discuss: Production use distribution? ---Re: [olug] Linux sysadmin position

[Nick Walter]

When we began phasing out Unixware (yuck) and going to Linux for production
systems where I work, there was only one distro choice, Red Hat.  Not
because it's a corporate distro or support contracts are available, but
simply because the vendor support was there.  Oracle was saying use Red Hat
if you want our db, telephony vendors were telling us use Red Hat if you
want supported linux device drivers, etc.

We'd have used Billy Joe's HomeBrew Linux for l33t h4xx0rs if that's what
they'd told us would have been supported.  I think you'll find a lot of
people saying the same thing.  While other Linux distros have various
advantages over Red Hat, application and hardware support are *far* more
important to businesses that a nicer installer or package manager or
whatnot.  Even if Red Hat lags a little behind other distros in some areas,
it's still a trillion times easier to maintain a bunch of RH servers vs a
bunch of crash happy NT/2000 servers.

Nick Walter


----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Wiese" <bwiese at cotse.com>
To: <olug at olug.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 1:01 PM
Subject: discuss: Production use distribution? ---Re: [olug] Linux sysadmin
position


> On Sat, 11 Jan 2003 21:37:12 -0600 (CST)
> "IrishMASMS" <IrishMASMS at olug.org> wrote:
>
> |FYI: http://www.danga.com/jobs/sysadmin.txt
> |
> ...
> "-- linux (debian, redhat)"
> ...
> "15 database servers (MySQL, mix of RedHat and Debian)"
> ...
> "20+ web servers (Debian (mostly netbooting), mod_perl and/or
>  apache+mod_proxy+lingerd)"
>
> I must say, I was a bit impressed to them use Debian as well as Redhat for
> their main production GNU/Linux distros.  I guess I'm just somewhat
> suprised to see Debian in use because it's not a commercial distribution
> like Redhat, SuSE, Mandrake, etc... but then again neither is FreeBSD
> correct? - and it's been very popular in production environments for many
> years, including running Hotmail[1] in the past (before Micro$oft took
> over).
>
> Though I know that in different parts of the world, different
> distributions of GNU/Linux are more popular (SuSE and Mandrake in Europe,
> YellowDog and  TurboLinux in Africa/Asia -- read an article about this
> once) and Redhat is the most popular in the U.S.  (and world now - even
> though SuSE was AFAIR?)  --- I think it ultimately comes to a decision by
> the administrator of which distro to use, they'll be the ones that use
> it... and we talked about this at the installfest as well (Linux gives you
> choices).
>
> My question:  What are your opinions and preferences on a GNU/Linux
> distribution for use in a production environment and why?  Would you
> recommend a specific distro for a business?
>
> To me it just seems most companies see GNU/Linux and think "Redhat"  (ohhh
> it gets me when people say they run Linux 7.3!!!) and thats it, thats the
> decision, thats what distro they will use - simply because its popular?
> Others have more insight and just prefer one that better meets their
> needs/experience/preference perhaps, and what a unified distribution in
> use.  As for continuity... I feel a GNU/Linux sysadmin should 'know' how
> to configure/admin a GNU/Linux system - not just a Redhat, Mandrake or
> Debian one... and definately that any distro could be customized just as
> well to meet a specific need.
>
> So, what are the arguments for choosing a production/business GNU/Linux
> distro.... besides system administrator preference?  (of which is more
> manageable/easier to use?)  Some preferences:
> - ease of use, administration, management, control over system
> - package management preference
> - default install/customization of system
>
> Business perspective:
> == Redhat
> + commercial support available
> + 3rd party consultants available
> + large user base
> + security patches released quickly for packages
> + default support for some special commercial software?
> (Some software may say, requires Redhat 7.3 or better? lol)
>
> == Debian
> +/- not dependant on a company, but rather community for support
> + 3rd party consultants available
> + large user base
> + security patches released quickly for packages
>
> == Others?
>
> In the end, I think I'm still biased for Debian since I use it and enjoy
> it, and find it easily configurable enough for any task/environment. (and
> some philosophical reasons as well)
>
> [1] http://www.securityoffice.net/mssecrets/hotmail.html#_Toc491601819
> ------------
> "Experience in the past has shown us that most programmer + sysadmins
> prefer to just program.  So, we're looking for somebody that perhaps
> knows how to program, but doesn't necessarily enjoy it.  :)"
> ....
> haha! sounds like me!  (I should learn to program more though)
>
>
>   Brian Wiese | bwiese at cotse.com | aim: unolinuxguru
> ------------------------------------------------------
>   GnuPG/PGP key 0x1E820A73 | "FREEDOM!" - Braveheart
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