of AD. It’s got some of the functionality but it’s nowhere near the full solution that Microsoft offers.
At some point Microsoft are probably going to realise there’s an entire aspect of their operating system they haven’t erroneously stuck AI in and ruined it. But until then for managing large networks you can’t beat AD. It’s just unfortunate that the operating system on the other end is so crap.
No, it’s other crap too. And I’m not convinced AD is as important as people pretend it is, especially with everyone pissing themselves to take everything off prem and into the cloud.
AD is great because it’s already there, not because it’s actually superior.
Are you really claiming user management isn’t as important from a business perspective?
Everyone using local accounts is a nightmare to manage if you have more than 5 computers. No self-respecting IT department would want to put up with that.
And you also seem to have no understanding of the sheer amount of functionality AD offers.
Hardly. It’s incredibly important, especially at such scale. But while AD scales well for a business, it does not scale in a way that makes sense for everything being sold as a service online. Even with Azure, there are other options that are frequently more practical.
Just me trying to manage an organisation with just Linux tools would be a nightmare.
I remember back in 2015 trying to manage a bunch of Apple Mac workstations for a web design company and there was only about 12 of them and it was so irritating. And that’s Apple, who do actually have some, but not very good, user management software.
How does it been in the cloud make it any worse. User management is user management I don’t really care if it’s hosted locally or not. I’d prefer it to be hosted locally but I’d take Entra over not having it at all.
It “been there” is what makes it superior. In Linux it isn’t there.
The big difference is the gaping Grand Canyon sized feature gap between M365 and on-prem AD. Sure you can enforce some desktop policies via Entra but rarely the specific one you’re after. And if all you’re really using AD for is central authentication and you’re not using group policy much anymore, alternative options start actually being options
I’ll be the first Linux fan to say it’s better to manage windows from windows, and that includes using the Windows Server stack to manage your Windows clients, but Microsoft’s really making that less and less compelling as they move everything into the cloud and off of local software and instead into less featureful web apps. At some point it makes far more sense to just kick them to the curb and instead deal with the wonkiness of Linux where at least you get control over changes and updates
Being in the cloud changes the pressures you face. It’s an environment that no longer has the “everyone is using windows and on the domain” advantage.