Microsoft Active Directory

“When we had local, properly integrated AD no one had to log into anything other than their computer.”

“Back then their training material recommended .local for Active Directory services.”

“Active Directory seemed so hostile to any external hardware controlling the network.”

“The whole ecosystem of AD+GPO+ Exchange since 2000 is unparalleled”

“They extended DNS, LDAP and Kerberos to make Active Directory so that now every Microsoft-locked corporation is stuck”

“SharePoint and AD are so god-forsakenly awful you would think they're vibe coded”

“Nothing come close to Active Directory + Group Policy, not even Entra ID + Intune.”

“made Windows by far the best mainstream ecosystem to manage hundreds or thousands of corporate desktops”

“It integrates well with AD so some really complex tasks become stupid simple.”

“you still can't connect your open source DNS and DHCP server to a Microsoft domain controller”

“make Sharepoint/Office/Active Directory as terrible as it possibly could be while still technically being functional”

“no comparable replacement for Active Directory DCs which run every major company on Planet Earth”

“it can not match the features offered by Active Directory like AD controller replication”

“AD is well documented, functions generally the same everywhere, and has an intuitive enough interface”

“the answer for managing 25,000 endpoints was to use Windows devices with Active Directory as the management plane”

“Ask me a decade ago what an enterprise should do, and my answer would be straightforward: AD, GPO, Exchange.”

“I haven't found a better alternative than active directory”

“Linux still doesn't have anywhere near as nice and cohesive as Group Policy, Active Directory etc.”

“Is its probably the most complete tool I used for humans and device managers.”

“Windows that has AD teeth sunk into it where everything is "managed by your organization."”

“Microsofts advantage is ActiveDirectory integration. Centrally managed users and machines”

“integrated this stack with an easy to use graphical interface for almost 30 years”

“ActiveDirectory, Exchange (on-prem) and Office are all still fixable”

“The most die-hard Linux folks I know turn to AD the minute they need to manage users and devices at scale”

“They used to have training material incentivizing professionals to use .local as TLD for Active Directory realms.”

“Ansible and FreeIPA can’t hold a candle to Active Directory”

“Active Directory is unmatched.”

“You still need AD to provide centralized authentication/authorization.”

“Problem was that delegation was not constrained, which makes it even worse the oauth authorization sprawl we have now.”

“In the AD world, allowing remote code execution is not a bug, it's a feature.”

“AD allows connections between two computers that are registered against the active directory, including a random laptop and the AD themselves”

“AD has built-in mecanisms where a random person can execute code on the AD themselves”

“It's actually really good at what it is: a highly-available Kerberos implementation with an integrated directory server.”

“There is still no equivalent alternative to AD.”

“Active Directory is a very no-code tool and has a ton of documentation and certifications online”

“Active Directory was afflicted by impossibly tiny windows for the management tabs, but the functionality worked”

“I really like how AD works”

“Comparable, well integrated easy to use solutions didn't exist at the time.”

“They bolted products onto Active Directory which is ancient LDAP tech.”

“Wait until it gets hacked. You will lose DNS, DHCP, Email, file servers, web servers, endpoints, etc.”