[LBo] best distro for a server install

[Stefan Waidele]

Dave Roseman schrieb:
> [...]
> but what
> would you guys recommend to be a good distribution for a server install ?

While there were many specific suggestions in the other answers - and I
will not argue with any of those because they all make sense - I want to
answer more generally:

=========================================================
For your server, use the distro you have on your desktop.
=========================================================

Bold statement, I know :)

As you have stated in our original mail, the main part of your server
will not be linux. The main part will consist of Apache, Samba, ssh, and
a mail-server. They will just happen to run on linux.

Since these programs are more or less the same on each and every distro,
the distro itself steps into the background.

Of course, you don't want to pick a distribution which is under heavy
development like Debian-sid, OpenSUSE-prerelease, Ubuntu-whatever-beta.
You will also try to avoid "special interest distros" focused on the
latest 3D-Desktop, recoring video or the like.

But apart from that, pick the stable version of YOUR distribution, since
that is where you "know the moves", where you don't have to learn how to
do the details, where it will be easy for you to keep the system
up-to-date. Basically: This is where you can focus on configuring and
running the server-programs and where you do not struggle just because
"that thing uses csh instead of bash!"

So pick Debian-stable, Ubuntu-server-LTS, a released OpenSUSE or CentOS,
or the expensive Enterprise versions of Red Hat or Novel - although I
don't think they actually add much more value (for a single server)
except a "clear conscience towards the boss". But that is another story.

My 0.02 €,

Stefan

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 252 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://LinuxBasics.org/pipermail/qna/attachments/20071103/a8fcf98b/attachment.pgp