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

[Chris Gray]

If you like Debian, you might also consider moving to the "testing" 
distribution, "etch".  This has more up-to-date packages (MySQL 5, for 
instance).  Building recent versions of Perl modules should go fine.

I've never had problems with the "testing" dist (with the exception of a 
very occasional dependency problem that has always been fixed quickly and 
hasn't affected operation).  The "experimental" dist is a different story.

I haven't had enough experience with Ubuntu yet to speak against it.

Before the free RedHat became Fedora, I found that Debian had spoiled me 
too much to like RedHat.  The biggest downside for me was the inability to 
upgrade OS versions without reinstalling from scratch.

Chris Gray
University of Waterloo

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In
practice, there is." --Chuck Reid

On Thu, 6 Jul 2006, Joshua Ferraro wrote:

> Hi Keith,
>
> At LibLime, we use Debian Sarge for most of our systems. Index Data
> maintains a debian apt source that has the latest versions of their
> apps (including the latest yaz which you'll need for ZOOM Perl). Also,
> the latest CPAN version of Net::Z3950::ZOOM has a bug in the Makefile.PL,
> if we bug Mike Taylor he might upload a fix ;-). In the meantime, just
> comment out the line:
>
>
> #   OPTIMIZE          => "-Wdeclaration-after-statement -g -O0"
>
> If you need more recent versions than supplied by the package
> maintainer you can always check out backports.org.
>
> Hope that helsp.
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Joshua Ferraro                       SUPPORT FOR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
> President, Technology       migration, training, maintenance, support
> LibLime                                Featuring Koha Open-Source ILS
> jmf at liblime.com |Full Demos at http://liblime.com/koha |2(888)KohaILS
>
> On Thu, Jul 06, 2006 at 08:59:21AM -0400, Ross Singer wrote:
>> Keith,
>>
>> I migrated from Debian to Ubuntu for these issues (timeliness of
>> 'modern' packages).
>>
>> If you're comfortable with the 'Debian way', you might want to take a
>> poke at Ubuntu 6.06 -- there are debs for PHP5/MySQL 5, Perl, YAZ and
>> Net::Z3950 shouldn't be much of a problem.
>>
>> Fedora is also popular and will probably yield similar results, but
>> the 'Redhat way' is somewhat different than Debian, so it all comes
>> down to comfort.
>>
>> Given the amount of community support surrounding those two
>> distributions, I don't see much reason to use anything else.
>>
>> -Ross.
>>
>> On 7/6/06, Keith D. Engwall <kengwall at catawba.edu> 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
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