Thanks Scott, It is really a good analysis. The application I'd run is mainly web server and php in the front and mysql on the back. Also an IM type of server supports potentially thousands concurrent users. The server developer indicates that most of them use Debian. I currently use Fedora 1. It doesn't have any problem now. But I wonder if I should switch to Debian, just to be in sync with those developers to avoid any potential problems on support.
There are some discussions of cheap linux router on this list recently. Soekris box is mentioned several times. It seems the Debian installation on Soekris is well documented. But there is little help on Fedora installation. The standard miminum Fedora 1 installation is about 300M, too big for a flash card. That's another reason to prompt me thinking about moving to Debian. Thanks, R --- "R. Scott Belford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Richard wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'd like to hear some technical advice on the > > comparison of Fedora and Debian. If I want to > mainly > > run network applications, what package should I > use? > > GUI is not critical to me. > > > > Both are community developed projects. Each > embodies the same > philosophy of Open Source Development. Comparing > the two distributions > requires the consideration of their respective > release schedules. > > Debian produces a stable distribution. To get a > package to stable, it > must first work its way through the unstable branch, > then the testing > branch, then stable. The last stable release came > out two years ago. > This can be a misnomer, though. The "testing" and > "unstable" branches > of Debian have many of the same packages as a Fedora > release, but the > Debian developers do not consider them mature or > tested enough for a > Stable, Production Quality Distribution. > > Fedora produces an evolving distribution. Its > bi-annual releases > integrate the most stable form of the newest > packages available. It is > a bit of a testing platform through which RedHat can > best evaluate which > packages are ready for its Enterprise release. Once > upon a time, RedHat > released numbered versions, often several times a > year. Deciding which > release was stable or appropriate for you or your > business was > difficult, and the life of respective releases was > undetermined. > > You should ask yourself what you want to do with > your server. You will > find a great set of tools and features in Fedora > that are available > through the command line or a GUI. You will find > that the non-gui > install of debian, while simple, can intimidate > some. Getting X11 to > work with debian stable can be a challenge for some. > > I run Debian stable on my home servers, and I > install it for POS > customers for running their proprietary POS apps > like Counterpoint. > Rock solid, headless, and uptimes are ended only by > prolonged power > outages. I run Debian testing on my iBooks. I want > the "newer" stuff, > like KDE 3.x, so I go with testing for these less > demanding installations. > > Many people on this list run Fedora. It is fun, it > is new, it was > inspired by a local student, Warren Togami, and it > creates some Hawaiian > pride for everyone. For a hobbyist or an open > source enthusiast, it is > fun and exciting to use, it seems, for most. > > The primary criticism of Debian Stable is that the > packages are old. > Most of these critics are incapable of stating the > technical merits of > the "newer" packages they profess to crave. I > prefer, for stability and > reliability, to go with the least common > denominator, so to speak. > > Hopefully this helps without fanning the > ideaological flames of our more > dogmatic users. You have a lot of choices, and > hopefully others will > share their own opinions on the matter. > > Perhaps you should state what Network Apps you > intend to run in order to > shape the discussion along the lines of each > distribution's version of > the Apps you want. > > > Thanks, > > R > > my pleasure > > --scott > _______________________________________________ > LUAU@lists.hosef.org mailing list > http://lists.hosef.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luau __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Domains Claim yours for only $14.70/year http://smallbusiness.promotions.yahoo.com/offer