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Which Linux Distro?

GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
At the moment I am running Gentoo on an old machine with a 40GB harddrive. The setup works well, simply running SAMBA and Apache.

I will be upgrading the machine with a 400GB drive and need to re-install some distro of Linux. I thought I was going to use Gentoo again since I've gotten use to it, but their documentation, especially as it applies to installing SAMBA and APACHE, seems to have gotten worse over the years. In fact, I can't seem to find the APACHE installation guide. And I want to use SAMBA as a file server, not as a print a server.

What I want in the end is a machine with a big harddrive containing all of my mp3s, photos, videos, etc. that I can access from anywhere with WinSCP or Putty and via the Web. (FTP and Telnet would be disabled as they are now.)

Any recommendations? I was also considering Debian and Fedora in addition to sticking with Gentoo.

Besides SAMBA and Apache, I also want a system that is easier to keep up-to-date through some sort of automatic script.
 
Keep Gentoo. Any Gentoo documentation that is slacking in regards to apps like apache or Samba isn't a very logical deterant since there is a plethora of guides on the net to those 2 apps that will apply to all linux distro's and unices. There is also Ubuntu and there is a great server setup guide at how-to forge.
 
I should also note that when it's all said and done, I do not want a GUI installed! In fact, I don't want anything I don't need.
 
For a server I recommend CentOS. www.centos.org.
It's a free red hat enterprise clone that's stable and easy to install and manage.

Use the GUI to get everything setup then switch to run level 3 and save your resources.
 
I would do Debian, if you don't want to do gentoo. Gentoo is (imho) good at keeping most stuff "standard" as far as config files, etc goes. emerge apache should install the packege, and any "apachehowto" is going to tell you that (usually) it's in /var/www/localhost/ and /etc/apache/(2 config files here). Samba is in the same boat, where they don't put config files in odd places, or rename utilities, etc.

Debian is very nice, as if you use Stable branch, you could do an apt-get update && apt-get upgrade (think that's right, I've just started moving from Gentoo to Debian for some things). Stable will have good testing, and is very unlikely to break. I would be confortable putting that into a cron job for most machines.
 
I'd be fine with Gentoo...just pisses me off that they changed their how-to/installation guide somewhat.

They use to have a post-install guide that walked you through Apache and SAMBA. Seems it's been moved.
 
with a robust filesystem, that's a possibility. I love the way *nix does mounting/linking of partitions. It makes windows "C:\" look gay
 
there is a decent guide on moving from the 2004/2.4 to the newer profiles/kernels, but it takes awhile, especially if you want to make a major change to your use flags, such as adding ntpl support. Doable, but probalby quicker to copy your config files and net install debian/move configs back over for most stuff.
 
Any distro will be fine.
Pick your favorite.

My favorite is slackware.
Documentation is weak compared to other distros but it's pretty much bloat free.
 
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Any distro will be fine.
Pick your favorite.

My favorite is slackware.
Documentation is weak compared to other distros but it's pretty much bloat free.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that. Went from Slack to Gentoo.

What kind of bloat could I expect with Ubuntu?
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Any distro will be fine.
Pick your favorite.

My favorite is slackware.
Documentation is weak compared to other distros but it's pretty much bloat free.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that. Went from Slack to Gentoo.

What kind of bloat could I expect with Ubuntu?
Click to expand...

For a server oriented Ubuntu 5.10, you could try Ubuntu Server 5.10
 
Debian and Ubuntu would pretty much be on par, except that I already trust the Debian devs to not f' things up and the Ubuntu guys have been concentrating on desktop stuff for so long. Really, I just don't see the point in a server edition of ubuntu since we already have Debian stable and they'll end up being virtually the same thing.
 
Originally posted by: silverpig
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I'd just install the 400GB drive along side the 40GB drive and keep the installation.
Click to expand...

Gentoo has not been updated in 2 years...thought now would be a good time 🙂
Click to expand...

emerge sync
emerge world
Click to expand...


lol....you wish...you would alse need to throw an emerge portage and another emerge sync in there......not to mention, if it's 2 years old, his profile will be obsoleted, and will have to make some MAJOR changes.

tbh, I tried Ubuntu server, and wondered why as well. I've started replacing my Gentoo servers (minor stuff) with Debian cause it's easier/quicker to update. The testing of packages also appeals to me, but I have to relearn a few things, such as start up scripts and stuff.
 
debian rocks.

Use debian stable. Everything works, everything is tested and supported. If you find something that doesn't work then the bug tracking people are helpfull if you make sure to do your homework and document your troubleshooting efforts for them.
 
I think you will like Ubuntu Server 5.10

It installs bloat free, automagically including apache, mysql and php (iirc) and has no gnome/kde.... just command line (the way you like it but I can't handle 🙂 )

 
I vote for debian.

I have used and still do use ubuntu on one of my servers, but it is very much a desktop system, and should remain that way. Debian is easy to install, and can be installed w/o a GUI like any other OS out there.
 
If I wanted to make a server right now... I think I would do Debian Sarge after looking for some repositories yesterday.

My requisites for a new box would include :

PHP 5 latest
Mysql 5.0.15 Release
Latest of Apache 2

Even though Ubuntu can use the Deb repositories, I think for those things I would want Debian just so noone tinkers with them in the future without ensuring compatibility.
 
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