I'm looking to move a few sites from Windows 2003 to Linux boxes for some clients. I would like to get some feedback from the community on which flavor of Linux is best? If you could tell me why you like the version, it would be great.
Thanks.

Ubuntu Linux
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/
Ubuntu - Linux for Human Beings

Philosophy

efficient and simple

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I'll drink to that. I confess I am a virgin Linux user rather than a server admin, so it may have shortcomings I'm not aware of. However, I found Ubuntu a doddle to install (on just about anything). You'll find lots of input on other distros from XOOPS users in this thread..

Ubuntu is the distro. They have a server edition too!

Users of other distros will soon be converted

don (el paso)

This thread might get out of control if you invite some *x gurus here Everyone will have their own decision and reasons. First of all it sounds childish to me that you say I'm converting some Windows 2003 boxes for some clients. Windows and Linux are different, you have to know on how to manage, install, configure each system. If you do not know what flavor of *x you want to use how do you plan to maintain it? Who's going to maintain it?

Which is best? Not a single one and all are the best. It all depends what you want to do.

Personally I do work with RedHat products, but have tested others as well. If you want to get support then I would recommend going with RedHat Pro it will cost you $170 for upgrades a year, but it's well worth it, you get support (if you need it) and some excellent tools like remote package management which is excellent if you decide to get more systems and you can deploy updates and monitor systems from RedHat's monitoring website.

If you are not building critical system and not afraid about once in a while reboots you can go with free FEDORA systems. These systems are kept more on the "edge" where development of new technologies is applied and tested. Are they unstable? NO. I have installed MANY desktops, servers and laptops and they are working fine and are stable. With a reboot needed when new kernel is released (about a 1-2 times a month if you chose the latest version of Fedora).

By the way, I'm not Linux freak , I'm certified Windows administrator

Gediminas

I tend to agree with gediminasbyt on this subject. Migrating to a new platform requires a detailed knowledge of not only the platform you're moving from, but the platform you're moving to.

Where I work, I manage 2003 Domain Controllers and a CentOS Web Server. CentOS is a Red Hat clone that is built from the source rpms of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is essentially the same OS as RHEL, minus the paid support. We use to run Fedora and it was great, but for our environment, guaranteed stability took precidence. Fedora is stable, but RHEL/CentOS is more stable.

The trade off is that you will have to manually compile Apache, PHP, and MySQL if you want the latest stable versions of those packages, since RHEL/CentOS do not upgrade these packages until they've been out for several months.

I also agree that there is no "one" best distro. Each distro has it's strengths and weeknesses that have to be considered. It might be good to note, though, that many mainstream hosting providers are making a switch to CentOS because it offers the stability of RHEL, at the price of Fedora Core..... FREE

Another benefit of Red Hat based distros is that you get all the great tools Red Hat has developed over the years to simplify system administration. IMHO, Red Hat, and Red Hat clones are some of the easiest distros to learn and live with. The trade off is that you really need to get to know the system in order to optimize its performance and security. But that should be done anyways.

Sorry there is no clear cut answer to this question, but then again, that is the case with most things.

Best Regards,

James

OK, I'll bite. Since you got the obligatory Ubuntu commercials and the Red Hat plug, I'll go ahead and throw mine in too - SUSE.

You can download the community version for free (opensuse.org), or purchase a boxed set w/installation support for $59 US. Amazon has it even cheaper.

I currently manage about 120 Red Hat servers where I work, and after 3 years of the Hat, we are switching gears and moving to SUSE (SLES 9). The difference between the 2 is remarkable. I believe SUSE is an excellent example of what Linux can be. It is easy to set up, easy to configure, and rock solid. Linus Torvalds used it himself until he got a Mac and had to switch to a version that ran on Mac hardware.

Of course, if Novell manages to screw up SUSE, I may have to reconsider my personal use of it. If that happens, then I may have to check out Kubuntu.

Yes, SuSE is an excellent distro as well. I especially like it as a Desktop distro.

For the average end user, I think SuSE, not Linspire is going to be Windows' biggest threat from the Linux Community in the long run.

Best Regards,

James

I think Xandros Desktop OS is the most userfriendly Linux OS around...

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Ah... my jedi mind trick is working! Muhahaha

Once Novell latched onto SUSE I jumped to Ubuntu. Novell had me thinking SUSE would cost hundreds of dallors yearly. It is nice that they did release a free version to the public. distrowatch is a good way to keep track of what's going on in the linux world. There's also a tux mag for linux beginners.

don (el paso)