On Friday 17 February 2006 10:06 pm, Dave Alanis wrote: > On Friday, February 17, 2006 9:43 PM, listmail at brentfriedman.net wrote: > >Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 16:43:00 +1300 (NZDT) > >From: listmail at brentfriedman.net > >To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > >Subject: [tclug-list] Distro question > > > >I am about to set up a new venture using Linux servers. I have used > >everything from slackware to debian to ubuntu for personal and non-public > >server use, but I haven't set up any "live" servers with Linux since > >Redhat switched to Fedora Core. The servers will be running a php web > >service, with a mysql back end. > > > >I will not be the main admin for these boxes, as I will be pretty busy > >with the business end of the venture. I am looking for a distro that has > >as automated a update/patch installation system as possible, whether free > >or less than $500/server/year. Also, it would be helpful if the update > >system was GUI based. Any suggestions about what you are using in a > >production environment would be really helpful. > > > >As a follow-on question, I plan to pick up a few Dell Poweredge 2650 dual > >xeon systems on ebay. Any thoughts on these systems running linux? > > > >Thanks, > > > >Brent Friedman > > > >_______________________________________________ > >TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > >tclug-list at mn-linux.org > >http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > I have minimum experience with administering boxes vitally important in a > business environment. But, through conversation, in a previous job our > sysdmin did comment that he preferred using Debian for its simplicity with > its package manager and system update utility. On the other hand, the *BSD* > distros are widely known for their security and working stability. Anyone > have further information regarding my choices? > > > David > If you are married to Linux then I would suggest SuSE Linux. It works very well and has a GUI for updating software, which supports a curses GUI if you want to do updates over SSH as I always do; actually now that I think about it I have never even installed X on any SuSE box so I can't even comment on the X GUI update program. Never had a problem with updates. By the way, their update program is called YaST and you actually perform most basic system function within YaST like updating iptables, modifying hardware settings (IP addresses, PPPoE, modems, bluetooth, etc), software management - installing more software from the base distro media (dvd/cd or over http/ftp/nfs), and of course getting new updates. Happy distro hunting.