[NCLUG] Suggestions for a distro change

Mike Jensen jent at afkfoo.com
Tue Apr 7 13:07:35 MDT 2009


I am going to have to second the Debian recommendation!  Lenny just became
stable (back in February), and it is a very awesome distro.

CentOS is also good if your looking for a free, RPM based, server distro. 
And version 5.3 of CentOS was released very recently as well (although I
know of no distinct advantages of this version).  But I highly recommend
trying Debian first, it really does provide an awesome server OS.  And
with Lenny just going stable it is a good time to jump in.

One other nice thing with Debian is that it will support your software
packages for a long time to come.  Debian maintains a very long product
life support.

cheers,
Mike Jensen
jent at afkfoo.com

On Tue, April 7, 2009 08:57, Shelley, Robert - Fort Collins, CO wrote:
> Good morning, Kevin
>
> Although a relative novice in the depth of my knowledge, but having a
> passing familiarity with twenty years of occasional dabbling in Unix and
> Linux distros, let me be the first to suggest Debian Long Term Stable.
> http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1  It is intended
> for servers which need a stable environment. Seems tailored to your
> need...
>
> But there are others on this list with much more Linux knowledge, so
> I'll watch the collective wisdom responses with interest, too.
>
> - Bob
>
> Robert Shelley
> n-Link Corporation in support of
> USDA-OCIO-ITM-Projects-PMO
> Robert.Shelley at ftc.usda.gov
> Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - Protect it like your own!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nclug-bounces at nclug.org [mailto:nclug-bounces at nclug.org] On Behalf
> Of Kevin H. Olson
> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 8:30 AM
> To: nclug at nclug.org
> Subject: [NCLUG] Suggestions for a distro change
>
> Hello All,
>
>   For a number of years, I've used Fedora as the distribution for
> several servers that we maintain at work. I've always been pretty happy
> with it, but recently Fedora seems to have really pulled everything
> together and they are actually pushing releases out the door every six
> months, and archiving the older versions.
>
>   The result is now that over 8 machines we have 4 different releases,
> ranging from Core 4 to Release 8. Every upgrade is unique, as some
> package or another doesn't want to upgrade, or Fedora didn't package the
>
> "latest" of an update in the Release (e.g., moving from 7 to 8 was on
> one machine was difficult because in Release 7 there was an update to
> the Kernel, but Release 8 had an older version, so it was necessary to
> run down on the net a fc8 release of the kernel later than the one
> already running on the machine).
>
>   With the rapid obsolescence of releases, I am concerned about security
>
> patches. It is not that the older releases in anyway fail us, it is just
>
> that they stop receiving any update support.
>
>   Therefore, I am looking for suggestions on replacing the distribution.
>
> I've been debating CentOS, as it seems to have a longer, stable life.
> However, I have to admit I'm not that familiar with the other
> distributions. I've read the basic stuff, and I think, for example, that
>
> Ubuntu is not appropriate since these are not desktop machines.
>
>   So, I turn to the collective wisdom of the group: what would be a good
>
> distribution and why?
>
>   Your advice is greatly appreciated.
>
> Kevin
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