GAMXTD vs GAM

[k.melillo]

Good afternoon,

Today I responded to a CCC issue by suggesting the GAM tool.  They were looking for a way to show group aliases, and I know GAM can do this, as I have needed to use it myself.

Steve Larson (Another user on CCC) told me I should not be suggesting GAM, but instead, should be suggesting GAMXTD.  Here is the post.

Steve Larsen

0

13 minutes ago

Kevin Melillo

 As great as GAM is, I’d really suggest using or at least promoting GAMADV-XTD instead. It has a more extensive support for Google’s APIs, uses the newer v3 Drive API, Ross also releases new code multiple times a week instead of a few months in some cases like Jay.

All standard GAM commands are compatible in GAMADV-XTD so any user upgrading will not notice a difference.

https://github.com/taers232c/GAMADV-XTD/wiki

While I do use both, I find the setup and documentation for GAM to be a step ahead.  I was also around in the earlier days, before GAM made it so easy, and I had to walk through the steps manually in order to set it up.  Once GAM is installed, it makes it much easier to install and use GAMXTD, and there are instances that I have needed the extra features of XTD, and kudos to Ross for making this possible.  

What I do not appreciate though, is the way this was presented.  It could have been presented as "Hey, GAM is great, and GAMXTD makes it even better"  But instead it was basically a slap on the hand, and a stern voice, "Do not do this."

If I need a hammer, I use a hammer.  I do not go out and buy a complicated tool, that can also be a hammer.

[Steve - DynTech]

Very true, I had been using GAM for many years with great success, never got around to upgrading to GAMADV-XTD (or ADV-X before ADV-XTD came out) and this year finally did and regret not doing it sooner. I recommend it to everyone as the default "GAM" to use. And GAMADV-XTD3 if you prefer python3.

[Peter Smulders]

I'll throw in my $0.02..

gam and gamadv-x[td[3]] are fairly different code bases. Although their syntax overlaps near (all?) 100% of gam, they do not always talk to the API the same way and the reason Ross' work evolves so quickly is that he enthusiastically abstracts operations into their own functions. If and when the API changes, or someone asks for a particular little thing to be added, it is basically some extra calls to the existing functions to add that functionality.

On the front end, however, the documentation is so terse that on occasion, I have looked in the code to figure out what I needed to know. The setup capabilities of gamadv-x are very powerful (allowing for configuration through the tool itself) but woefully underdocumented.

In terms of functionality, I personally have both side-by-side for historical reasons, but I can't think of a good reason to maintain that.

From afar, the obvious question to ask is why not combine them? Or even, why not do away with gam (the older, more difficult to maintain code base) and bring over all the documentation into one set? Since this is such an obvious thing to ask and to do, I can only assume that one or both of Ross and Jay have their reasons for it. They seem to respect both tools' existence and remain silent on the white elephant of gam unification. I would recommend following that example and refraining from comparing them unless particularly relevant to the discussion.

I recommend it to everyone as the default "GAM" to use. And GAMADV-XTD3 if you prefer python3.

I have to agree with you on this, but I would advise new users to refer to the setup documentation of gam.

Today I responded to a CCC issue

Just out of curiosity: what is CCC?

If I need a hammer, I use a hammer.  I do not go out and buy a complicated tool, that can also be a hammer.

I beg to slightly differ. The analogy is more akin to a plain old screwdriver and an electric one: once you have needed the additional features of an electric screwdriver (speed, ease of use, etc) and given they both cost nothing, you are unlikely to ever pick up the plain one ever again. What would be the rationale to ever advise anyone to not get the electric one straight away and not bother with the simple one?

NB: not looking to pick a fight, but really trying to understand what you gain from having both.

--peter

[Steve - DynTech]

Peter - CCC is Cloud Connect Community. The official Google community now run on LumApps. This replaces GCC, Google Cloud Connect which was run on Jive.

You can follow the original post here - https://www.cloudconnectcommunity.com/ccc/ls/community/g-suite/post/6282121916448768

(Click the icon next to the heart to see any replies to replies)

[Ross Scroggs]

Steve,

If I follow your link I don't get to any post; how do I find it?

Thanks,

Ross

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ross.s...@gmail.com

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[Peter Smulders]

You need to be logged in. Top right corner somehwere; follow the prompts, Then hit the link again.

--peter

[+KimNilsson]

@Ross, I'm not sure that non-GSuite accounts can access all parts of the CCC.

[Steve - DynTech]

Kim - my consumer Gmail account allowed me to view the post.

[Eric Dannewitz]

Yeah.....because maybe you are subscribed to the group.....?

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Eric Dannewitz 

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