Todd,
/me fires up into "this is what I do for a living mode" and starts
typing - this could be a long message... :o)
The quick answer:
If you want to use Linux and just want a solution that works, use
Ubuntu. If you want a server that will be familiar with a large
amount of the industry, use either Fedora or CentOS. If you want to
_learn_ Linux, use Gentoo. If you want to support Microsoft and use
Linux at the same time, use SuSE. [0]
The long(er) answer:
Ubuntu is a fantastic product. As a desktop operating system, I would
use it in place of Windows any day of the week. It is stable, secure,
compatible, easy to setup and use (just ask a number of my
non-IT-Literate friends and my Dad!) and there is a huge amount of
support available either through the forums or mailing lists similar
to this one. As a server O/S, I have my reservations (customising PHP
to work using nuSOAP instead of the built in libs is a PITA) however
the fact that the install program on the server CD has a check box
that automatically installs LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql and PHP) is a
definate winner. Administration is also easy and there are many, many
tools to help you. As it is based on Debian, any script that is
written for Debian to ease Admin (and there are thousands out there!)
should work on Ubuntu.
Fedora and CentOS appear to be industry standards as they are based on
RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - CentOS is effectively a completely
free copy with the branding removed! They are secure, reliable and
free just like Ubuntu, although I've never got the hang of the RedHat
Base Layout [1].
Gentoo is a nightmare to setup the first time you run it. It can take
anywhere up to a week to get a server completely installed and
configured. If you do a "Stage One" installation, you need to compile
the compiler(!) however as a learning process, it is invaluable. You
will learn more about using and configuring Linux from using Gentoo
than just about any other Linux distribution.
SuSE is a nightmare to upgrade. Moving from 10.2 to 10.3 requires a
complete system re-install. Compare this with Ubuntu where you just
type "apt-get dist-upgrade" from the command line, Fedora/CentOS which
have a similar upgrade path and Gentoo which is always the latest
version and you can see why I'll say no more about what is otherwise a
very good distribution.
Out of the above, I would recommend Ubuntu or RedHat (Fedora/CentOS)
for a production environment if you need it to be quick and easy. The
reason that Ubuntu and RHEL clones are so quick to update is that the
software you insatll is pre-comiled, just like Windows installs, so it
is very quick although probably not optimised for your system.
If you want to know exactly what is on your system and have it
optimised for best possible performance, use Gentoo. It does not have
the corporate backing in the same way that RedHat/Ubuntu have, however
the Gentoo community are excellent for support and a number of Linux
Consultancies know Gentoo. Gentoo is "source-based". When you
install software (which is as easy as typing "emerge -av
<package-name>") it downloads the source code and then compiles it
against the options that you have set meaning it is truely tailored to
your machine. A number of Datacentres that I have worked with use
Gentoo for exactly this reason - it may take a few days to get to the
perfect server, but it's worth it to know that it is fully tuned to
your hardware.
If you want any further help, let me know and I'll do what I can, I
guess the main advice is don't be put off by not having a mouse. It
really is amazing what you can achieve with a command-line and a text
editor under Linux!
Cheers,
Matt.
[0] There's been an number of questions raised as to just how
impartial SuSE/Novell are when it comes to software patents etc, just
google for it!
[1] The way in which the directories are laid out on the system
Quoting Todd Richards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Hi Everyone -
>
> I'm going to put together my first Linux server, for testing purposes now
> but possibly more later. I currently host and manage 10 Windows 2003
> servers, so Windows is my "thing". Linux, on the other hand, is not.
>
> I've looked at the various distros out there and am not sure which would be
> the best one for me to start out with. My plan at this point is only to run
> the server as a web box, so I will want Apache, MySQL, and PHP enabled right
> away. Later, possibly RoR. And even later, I might possibly incorporate
> Linux servers into our network.
>
> I've done a fair amount of searching on Google, and there is plenty of
> information - but it is all different ("use this", "do that", etc). I have
> downloaded the latest versions of Fedora, Ubuntu, and now openSUSE. Now I
> just need to figure out which one I'm going with.
>
> Based on past experiences, if anyone has any suggestions on how to get
> started, I would appreciate it!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Todd
>
>
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Thanet Linux User Group
http://www.thanet.lug.org.uk/
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