going deeper into Munki, get a better understanding of the difference between Open-source and commercial products, Munki and Jamf Pro. there are much limitations on the open-source products from the superficial level, like it seems Munki can not do much expect software installation and updates, like configuration profile, OS upgrade, etc. but Jamf Pro can handle all these kinds of issues, to an acceptable level if not easily.
but if we go deeper into Munki, it can actually do much of what Jamf Pro can do, but requires much more knowledge and skills. Jamf Pro have much mature resources available for even new administrators, just following the instructions and we can get many of the jobs done. but it’s not true with Munki, though if we can manage Munki, probably for the same job, Munki can do much better than Jamf Pro.
it’s like Microsoft and Linux, to some extent. Microsoft products are much more friendly to normal IT administrators, especially junior ones. there are much much documents and articles on how-to set up and use these products and there is such a huge support team from Microsoft to help IT administrators sort out the issues if there is any. but we have to pay for all of these, and it’s expensive. previously, we had to stand the inconvenience of the functions of their products but we have not other choices because those are what they provide, though the situation is changing now, with their products becoming more end-user friendly and providing more helpful and useful functions. but for Linux, it’s quite different. if we have very experienced Linux admins, we can do much and much more work, and even better, some times if not most of the times, with Linux than with Microsoft products, and most of them are FREE! but experienced Linux admins is the key point here.
luckily, we are not in the world of EITHER OR any more. we can combine these two to make the most out of them, or any other recourses available. with either Microsoft or Linux, Munki or Jamf Pro, our purpose is to help us manage our IT related work easier, better, and more efficient. that’s what matters most.