GNHLUG> Org Web>InternetServer>ServerDistro (revision r1.8)EditAttach
When it comes to our InternetServer, there will be some unavoidable discussion on choice of distro, even if we avoid a prolonged debate. This page gives that discussion a home.

Registration

Let's start by registering our own preferences on distribution, as well as our experience level with any distro (preferred or otherwise). If you have any "I refuse to have anything to do with" opinions, note those too. Avoid explaining why at this point; let's just survey the field.

  • BenScott - Prefer a RHEL clone like CentOS. Most experienced with Red Hat Linux, Fedora, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux clones. I've tried SuSE, Mandrake, and Debian in the past. I'm willing to work with just about anything.
  • BruceDawson - Suggest either RHEL (maybe we can get a company in Westford to donate a copy). I also have experience running Ubuntu servers. I do not recommend a plain Debian server installation - too much customization is required.
  • BillMcGonigle - If we can get a RHEL license, great (make sure that includes support since RHEL support is less community-based). If not, CentOS would avoid costs we can't afford - how's it's track record on maintenance releases? Fedora Core might be worth looking at since it tracks new features the fastest, if we want this to be the 'shining city' server. My server is currently RH9 - it works just fine but it's the old dusty city. I run FC2-4 at several client sites without any distro-specific problems and the community support is great. Anyway, the goals should be to minimise cost, sysadmin requirements, and roadblocks, in that order.
  • ToddWarfield - Suggest RHEL or RHEL clone (CentOS) as that is what I am most familiar with. Concern would be throwing something 'cool' on it (Ubuntu) that none of the admins have worked with enough.

Requirements

See also: ServerSecurity

The following items outline some of the requirements of the distribution. These exist in light of this system being managed by a (probably) disjoint set of people. For the sake of sanity, let's try to avoid arguing how or why a particular distro fits these criteria at this point. :)

Non-negotiable

We more-or-less can't live without these.

  • Free/Open Source Software (free as in speech)
    • Why: The "Live free or die!" spirit of NH aligns perfectly with FOSS
  • No capital acquisition cost (free as in beer)
    • Why: We have no money
  • Support for our ServerHardware
  • Experience within our community of sysadmin volunteers
  • Automatic updates (with yum, apt-get, up2date, etc.)
    • Why: We do not have a staff of pros for caretaking
  • Must be kept current with security fixes

Preferred

We want these, but can be more flexible.

  • Long lifecycle - We want to avoid frequent major upheaval
  • Package selection
    • Good selection of server stuff we are likely to be interested in
    • Reasonably current
    • Reasonably good quality
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Topic revision: r8 - 2006-02-09 - BenScott
 

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