Puppet isnt anywhere close to the same thing as smxi.. Puppet is for managing configurations of multiple systems, and keeping everything in line. Once you get more than a handful of systems, whether desktops or servers, the only way to effectively manage them is with tools, whether that be with Puppet, or something like active directory group policy in the MS world. So with Puppet or other configuration managers, you would create "recipes" that would define the configuration for a specific class of your machines. Then either push that configuration out to them, or have an agent on the remote machines that would poll your server to see if there are changes to apply.

SMXI is simply a script to manage things (installing kernels, specific software, upgrades, video drivers) on a single desktop.

They are NOT comparable at all..

I've been using it for years to help make Sid/Sidux/Aptosid/Siduction more stable and friendly. It's there and it works. I don't know why distro's aren't "officially" adopting it. (I believe it started as a semi-offical part of Sidux, then became independent when they decided not to "support" it).

I have to admit I got a real LOL when I refreshed my Pipedot page today.. Talk about a great colorscheme! (and the "Beta" joke... hahaha)

Can we keep it past April Fool's??? :)

I've looked at Kolab off and on a few times over the last several years. It really seems to have grown up, and is offering very nice enterprise level functionality. I'm impressed.

My personal view (and maybe I'm biased), is that the tide has really started to shift to Android in the last year or two. It used to be everything was iPhone this and iPhone that, but now things are at least on a more equal footing, if not shifting a bit to Android..