On Tue, May 16, 2006 at 11:11:46PM -0500, Tim Link wrote:
> I am finally going to upgrade my server running Fedora Core 1 (I know,
> I'm behind the times) and was thinking about using FC5. But, as I read
> the posts on this list, it appears that Debian has found it's way into
> the hearts of many as far as it being a preferred distro for servers.
> Why is this the case? I truly am not into distro wars but was just
> wondering if Debian has a better track record than the others, longer
> up-times, etc.

I am a sysadmin - been doing this for 25 years and Linux for 5 or so.  I
run RHEL ES at work and a RHEL rebuild at home (Tao Linux).  I have had
*zero* problems with stability and rarely have problems with installing
new packages.  I've never had problems with installing security updates
or quarterly maintenance packs.

> If the concensus is that it just really doesn't matter at
> all which distro to use on a server, that will be enough for
> me.  Thanks.

It partly depends on how much work you put into it.  I'm sure you can
screw up any distro if you don't know what you're doing, and a good
admin can make even Windows look good.  When I joined my present
company, VMS outages were frequent and the entire cluster was shut down
monthly for change windows.  Since I took over, the cluster has been up
since May/99.  

If you want to install a server and pretty much forget about it, RHEL is
a really good choice - just apply the security updates when they come
out and you'll be supported for many years.  No re-installs will be
required.  RHEL on the desktop isn't as good because it tends to lag
behind because its focus is on long-term stability.  You won't get the
bleeding edge apps - you don't need these on a server - but it will give
a rock solid platform.

A lot of people complain about dependency hell and rpms.  This is not a
problem on the server, and it isn't a problem with RHEL.  Once you
understand rpm properly and let it help you instead of fighting it,
you can appreciate what it offers. 

If you're constantly installing packages from random sources, you will
experience dependency hell.  But then, you should not be doing this in
the first place (you need to trust your packager!) and especially not on
a server.

When it comes to 3rd party application support, there's no doubt that
RHEL is the obvious choice - don't expect Oracle or Symantec or any
other major company to support Debian, gentoo, or pretty much anything
other than RHEL and SuSe.

        .../Ed

-- 
Ed Wilts, RHCE
Mounds View, MN, USA
mailto:ewilts at ewilts.org
Member #1, Red Hat Community Ambassador Program