Which Linux distribution should you pick?

In ITG alone, we run SUSE Linux, Red Hat Fedora, and Gentoo Linux. You could look at this document as a SuSE vs Red Hat vs Fedora vs Gentoo vs Xandros, if you will. Here are some guidelines we use for deciding what Linux to use for a desktop or cluster node:

SUSE Linux:

Pro's:

• Commercial Quality: Very few bugs.
• A very well polished and integrated desktop.
• Great support for commercial applications
• Fantastic documentation in hard copy
• Best systems management tools out of any Linux distribution.
• Mature 64-bit Implementation
• Good software patching mechanism. Can be set to patch your system nightly.
• Software kept up to date. New releases every 6 months.

Con's:

• Not as many 3rd party open-source precompiled RPM's available as Red Hat. Not much of a problem as thousands of those applications come with the SUSE CD's.
• If you edit certain configuration files by hand, your changes may be overwritten if changes are made through the management tools as well.

Red Hat Fedora Linux (Test 2)

Pro's:

• Good support in the open source developer community
• CD-ROM Images can be downloaded immediately after release.
• New releases every 4 months

Con's:

• Very little current documentation
• Not as well tested as SUSE or RH Enterprise. Tends to have unfinished peices.
• Support for things like firewire, mp3 playback, are not included.
• Patching can be a slow and unreliable process
• Immature 64-bit support (getting better!)
• Defaults to a slower filesystem type (ext3fs), have to use a special workaround to install with reiserfs.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Pro's:

• Very bugfree
• Great support for commercial applications
• Fast patching

Con's:

• Costs $25 a seat
• Not updated often, includes outdated software
• No hard-copy documentation
• Defaults to a slower filesystem type (ext3fs), have to use a special workaround to install with reiserfs.

Xandros Linux

Pro's:

• Tuned to be an easy to use Linux for home users

Con's:

• Not designed for an enteprise network.
• Cost's $39 a seat.

Gentoo Linux

Pro's:

• Constantly updated
• Cutting edge technology
• Excellent support in the open source developer community
• Highest Performance Linux available. Everything is tweaked for your exact architecture.

Con's:

• Extremely difficult installation.
• Software installation tends to be very slow, since everything is compiled on demand.
• No graphical systems management tools. There is webmin, however.
• Spotty documentation. Excellent in many areas, nonexistant in others.