Linux Distro (I know, I know...)

[zimmie6576]

Okay, I know the "which Linux distro should I get" question gets asked alot, and after perusing the different threads, none of them answered my question, so I'm making my own.

Anyway, I'm currently running Red Hat 9, which is just about done being supported by Red Hat. I want to move to a new one, and right now I'm considering Debian or Gentoo (want to get away from Red Hat, due to the relatively short product life of its revisions). I am not a newbie, but am also not a power user by any means either. I was almost ready to go with Debian, but I've heard that the stable releases of it are usually horribly out of date. If I were to get the current stable version, would I be able to update later to the next stable release, or one of the testing/unstable releases, without starting from scratch?

Gentoo looks good from the standpoint of it being easily and highly custimizeable, and kept up to date. Is there any other advantages/disadvantages of either that anyone knows about that would help influence my choice? Oh, and if it matters, I use my Linux box as a web (extremely low traffic, mostly just posting a few family pictures and such) and file server primarily, but I am planning on doing more with it.

 

[Jonitus]

Yes, this questiondoes get asked frequently, but it gives many of us a chance to blatently advertise our favorite distros.

You have two good choices with Debain and Gentoo. Both are strong choices, and it could be hard to decide.


Debian has a wondeful package management system. You could, realistically, install the stable version, and update to the unstable (which is still extremely stable), with only a coule of commands...issue the commands before bedtime, and wake up with a new box (no, you don't have to start over from scratch)! Using this method, you can realistically have a Debain box with a very old initial install that is current with the unstable or testing branch...some users update once a day, some once a week, some once a month, some never do.

Gentoo also has it in spades when it comes to packages. Borrowing an idea of package management from FreeBSD. You can update Gentoo very easily witout having to start from scratch. Gentoo, IMHO, will allow a user to update his/her box to the utmost bleeding edge when it comes to programs...this may or may not be desireable.

In a production environment where stability is paramount and the bleeding edge is not as important, go with Debian. If you really want to tweak the hell out of your system, go with Gentoo (it's compiler optimizations are cool, but can screw up a system pretty good if you get too greedy with them).

For what you're doing (webserving and file serving) I would slap Debian on it and be done. No need in installing the stable branch...you can install the unstable just fine...then update your system once a month to keep on top of the changes.


[blatent product placement] of course, you could always install FreeBSD and really let your computer work to its potential[/blatent product placement]

 

[n0cmonkey]

"out of date" is a state of mind.

 

[Cheetah8799]

SUSE

 

[lowpost]

triple boot and decide for yourself

 

[XBoxLPU]

Slack

 

[OffTopic1]

Originally posted by: lowpost
triple boot and decide for yourself

 

[Flatline]

If you really want to get away from the RedHat paradigm, then give Slackware a try (you might want to check out Dropline Gnome on Slack if you're used to Gnome). It even breaks away from the SystemV-style init scripts.