[COLUG] VPS Server: Which Linux to choose?

[Rob Funk]

Rob Stampfli wrote:
> I currently have a Tektonic VPS server initially acquired about 5 years
> ago.  It runs Fedora Core 2, which is getting rather long in the tooth
> (although, perhaps remarkably, it has never been hacked and still does
> a very credible job of serving up the applications I want it to).
> However, the installed software base (php, mysql, etc.) is getting old
> enough to be problematic with today's software releases -- they want
> something newer -- and I've decided it's time to move on to a more
> current OS.  My choices are:
>
> 	CentOS 5    (32 or 64 bit)
> 	Debian 4    (32 bit)
> 	Ubuntu 6.06 (32 bit)
>
> I run Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 at home.  Have never run CentOS
> or Debian before.  I'd expect Debian to be the closest to Fedora, but
> Ubuntu 6.06 LTS will offer server updates thru 6/2011, and I'm familiar
> with it in a desktop environment.

CentOS and Fedora are similar, both coming from the Red Hat lineage.
Debian and Ubuntu are similar, since Ubuntu is based on Debian.

Ubuntu 6.06 ("dapper") was released in June 2006.
Debian 4 ("etch") was released in April 2007.
I'm not all that up on the Red Hat lineage, but I think CentOS 5 was just 
released this past December.

So based both on familiarity and recentness, I'd have to recommend
CentOS 5.

OTOH, I personally think the Debian-based systems are easier to admin 
(partly because they're easier to upgrade from release to release), but 
my perspective is admittedly skewed.  I use Debian on my servers and 
Ubuntu on my desktops.

-- 
==============================|   "A microscope locked in on one point
 Rob Funk <rfunk at funknet.net> |Never sees what kind of room that it's in"
 http://www.funknet.net/rfunk |    -- Chris Mars, "Stuck in Rewind"