[Web4lib] Which Linux Distribution for a Library Web Server?

[Thomas Bennett]

I have used Red Hat and/or Fedora since at least 1998 and have been very 
pleased with it especially after the update utility from Duke University,YUM, 
was released which is packeged wtih the Fedora, CentOS, and other 
distributions.  I've also received and tested several dvd distributions on my 
laptop, from my subscription to Linux Pro Magazine.  Each issue comes with a 
recent version of a popular distribution.  This month came with Ubuntu 6.06.  
The article in the magazine says, "The Server Edition of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS 
includes a unique mechanism to setup a standardized, certified, and supported 
LAMP ... with a single command".  See 
http://mirror.cs.umn.edu/ubuntu-releases/6.06/ .   

I've also seen complaints about preinstalled or packaged products that don't 
install with paths and environment variables expected by the authors of 
products such as Zope on Debian which makes it difficult when upgrading or 
installing add ons.  I've had a similar situation with distributions such as 
Suse 10.1 when trying to compile drivers for my built in wireless card, paths 
were not defined needed by the driver, although Suse 9.3 found the wireless 
interface automatically at install.

Gentoo is a popular distribution but I haven't had the opportunity to try it 
and haven't heard much about it recently.  CentOS 4.2 "is equivalent to Red 
Hat Enterprise Linux 4 update 2".  I've installed CentOS and am running a 
DSpace server on one right now just as a testing space.


These distributions have live CDs or DVDs available:

UBUNTU 6.06
Mandriva ONE
Suse Linux 10.1
Knoppix 5.01
Debian 3.1 Sarge ( I think there is a newer version of this also)

With all distributions I believe I am correct in saying that for the most part 
each is either Debian or Redhat based and the main difference is in the 
package manager with other differences being in security such as 
SELinux(fedora) or AppAmour (suse). "Every six months, Ubuntu 'freezes' a 
snapshot of the Debian develpment archive and works independently toward a 
final release."

At http://www.linux-magazine.com , you can read articles reviewing the 
different distributions.  I prefer Red Hat / Fedora because I've never had 
any problems installing from source most any application.  Fedora 6 is not 
scheduled to release until September 27.  http://fedora.redhat.com/



Thomas




On Thursday 06 July 2006 08:17, Keith D. Engwall wrote:
> Dear folks,
>
> I have built a linux web server for our library web site, and am
> contemplating which distribution to use. 
>
> Our library web site (http://libweb.catawba.edu) uses PHP and MySQL
> primarily, but there is at least one application that currently uses Perl,
> YAZ, and Net::Z3950.
>
> Currently, I'm having a go at Debian sarge.  While it has been mostly
> successful, I've noticed that there is no deb for MySQL 5 and I've had some
> trouble installing the ZOOM Perl module, so I'm wondering if I'm barking up
> the wrong tree, distribution-wise.
>
> While I've got plenty of experience with standard web design, I've only
> scratched the surface when it comes to newer web-based applications, so I
> want to try to go with a distribution that others have used successfully.
>
> Any thoughts, opinions, etc., would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Keith
> -------------
> Keith Engwall
> Head of Library Systems and Technology
> Catawba College
> kengwall at catawba.edu
>
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/

-- 
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Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett		Appalachian State University
Computer Consultant III			P O Box 32026
University Library				Boone, North Carolina 28608
(828) 262 6587

An important measure of effort in coding is the frequency with which you write 
something that doesn't actually match your mental representation of the 
problem, and have to backtrack on realizing that what you just typed won't 
actually tell the language to do what you're thinking. -Eric Raymond

Library Systems Help Desk: http://linux.library.appstate.edu/help
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