Member Avatar for extofer

I've been in and out of Linux for a while know, that last installation I used was SuSe, not happy.... the bast I've used was Red Hat 9. I need something to work with Apache and MySQL AND Oracle... of course, it has to be free. I tried this choose that ALWAYS suggest Mandriva, and in an "Also Suggest" list was Fedora. I always liked Red Hat, so, but I had problems with Core 2 and 3. What is the best suggestion here...

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Thread context: wants a free Linux that runs Apache, MySQL and Oracle and has a Red Hat preference. Replies here suggested Fedora (), SUSE/OpenSUSE () and Ubuntu/Debian (). The practical choice should be driven by whether Oracle Database is the primary production requirement or just something for local development.

If Oracle DB is the production target, pick a RHEL-compatible distribution. Oracle certifies and runs on RHEL-family systems, so using Oracle Linux or a community RHEL rebuild reduces installer and dependency headaches. See Oracle Linux and community options such as AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux.

If the main goal is desktop development (Apache + MySQL/MariaDB + occasional Oracle client), choose a distro with easy packaging and long-lived releases: Ubuntu LTS or openSUSE Leap are good choices for stability and available packages. Fedora is fine if you want newer versions of Apache/MySQL but remember its shorter lifecycle.

Practical workflow: test any candidate on a live USB or inside a VM before committing (VirtualBox is useful for this). For local development use Oracle Database Express Edition (XE) to avoid licensing and to mimic behavior of full Oracle installs. For production Oracle installs, follow Oracle’s OS/version/kernel requirements closely; running the DB on a RHEL-compatible OS avoids many common problems. If MySQL packaging is a concern, consider MariaDB as an alternative that many distros ship by default.

Short recommendation: for a Red Hat-like environment with solid Oracle compatibility choose Oracle Linux or Alma/Rocky; for a more desktop-friendly, supported dev environment choose Ubuntu LTS or openSUSE Leap. Test in a VM first to confirm drivers, kernel and package versions match your Oracle requirements.

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Member Avatar for ardentsunshine

personally I like fedora core plus they have version 5 out.

Member Avatar for Member #2466

SuSe 10.0 has all the stuff you need. Fedora Core 5 is also out. I'd say either one of those is good to go.

SuSe being the best that there is right now though...and the price is right...it's free for the full version on both of those distros

Member Avatar for extofer

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 is currently in a closed beta program.

Member Avatar for analogdog

Mandriva is not exactly free. All the good stuff about Mandriva is for those who join the Mandriva Club. So its $60+ per year. If I were you I would check out Ubuntu and Debian, as they are free as free beer.

Member Avatar for Member #2466

SuSe Linux 10.X is free. The community version is the full version. Enterprise software from SuSe isn't free. But the Linux destkop is.

Currently, I can think of no other destkop that is more professional or well rounded as SuSe.

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