[TriLUG] Debian vs Mandrake vs Redhat vs . . .

[Heath Holcomb]

Joshua Bedick wrote:
> Ok,
> 
> I may be opening a can of worms, but here goes.  What distro do people
> recommend?
> 
> Here are the requirements:
> Easy updating for security and other fixes.
> Stable!!!
> Good support for software.
> 2.4 kernel
> trivial to maintain
> 
> Now here is what's going to be on it:
> qmail
> SpamAssassin
> Some A/V
> PHProjekt
> Samba
> MyDMS
> MySQL
> Arkia (sp?)
> Webmin
> iptables
> freeswan (sp?)
> apache
> php
> imp
> DNS (cr.yp.to or latest bind)
> 

I think either one would do the job fine. I'm personally more familiar 
with Red Hat and I use it on my workstations, but apt-get is very nice 
for installing and keeping server stuff up to date. Debian also has a 
reputation for being extremely stable, although I've never had serious 
problems with either one. You may also have an easier time finding 
"offical" packages for some of your software. I would stay away from the 
more minor distros for a server, though.

Of course, if you want to buy a support contract Red Hat is the way to go.

Heath

-- 
Heath Holcomb
bluetea at nc.rr.com