[H-GEN] Choice of distro for server

[mick]

On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:22:54 +1000
Paul Gear <humbug at libertysys.com.au> wrote:

> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
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> 
> On 29/03/12 17:16, mick wrote:
> > ...
> > On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:25:40 +1000
> > Julian DeMarchi <julian at jdcomputers.com.au> wrote:
> >> ...
> >> On 03/29/2012 03:04 PM, mick wrote:
> >>> debian (was slower than a one legged donkey unless I built a custom kernel and then they bound in selinux and I couldn't get rid of it and it wouldn't boot any kernel I built.
> >> In what way was it slow? In my 8 years with debian, never noticed it was
> >> slow.
> > Particularly is file handling and graphics e.g. launch openoffice with 500 page formated document and display it - up to 20% faster with custom kernel (support for all hardware I had built in, filesystem built in, remove all the support for everything I didn't have).
> 
> I would echo Julian's sentiments here.  I've never noticed it being
> slow.  However, i never try to open 500 page documents.
> 
> For me, the ease of administering Debian is the key reason i would
> choose it.  The base distro is lean, but it offers almost unlimited
> packages, and i can mix & match them how i prefer.
> 
> I agree that Arch Linux is a great way to break your packages often.
> 
> Maybe if you're a performance addict you could try Gentoo, but i regard
> its "build everything from source" philosophy as retrograde.
> 
> Paul

My Debian experience dates to the 6 months before the release of sarge and 2 months after. The difference between a generic (support EVERYTHING in modules) i386 kernel and one for P4 with 2GB RAM with all required support built-in was very noticeable especially when I pushed it to the edge of reality.

My biggest gripe was the way selinux interfered with administration. I spent a week trying to make sense of the docs but only got a migraine for my troubles.

Otherwise Debian quite good, especially apt & synaptic.

For me Gentoo was an install that never quite finished, just when I thought it was nearly complete another round of updates came in.

mick

P.S. These comments are SUBJECTIVE based on my own experience only.