looking for linux distribution recommendation 1

[LaylaNahar]

Hi,
I have centos 5 installed on my sony viao (sony vaio digital studio pcv-r553ds)

I installed smokeping (

http://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/index.en.html),

I had a lot of trouble getting dependencies up to date.

I want to start over, install an up-to-date OS & then ad smokeping, maybe something like RT (ticketing), and possibly asterisk.

I don't have to use CentOs. Wondering if anybody would consider recommend an OS. I've gotten the impression that CentOs can be a bit tricky to upgrade.

thank you
LN

 

[Annihilannic]

CentOS is a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is a fairly stable but not necessiarly bleeding edge distribution. I like it because of its stability.

If you want the latest stuff, I'd recommend going for Ubuntu or Fedora perhaps?

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]

 

[LaylaNahar]

Hi Annihilannic

Thanks for responding. It's helpful to know that you use & like CentOs.

LN

 

[ChrisHirst]

Another vote for CentOS. I have 2 web servers (Ver6) and a CentOS 6.0 box in what I jokingly call an "office"
100% stable and quite hard to kill deliberately.

Ubuntu is really a workstation/home distro, a My First Linux kind of thing, it comes with the "root" user disabled for that reason.

Fedora is the testing\development distro of RedHat (a "fedora" is a style of hat) so is frequently released to the Linux community with features that are being developed and debugged". Which, when they are stable, get incorporated into RedHat and CentOS.



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
Webmaster Forum

 

[LaylaNahar]

Chris -

thank you for your response, and for the clarification about the nature of Ubuntu and Fedora. It's very helpful.

LN

 

[RhythmAce]

I am yet another CentOS enthusiast. The latest version is 6.2. To my knowledge however, you will not be able to upgrade to that version because of the changes made in 6.0. The file system in particular. Don't hold me to that though because I upgraded to newer hardware and went with a fresh install to version 6.0. If you plan to run a public server, I would stick with CentOS. On the other hand, if you just want to learn linux or use it as a development platform, you may want to opt for Ubuntu or one of the other distros geared for the newby because help is a little more readily available.

 

[tonykent]

I used to use Ubuntu on my home laptop (Samsung Q210) but the 11.10 release of that was buggy and had a new interface that I did not like so I have recently tried a number of alternatives. The machine did not get on well with CentOS 6 or Mint. I ended up with Xubuntu, which is an official Ubuntu release that uses the XFCE desktop environment. It combines the ease of configuration of Ubuntu with a simple, traditional-style desktop. I shall be staying with that for the foreseeable future as it just works - I can't be bothered with spending any time configuring stuff on my home machine, I have enough of that at work.

 

[Noway2]

I am surprised that Mint didn't work well for you as it is basically Ubuntu with Gnome. Interestingly, I read a statistic that showed Mint has become the most popular distribution since Ubuntu changed their desktop to Unity.

I used to be a big Ubuntu fan, having started with it back in the version 7.04 range several years ago. For the most part, even back then it just worked and had top notch package management and a large repository. I have a couple of servers running the LTS version of the server remix (no GUI, no X) and have been happy with it, though I have been considering switching to something else.

I also run Slackware on a laptop with KDE and a Slackware based web server at work. Overall, I think I like it better than Ubuntu, but it is a little bit more hands on when it comes to maintenance.

@LaylaNahar, I would recommend you stay with any one of the major distributions: CentOS, Suse, or Debian. These will have a large support base with solid repositories of software.

 

[IPGuru]

I have been using XFCE the LXDE for years.
a good choice especially if it works for you.
personally I find the current desktops (Unity/Gnome3) are aiming too much at the Tablet market & forgetting the traditional desktop users requirements are different.

Bottom line Linux is all about freedom & choice & it is not difficult to install alternative desktop environments as required.

The best Desktop/Distro is the one that works for you.


Computers are like Air conditioners:-
Both stop working when you open Windows

 

[LaylaNahar]

Hi thanks everybody for your responses

I downloaded the CentOs 6 installer & found that I don't have enough memory...

So, I'm going to try Suse & Debian (thanks Noway), & if both those fail for memory or any other reason, I spect I'll be adding more memory to my system & sticking with CentOs, mostly because I've used it once already.

thanks again to everybody

 

[minicompbx]

Vote for debian.

So far I already tried Ubutnu, Centos, Fedora. But if you are looking for stable and security server, I recommend you to use Debian. Plus, you can easily find support online.

Hope you made best decision for your purpose.

 

[EmuDan]

I really like Mint for general use, but if you're looking for something more along the lines of RedHat, I've heard good things about Scientific Linux, mind you, I haven't tried it myself.

Dan

 

[Noway2]

Checkout Distrowatch for a comparison of the different distributions. If you are considering a commercial application, you should give extra consideration to one of the "enterprise" grade Linuxes or their free cousins.