Re: Best linux Distro 2011
Hi folks,
I think, the best Distro is, what is fitting the users needs. So just let me
explain, why I like Debian, and what alternatives are also fine.
First of all, I tested almost 20 distros. The most major ones, but also some
not well known ones, like trinux or easy linux for example.
My main target were the use for web servers and mail servers.
The result was, that only 5 distros left. The other ones fell off, because the
packages were too old, or there was no support by any maintainers. Some used
too old kernels and some were not easy to administrate ("easy" means: Cannot
be administrated by beginners, who can not use a command line).
However, the 5 distros I chose were RedHat Enterprise, United Linux, Debian,
OpenBSD, FreeBSD. The winner was Debian! Why?
1. RedHat lost, because they did not patch a openssh secrity-hole for 3 weeks!
(any other distro did!)
2. United Linux lost, because they installed in standard server installation
mode unnecessary (and unwanted) services like telnet. WTF? Yes, United Linux
was claimed as a distro for servers, and for those I expect a minimal
configuration.
3. That is what I liked most at OpenBSD. As OpenBSD is a little bit slower as
Linux and very hard to configure (there were 3 noobs in our team), I decided
not to use OpenBSD. Additionally our server were secured by a very expensive
firewall, so protection was not so important.
4. FreeBSD (and I thought long of it), just lost, as packages and updates must
be compiled on the system itself. That was no problem for me, but things hnad
to go fast, and I was the only one, who was able to compile things. The other
mebers of my team were Microsoft-Mouse-Pusher or noobs.
5. The winner was Debian. Why? Easy to tell: The packaging thing was running
perfectly, I could automate a lot of things (cron-apt for example), protection
was good with a little more work, and, very important, I could use webmin (in
a restricted form) for our noob-admins and also some usermin-modules for my
customers (also very restricted form). All other things could be configured to
my needs, thanks to the scripts, debian is bringing by default.
And, not to forget: debian is running on the most different hardware, on intel
machines, solaris, risc whatever. I choose after this advice: Choose a
distribution, and learn it. But learn it well! It was also the well
documentation and manuals, which made my decision easy (although the docu of
FreeBSD is very well, too!)
And not forget its freedom: There is no coorporation behind it, which si
controlling everything (like i.e. SuSE or RedHat!!)
If I would have to choose today again, I would again vote for Debian,
especially for noobs. It is easy to install, well to learn, is still pure
linux (like slackware), and has a fine community.
Many may ask, and Ubuntu? Aaah, f...k off! I do not like, what Ubuntu does. It
is mostly preconfigured, and people do not learn anything. And it lacks with
configuration. I remember, I should change postfix from English to German. No
problem in Debian! Just install German locales and configure postfix. And
Ubuntu? There are no German locales in its repository! Ah, get lost!
It is an American Distro!
Ok, this was just my personal point. I love Debian, fes problems with it and
bugs are fixed soooo fast!
Thank you Debian!
Best regards
Hans-J. Ullrich
Reply to: