OK, I've got a new box showing up today that I plan to use mostly as a server, though I'm sure I'll also use it off and on for development and general playing around.

So, I'm trying to figure out which distro to use. I've got Gentoo on my laptop, but I'll probably be moving all my data from there to the server when I've got it set up and possibly scrap Gentoo from there as well. Though I like the portage system, after about a year I'm tired of 3 to 4 day compilation whenever a new Xorg/KDE/whatever else comes along.

I've heard that apt-get on Debian is similar to the portage system. So that's an option, but I'm also from a windows background and like my GUI interfaces for configuration, etc... I've been hearing Ubuntu is based on Debian but a little more user friendly. Any others people would recommend? Also, I'm not restricted to just one. The HD will be big enough to handle a number of ditros, but I've at least got to narrow it down some.

miscreant

Hello!

As a server distribution I'd recommend RedHat Enterprise if you have the money, or one of it's free clones CentOS or WhiteBox Linux. Fedora Core is used as a free server distro by many companies too.

Debian is also a suitable distro for serving as server.

Boby

I usually recommend Slackware or Debian as a good server distro as both are very stable.

I personally switched all of my boxes from debian to Gentoo because I prefer portage and prefer the Gentoo style of releasing updates continuously, rather than at 30 month intervals.

Yeah, that's my worry is that Debian will be too far behind, but I've lost the patience for compiling everything. Was interesting when getting to know Linux, but I have better things to do with my computer than have it sit compiling.

I think I'll try to find a Debian based and an RPM based distro and run them both for a while to see which I prefer.

miscreant

I hate to see redhat distros used for servers instead of debian or slackware. but your concern of debian getting too old is well founded. keep in mind that testing is quite stable about 6 months after a release. and, though it may be a tad risky, an upgrade can be very much worth it.

if you really like gui configuration it may be worth it to use redhat-type distros, or one of the friendlier debian variants.

Well, I probably should have said that I plan to use it as a server/desktop combination. It'll probably serve more often as a server, but I want to be able to use it for development as well and possibly normal web browsing and stuff. It'll be on a KWM with my wife's computer though, so who knows how often I'll actually get on it.

Like I said, I think I'll try a user friendly RPM, and a user friendly Debian based distro and set it up dual boot for now to see which I prefer for what I'm doing with it. I'm currently thinking Fedora Core 4 and Kubuntu (prefer KDE as my desktop).

Anyway, box should be delievered today so we'll see how it goes.

miscreant

i believe slackware would be best for a server.

in a few months the LDIOSse will be out which will be based on LDIOS (which is based on slackware 10.1) and be made for a quick server setup. till its complete, id say slackware.