[thelist] Best Linux install for home development server?

[Felix Miata]

On 2011/09/14 12:19 (GMT+0100) Simon MacDonald composed:

> 1.       What is the best Linux install to go for - I was considering
> Ubuntu?

That's like asking who is the most beautiful woman or what is the best 
automobile or refrigerator brand.

One place you might want to start is 
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php?select_lang=true

Also goto http://distrowatch.com/ and scan the page hit ranking. Pick out 
several, goto those home pages, and see if anything grabs your attention. 
Download a few live CD isos, burn, and boot them, to see what you like or not.

I've been using primarily SuSE -> openSUSE since before Ubuntu existed. 
Ubuntu is a debian, and is Debian proper simplified, meaning the vast 
universe of existing choices aren't necessarily so easy to discover. Ubuntu 
uses the Gnome DTE, which put me off on day one of booting Redhat well over a 
decade ago. I've seen nothing of any subsequent Gnome version to change my 
mind about it.

The Ubuntu people do offer Kubuntu, which is the same debian foundation with 
the KDE Desktop Environment, the DTE of choice for most power users demanding 
of maximum flexibility and choices, including myself. Mandriva until its last 
release was like most major distros, like Fedora, Debian & openSUSE, in 
offering a choice among Gnome, KDE and several less popular DTEs, but is now 
only directly supporting KDE.

Be sure you do try desktops other than Gnome and KDE, as one of them may well 
suit you better. Those that come to mind include XFCE, LXDE, & IceWM. If 
you're a hands on down in the trenches kind of person, you may well want the 
extra control offered by the likes of Gentoo or Slackware.

Debians have some significant differences from RPM distros like the Redhat 
you were once exposed to. If some of that Redhat experience stuck, you might 
be better off avoiding Debians. One of those major differences irritates me 
severely, so the only thing I use any Debian for is cross-distro testing.

If maximum stability is a major plus for you, you may want a commercial 
release like SLES/SLED or RHEL, or a free variant thereof like CentOS.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

  Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/