[NCLUG] Suggestions for a distro change

[DJ Eshelman]

I'd recommend sticking to what you know-  If stability is important go 
with CentOS, though I would say that is one of the slowest to update.
I have always been a fan of RedHat's support- frankly they've made it 
worth my while every time I've had to call them.  Though I'm not 
currently running any RHEL servers, I do highly recommend it in 
production environments- it's stability is unrivaled in my opinion, but 
the customized kernels almost make the support a must.

I like Debian/Ubuntu on the desktop but it's been hard to transition 
because I'd gotten so used to the RedHat style of doing things.  I've 
gotten myself into quite a few binds trying to make Debian work for a 
mailserver, for example.  Finally I ended up going to CentOS and had it 
up and running in under a day.  I guess the style works for me- but I'm 
sure other people would see my server and laugh their rear ends off.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

-DJ

Kevin H. Olson wrote:
> 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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