Best Linux server version?

[Sunner]

We're looking at migrating some boxes(mixed Windows and Solaris) to Linux.
The boxes will likely be Compaq DL380 G2's, or possibly ML370 G2's.

Now, our distro choices are somewhat limited since we want good support, and can therefore only use what Compaq supports.

The candidates are:
Caldera's OpenLinux Server
RedHat' 7.2
SuSE Enterprise Server 7

Im leaning towards either SuSE or Caldera, as I frankly don't have all that much trust in RedHat's quality(the 7.0 distro was the quite possibly the buggiest distro I've had the displeasure of dealing with).
On the other hand I've heard many good things about RedHat's educations and certifications, which is of course a big plus.

So, has anyone got any experience with these companies in the corporate market?
Im looking at software quality, the quality of their services and education, and just generally how supportive the company has been when trouble arises, and we all know it allways does.

 

[n0cmonkey]

All of RedHat's *.0 releases are buggy. Dont use them.

RedHat's quality (except for .0's) has been decent, and their support seems to be some of the best. They are the biggest Linux company in the US after all.

SuSE would also be a good choice, but I havent used it personally.

Both are rpm distros which sucks, but they are both decent quality.

 

[Sunner]

Well we're in Europe(Sweden to be more specific).

I've used the workstation offerings from these companies at one time or the other, though SuSE was a short experience.

As for being RPM distro's(Caldera is as well), that doesn't really bother me much as long as the packages are good.
It's not like I'll be installing KDE on them or anything

 

[n0cmonkey]

If you are in Europe SuSE may be the better option for you.

 

[bubba]

I end up having to use RedHat because everyone tests against RedHat. Some things are more difficult to configure or may not even work on other distributions. I have a few expensive packages that come in an RPM as well. I don't have the time to hack together fixes to get things to work under a different distribution.

 

[manly]

I'd say Red Hat is a pretty good choice for a server OS, esp. if you want supported 3rd party software.

It might depend on the level of support you require though. I have no direct experience, but either Red Hat or SuSE should do fine if you purchase a support contract. Like n0cmonkey said, SuSE in Europe is also an attractive choice.

If you're thinking of running Oracle, I'd go with SuSE. Oracle now develops their Linux version on SuSE, and you get a very nice out-of-the-box experience.

I'd avoid Caldera since they are a bit player. As an aside, SuSE is a great workstation OS; it's been my primary system since version 6.2.

 

[thornc]

SuSe.... give money to European companies!

From what I've heard SuSe has very good support... at least in central europe.

 

[Sunner]

I might add that the potentially most important task of these boxes will be to run a clustered DB2 database.
Has anyone run DB2 on either distro?

On a sidenote, I prefer Debian for my workstation, can't beat dpkg/APT