[Discuss] Debian is now the most popular Linux distribution on web servers

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Dan Ritter wrote:
> Tom Metro wrote:
>> If you run a Debian-based distribution on your servers, which flavor,
>> and why?
> 
> My company runs Debian because the stable branch is both stable
> and well-supported...

You don't buy-in to the idea of Ubuntu LTE (long term) releases as being
well supported?

Or care about the predictable release schedule?

Do you feel that the Ubuntu LTE releases aren't at least as stable as
Debian stable? (I'd say regular Ubuntu releases are less stable, but the
comparison is to Ubuntu Server LTE.)


> ...and the systems administration tools are second to none.

That sounds more like an RPM vs. deb comparison. Aren't all the same
tools available for both Debian and Ubuntu?


Drew Van Zandt wrote:
> I used Ubuntu Server for a couple of months, and then switched back to
> Debian.  US was a little short on non-mainstream packages, and I 
> didn't see the point in using it if I was immediately going to need the 
> Debian repositories in the apt sources anyway.

Interesting. Over what time frame was that? I ran into similar issues
when I first started using Ubuntu back in 2006 and for the subsequent
few years. As it became he dominant Linux distribution, it became more
common to see projects directly supply Ubuntu packages. (I've rarely
pulled packages from Debian repositories, but I have made extensive use
of Launchpad PPAs in order to get backported version of newer tools.)

One problem that still potentially exists is that most mainstream
packages are still sourced from Debian, so bug reports made in Launchpad
need to flow upstream, then you need to wait for the fix to flow back
down to Ubuntu. Which raises the question of whether you get enough
value from Ubuntu to justify that added delay and middleman.

I also got the impression that Debian maintainers are slightly more
inclined to fix bugs in Debian Stable compared to Ubuntu developers who
always seem to have already moved on to one or two releases beyond the
current one. So less likely you'll ever see a reported bug fixed prior
to the next OS upgrade. Supposedly this is less of an issue with LTE. (I
still see some activity on bugs I reported against 8.04 LTE.)


Jay Kramer wrote:
> I find Debian to be more responsive and easier to use.

More responsive? Can you elaborate on that?

There are some cases where Ubuntu's attempts to provide more
hand-holding have the side effect of making troubleshooting and
customization more complex. Network Manager is an example.


Richard Pieri wrote:
> Vanilla Debian...because setting it up as a Xen domU is as simple as 
> dirt.

Any reason why this shouldn't be just as easy with Ubuntu?

Supposedly Ubuntu has done a lot of work to optimize it as both a host
and guest for virtualization.


[I've used both Debian and Ubuntu for servers, though Ubuntu mostly for
desktops. My line of questions here is an attempt to see if there is a
compelling story for using Ubuntu Server instead of Debian.]

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/