you're asking pretty broad questions, however... On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 10:48 AM, Jason Hsu <jhsu802...@jasonhsu.com> wrote:
> Since I'm looking for a job as a Linux IT consultant, I need a portfolio of > favorite server applications - firewall, DHCP server, mail server, print > server, etc. Just as I have favorite distros for the desktop (Puppy Linux, > Linux Mint, antiX/Swift Linux) and favorite desktop applications (like > OpenOffice and Sylpheed), I should have favorite server applications. > > I can tell you about one application I don't like: the Firehol firewall > program. It's pre-installed in antiX Linux. Every time I boot up or start > this program, I get an error message about get-iana.sh. I did a Google > search and tried some of the suggestions I found but still couldn't get > Firehol working properly. I'd rather use something that doesn't require so > much tweaking. I'm looking for an alternative for Swift Linux ( > www.swiftlinux.org, the distro I started). > > I'd like to hear what you use and why. Some of the criteria I'm looking > for are: > 1. Security: Any client I work for will need a very secure system, > ESPECIALLY one that does financial work, does business over the Internet, or > has intellectual property. > snort, splunk (semi commercial log monitoring), selinux, (it should go without saying, but learn everything about) ssh, /etc/shaddow and pam, closing ports / turning off services, logrotate. > 2. Stability and reliability: Since a downed server affects the whole > company and not just one employee, I understand this is of paramount > importance as well. > i've already covered this pretty verbosely in another thread earlier today. > 3. Popular: If an application is widely used, then there's more help > available, and the more likely the Debian developers are to support it. > ??? > 4. Consistent from one version to the next: Since I'm obligated to keep > everything up-to-date for clients, I want an application that doesn't change > that radically from one version to the next. I know better than to expect a > smooth upgrade process for even Debian Stable, much less other distros. > most things should be pretty consistent (it's why i don't use python :) ) > 5. Well-supported by the Debian developers: I don't want to use a > particular application, only to find when I upgrade that it's no longer > supported. > all applications have a chance of going out of style - look at windows' fileman... no longer there since '95. however, bash, bind, vi, emacs, gcc, perl, and a few others may be on unix for a long long time. > 6. Easy to use: This criteria is the reason I don't use minimal Debian on > the desktop. Of course, I may have to make some sacrifices on this > criterion in favor of more of the above. > i don't know what you mean here. are you looking for strictly gui front-ends to server apps? > 7. Lightweight operation: I want something reasonably lightweight, but I'm > willing to compromise on this criterion in favor of more of the above. > lightweight? depends on what you're doing. sqlite is lightweight until you try to process a million records. then it might bring a system to a crawl whereas mysql / postgresql should handle that million records without an issue. oh, and telnet is lightweight compared to ssh, but i won't be caught dead using telnet.
