Google has open sourced its internal software for deploying Mac OS X packages across a network. Known as Simian, the platform was built after Google's Mac Operations and Security teams evaluated several Mac package deployment tools and failed to find one that suited their needs. After alleged Chinese hackers broke into Google' …

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Monday 31st January 2011 18:44 GMT Anonymous Coward

A matter of time, really.

But it's good news to see more enterprise-y mac management tools. Even if this stuff happens to mostly be useful to google and those shops that don't mind to update macs from google's app thingy. That's probably going to be freelance mac admins, not so much enterprises other than google themselves, for the time being. But hey, now that it's open source, the improvements that aren't dependent on google infrastructure might be merged back into munki, no?

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Monday 31st January 2011 19:22 GMT jubtastic1

Apple Reimote Desktop

Be intersesting to know why ARD wasn't up to the job

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1. Monday 31st January 2011 22:44 GMT Anton Ivanov
  
  It is not for remote support it is for remote deployment
  
  ARD and its bretheren are priceless for remote support.
  
  They are not really a bulk patch/update management tool even on Apple which has very reasonable scripting to assist in this.
  
  What google has done is dragging Apple kicking and screaming into the enterprise network. The equivalents to this will be SMS, Radia and the like and not ARD. Now anyone and everyone can deploy an Apple desktop while still being compliant to company policies some of which are not optional as they stem from industry regulation.
  
  It will be quite interesting to observe how this will change the enterprise desktop market (because it will).
  
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Monday 31st January 2011 19:40 GMT indie

(ARD)ly worth it

I used to admin around 100 macs and ARD regularly refused to play nicely with the odd machine, a minor pain if the machine was sat in a room at the other end of the building.

Try looking after thousands of Macs in multiple buildings in multiple countries, needs to work first time every time!

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Monday 31st January 2011 23:43 GMT Anonymous Coward

Monkeys?

Is it called Simian because Google pay peanuts?

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Tuesday 1st February 2011 20:24 GMT E 2

Hahaha!

Take that Apple! Someone is horning in on your tightly controlled system.

I'll bet Saint Jobs is apoplectic!

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