Linux Server

[TheNNS]

I'm currently looking for a Free distro to run on my servers. I'm going to be using a web server, ftp, dhcp, game server, etc. I wan to know if there's a windows like free server, or which one would you guys recommend. I've looked into Xandros server, but that costs. Is there anything that's free that is also easy to use? Thanks

[John A]

Any distribution of Linux will work as a server. It all depends on what kind of computer you have, and how much time you're planning to put into it.

For a quick and easy setup, I recommend SuSE. Only recommended if you have a fairly speedy computer.

For a pure Linux computer, with a moderately easy setup and good performance, choose Debian. It's one of the oldest around.

When you need a lot of speed, choose Slackware. It's not the easiest to set up, but it's rewarding in the fact that it runs like greased lightning.

For the most customizable setup, choose Gentoo minimal. It gives you a command line prompt, and it's up to you to install everything manually. This takes a long time to set up, but you can install exactly the packages that you want.

[markdean]

I agree with joeprogrammer, any Linux will do. Since I live and work in the Red Hat world, and since Red Hat is an industry standard, many times I recommend a free binary compatible RHEL version such as CentOS if you don't need commercial support. CentOS has a one CD Server services installation and is rock solid-not encumbered by the 4Gb of extras that a server does not need (but is available for CentOS like any other distro). Quite a few corporations are using it for production systems so I highly recommend you start with that for a server platform. Downloads can be obtained and centos.org.

Suse is too GUI for me and it places many configuration items in a non-Red Hat format or location so I've avoided it. Nothing wrong with it though, but as mentioned, you need a beefier system than you would need for many other distros.

Agree as well, you can't go wrong with Slackware-one of my first Linux distros...but not for the faint of heart.

[TheNNS]

thanks for that, what about clarkhome, i think that's what it's called, i've heard it's good. what do you guys think of xandros server? i heard it was a lot like windows server.

[markdean]

I'm not sure being like Windows is a good thing at all so anything that tries to emulate it is not what I would consider a good thing, but that's my take on OSes. I think you can get lost in all the distributions out there, Linux is Linux and other than some that are geared specific for a very small footprint or a specific function like an appliance, they all have basically the same functions and packages and will work fine for anything you may need.

[TheNNS]

xandros server doesn't emulate windows at all, it uses some of it's server enviornment, so it makes it easier for people who are coming in from windows. I actually tried it, and it's very easy to setup.