On 2/17/06, listmail at brentfriedman.net <listmail at brentfriedman.net> wrote: > 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. I run Fedora, Redhat, Ubuntun, and Gentoo. The Redhat and Fedora are mostly for legacy purposes and they also tend to annoy me the most. I like Gentoo, but it can be annoying if you need an app installed now and have to wait for it to compile. For you I would recommend Debian. I love apt as a package manager and I also love that Debian is easy to setup as a minimal server and build it up from that point. Other than Gentoo, I have not found another distro that granted me that kind of control without the hassel. apt is nice because of it's simplicity and honestly I think a GUI would get in the way. You could easily set your servers to do an automatic security update, but I would setup a test server and test the updates first. YMMV, but if I was you I would go Debian. I'm sure someone else will say otherwise. Good look with your venture forth. -Eric