Linux Distro Recommendations 2007 February 5
On the LOPSA-NJ e-mail list, someone asked for a recommendation as to what Linux distro they should use for a file and print server. The response was predictable. Use what I use! Don’t use that, use blah! Etc. I think these lines of advice are not the most productive way. For most applications, it really comes down to what you are familiar with, being the best distro. In some cases, if the package maintainer for the main service is exceptional, you might want to use that distro over your normal choice. Of course, the opposite is true. Anyway, this was my response to the question about what Linux distribution to use for a file and print server:
Really, this comes down to a political or religious war. Some people
like Debian, some prefer CentOS, some prefer Suse (although less
and less theses days with Novell’s potential deal with Microsoft),
some prefer… . Really it comes down to what you need to do and
what you are comfortable supporting. While Debian may be a better
distro to host Service A, CentOS might be better at Service B, but in
the end, they all can probably do what you want. Also some have
shorter release schedule (Fedora Core) than others (Debian). In
some cases shorter is better, in other cases the opposite is true. In
most cases for a file and print server, it probably doesn’t matter. In
the case of a file and print server, I believe any major distro will be
fine. If the person maintaining the server is more used to RedHat,
probably coming with a RedHat variant (such as CentOS or Fedora
Core) might be the way to go because of familiarity. Personally, I
have used many different distros and have been using Mandriva on
servers most recently for a file and print services with Windows and
Mac clients and have had absolutely no problems. Mandriva also
proved easy for the non-Linux user on site to do basic administrative
tasks. I’ve used a couple of the distros that others on this list have
recommended and seem to love, but had problems with them in the
past. Go figure. When in comes down to it, it is all personal
preference. That said, I’d recommend to any new-to-Linux person
the following 1) Pick one of the “main-stream” binary distros that are
well supported. These could mean (on x86-type platforms one of the
following (I’m sure I’m missing one or two):CentOS
Debian
Fedora Core
Mandriva
Ubuntu
RHEL (if you have the $$$)
Suse/OpenSuse2) To narrow it down, if you know someone that is willing to help out
in a pinch, pick what they use! And 3)The next .
thing I’d recommend is go to the meetings of your local Linux Users
Group, as there should be a number of people there that will be
willing to help you and give you some real good adviceGood luck!
Edward M. Corrado
President, Linux Users Group/In Princeton, Inc.
http://lugip.org
I always reccomend following your second piece of advice. In particular, I tell people to find the most helpful free software user they know, and ask that user what he or she uses, and then use that OS.
The only problem with this advice is sometimes the most helpful people use many different distributions.
-Dave