Hi,
This seems a bit off-topic for this list.
But I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. I started with unix about 15 years
ago on SunOS and SGI - I've seen a quite a few unix OSs (both SysRV and
BSD) since then... scary to list, and also been working with RedHat and
Debian distributions.
First, I think you need to decide what you want to do with it. This will
help you decide what you want/need in terms of
- kernel features, eg, security, SMP, threads (this differs between unix
and linux and affects programming)
- the packaging (eg, Solaris is "basically" SunOS with various packages,
RedHat is the linux kernel plus RH packages, FreeBSD is BSD with ported
distributions, etc.)
- the hardware you want or can afford
- distribution support (check for quality of testing, timeliness of
patches, usergroup opinions)
- how friendly the interface needs to be for installation and basic system
management (do you just want it to exist so you can program? or do you want
to learn the underlying system)
As for my opinion on some of the free OSes,
- RedHat has plus'es and minus'es. The interface has improved to help
newbies, upgrading within major versions is well-managed (eg, 6.1 to 6.2)
but not so well between major versions, the quality assurance of RedHat 7
is questionable even though it adds some good stuff.
- Debian: better quality but you'll need to understand the system better as
the interface is not as easy for newbies (when I say this, it means you
have read and understand what you are doing with the system).
- FreeBSD: yes, it's a BSD-type unix, not linux (though it has linux binary
ports). The interface is not so easy for newbies (same comment as for
Debian). Security...
- Solaris 8 x86: do you want a system with established SMP capability?
Linux is a more recent-comer to this area.
I've also heard that Mandrake has done great work with it's interface.
***
I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinions of:
- Immunix
- NSA's secure linux
- Trustix
Bastille (hardening script for RH)
YASSP (hardening script for Solaris)
regards,
Robyn Mills
(independent contractor)
At 06:48 PM 31-01-01 +1100, David Shoon-Yew Ng wrote:
>Dear all,
> I have a question regarding Linux/UNIX in general. I am starting
> to learn
>UNIX/Linux but want to focus on one particular area. Which particular
>version is better - RedHat/Caldera/TurboLinux/Corel etc ... it seems there
>are so many versions that it might just be better running SUN Solaris 8
>(Proper UNIX)on Intel platform instead? Which particular version/type is
>used commercially nowadays (on Intel platform) and which is more popular in
>general for Servers/Server based application etc ... Please advise ...
> Thanks in advance ...
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
>David Ng
>
>-
>[To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
>"unsubscribe firewalls" in the body of the message.]
-
[To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
"unsubscribe firewalls" in the body of the message.]
