Linux·4,557 discussions

Which Linux?

Locked

Which are the best options in Free Linux distribution?
Would you recommend them for a corporate environment?

Topic

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

debian,
mandrake ( both commercial and free versions )
red had’s fedora core
xandros
yellowdog

all linux ditributions must make available the sources, most make a copy of the ditro available free as well.

they all can work in a corporate environment.
mandrake may be prefferable for the configuration wizards available for servers.

xandros is designed for desktop workstations.

debian is a solid community distro.
no corporate version available only free. the only drawback is the bsd installer. ( familiarity with linux helps with the bsd installer distros )

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Reply To: Which Linux?

since suse’s scsi based kernel won’t boot for me I have no experience iwth it.
if I can’t boot the installer or livecd, then I can’t recommend it.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

Because of tech support and application (DB, etc) support I would recommend only SuSE Enterprise (check http://www.novell.com/linux/truth/choose_novell.html) or Red Hat Advanced.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

For a free version for personal use, a popular option is to grab several different distros and ‘play’ with them, finally choosing the one you are most confortable with.

My favorites include:

Debian – not always the latest versions in packages but usually very stable.

Slackware – very flexible, stable, and up to date. Does little hand-holding however.

Ubuntu – a newcomer and based on Debian but has potential.

SuSE for those wanting a more commercially based distro.

For enterprise use, I would have to make a distinction. If you can do your own support then Debian or Slackware make excellent choices. If you will rely on the distribution provider for support then my first choice would be SuSE, though there is a commercial version of Slackware. EnGarde and Astaro are also available to meet more specialized needs at the enterprise level. For those who want the marketing backing there is always RedHat.

Note that any of the main distributions mentioned will function well as either desktop or server.

A note on Fedora: While Fedora seems relatively stable (and some people claim is still the free RedHat which it is not) it is a testing distribution where regular developement is made on features for inclusion to RedHat commercial sofware and so is not, in my opinion, something to be trusted in the enterprise (though it is used there by some, noteably web hosts who wish to stay with RedHat type systems and their acquired knowledge but without paying the large licensing fees for Enterprise support.)

The same of course applies for the “current” version of any distribution which is at the leading edge and still has potential flaws. Always use the latest stable/release version rather than current/testing version for enterprise applications.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

To be honest, I wonder why you wouldn’t include SuSE Linux in that list.

I’ve found that it is easy to install and configure using their Yast2 wizard for all the basics. There appears to be good support community on their web site, and now they have Novell owning them, so I can only imagine that it would get better.

Is there a reason for not using SuSE?

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

Any linux distribution would suffice provided the techie has enough knowledge on how he setups up.Linux is not MS windows and we should not expect all ready made applets to just click and use, may be for configurations etc. Linux is much modular and powerfull.Handle with care kind of a thing.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

The main question always remains: what are you trying to accomplish? and will the solution you implement fit into your organisation?

Debian and Mandrake are a really decent freebie dekstop distros but as mentioned by someone else you’re going to need some existing Linux knowledge to take advantage of them. Also -and this goes for all ‘no costs’ distros – you are at the mercy of the linux community at large to develop new kernels, and write drivers, apps… If you hardware isn’t brand new, those distros might be interesting options but do your homework first and find out if your hardware is in the HCL list for the distro in question.

For reasons too long to explain here I’d stay away from Red Hat for Desktop – though it makes a decent server.

My preference : Suse – for server and desktop. It is probably the most widely used distro out there by businesses for windows desktop replacement.
Novell’s acquistion of Suse boosted their R&D budget and the German government is strongly backing up their resolve to ditch Microsoft anywhere they can and thus are encouraging rapid development of Suse.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

It truly is a matter of horses for couses.

You will have to select a few distros and evaluate them yourself. Join a local Linux User Group. You will soon see what they use for a spcific service. We have in our organization 5 distros. SUSe, RedHat [both Enterprize and Fedora], Mandrake and Gentoo.

All the distrebutions can be compiled to your needs. All but Gentoo gives you a bunch of applications precompiled making it very easy indeed to install. You can chose to install the minmum set and complile everything yourself, but be warened, it can take quite some time. I like Gentoo the best but it is not to be jumped into without looking. You need previous *nix experience. That said, once you have it up and running getting new apps is a breez and the best is it is fast, realy fast. This is because from the outset you are compling everything from source and all tha apps are build for YOUR hardware. You even get a speakup kernel for Fedora that is optimized for the blind. Kernels can be optimized for audio and video, for web servers, for database servers, for firewalls, etc.

So in short, you will have to know what you want to do to find the right distrebution for you.

Regards

Ulrich

PS that is the nice thing with Linux, YOU have the choise.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

Although there are many great Linux distros by far the most “corporate” ready and solid are RedHat and Suse. Many will argue that Gentoo, Mandrake, Debian and Slackware are good as well. The core of Linux doesn’t change. It’s the pacakages that come bundled with the distros that do as well as level of support provide. Suse has the backing of Novell now and RedHat has partnered with several large firms to provide throughough testing and technical support. This is/should be a primary concern if you are going to run Linux in a corporate environment.

Bottom line, CEOs and CFOs may think the lights are pretty and the graphics are swell, but to them downtime is lost revenue period. They won’t care about Linux rivalries then. They will only care about what you will do about it. It’s nice to have a large company in your corner when a problem does occur.

My suggestion and favorite is Suse. The Yast2 administrator tool is awesome and their KDE set up is very user friendly. But RedHat and Debian are strong players too. I would avoid Slackware. It’s the most Unix like, and very secure, but not very user friendly.

Best of Luck!

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

I would recommend RedHat.

They are already have relations with hardware and software vendors, and have their system running in several big companies system.

For corporate environment, why not?

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

What about Nitix? I hear it’s super fast and I think a less than 10 min setup?? Anyone have exp with it?

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

I have installed Mandrake 10.1 and then installed SuSE (I have also installed Linux XP Pro), and really the differences between them is how much user interface you wish. XP Linux is not bad, and gives a number of configuration options, Mandrake I found lacked the Icons on the desktop, so you needed to know how to browse, for newbies can be intimidating (the Knome desktop gave more such as a network browser etc), but I liked SuSE.

I found SuSE KDE desktop gave a file manager browser, network broswer, etc, and YaST was a nice addition. I found the desktop to be nice, and easy to move around.

Regardless, there were many configurations that I found to be easier to configure through the konsole. I am not sure exactly what will be the dfference bewteen these packages free editions versus their server releases etc except for manual and support, because the SuSE personal (I think) can be configured to be PDC – just have to know how.

Thoughts anyone?

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

these questions do not belong together

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

1) You could look into White Box (it RHEL 4, but
without the support from RH itself).

2) What do you want to do, for a corporate
environment I think more issues are relevant
like: Storage (How: SAN, NAS, Local, Raid?),
Backups, Size of the environment (do you need
Kerberos/LDAP/Local files) security (Do you need
SElinux?), Database access needed (Oracle, DB2,
PostGresql, MySQL) etc.

Reply To: Which Linux?

In reply to Which Linux?

i will recommend strongly debian

this is really easy and user friendly

check here foe details http://www.debianhelp.co.uk

[Author]

Replies