Hey all,
Im looking for a new distro.

I have been a Fedora user for approx 2 years. Also have experience in RedHat (not that they are thay much different). Experience includes bash scripting, c++. java, and web programming(html,php).

I need to have ssh/ftp/httpd. Will be using as web server, and storage server.

What distribtion would anyone recommed, in looking for....maybe a more complex system, more stable/functional. I also HATE the way red hat/fedora updates. Are there any easier distros that update easily??

IS it worth buying a 64bit cpu??

THanks for all the recommendations!!!!

Josh

Well, while I'm sure I'll take heat for this, I honestly love Gentoo. Portage has the greatest 'package management' of any of the distros I've ever used (which include Slackware, FC3, FC4, Ubuntu, and Debian). And, of course, it has all the software you want. And more. But that's just my

Funny you say that, exactly the answer i was expecting.
My roomate last year, used gentoo, and try to get me to switch avidly. Just wasnt ready for the switch.

HOw easy is it to convert from fedora to gentoo??
Also, if i have written bash scripts, and c++ programs written in gcc version 3.4.2? Would my libraries remain the same..(include statements, etc.)

thanks again.

personally i would probably switch to slack. it's more similar to FC/RH than a debian-based distro would be. it's all there except the update requirement. for that, i guess you could try gentoo or arch.

You would have all the libraries you could want available to you. I try not to be a zealot and push Gentoo down peoples throats, but I do firmly believe that updates are there, and that is what you asked for.

Honestly, Gentoo may seem a bit complex, but it's also incredibly powerful and flexible. I update my system about once a week (failing security issues) by running 'emerge -vuD world' and I'm good to go.

I'm also of the opinion that Gentoo has one of the strongest and friendliest communities of all the Linux distros out there. But again, it's just opinion, and I support others rights to their opinions.

thanks for the replys!

Matir: These friendly communities you speek of, can you directy me to any forums that may exist, or any tutorials for gentoo, that you have used and found helpfull??
(i know i know, i can just do a google search, but...haha, i hope there is someone less lazy than i am)


Thanks again!!!

JOSH

also, sorry one last question. I am using the machine for personal use. does gentoo run on 64 bit architectures??

Is it worth it (will i see a big performance difference). For like 5-6 users max simultaneously will this make no difference??

Matir: how stable do you find gentoo to be? i've heard some things about systems up and dying out of the blue, or as a result a borked update, etc. but that was quite a while ago. it sure seems like it would be more "dynamic" than slackware in terms of updating, but for me i wonder about the stability issue (or perhaps meaning "non-issue" ).

just seeing the reply from bliznit as i preview this -- the gentoo forums at the website (gentoo.org) are really good. when i have weird problems, gentoo.org is one of the first places i go to search the archives after LQ, the community there does seem to know a lot, that's for sure.

Gentoo runs quite well on amd64. (As the architecture is called in gentoo-land). Just download the amd64 livecd and install from it.

For communities:
Gentoo Linux Wiki
Gentoo Forums
Planet Gentoo

Planet Gentoo is a collection of Gentoo-related blog posts by the Gentoo devs. Also, the busiest channel on the FreeNode IRC network is #gentoo.

I have never had a software-related instability on my Gentoo boxes. I say software-related because I did have some hard drive issues lately, but those aren't Gentoo's fault. Personally, I run 4 boxes on Gentoo, and they all work great. I know not everyone's system works perfectly, but well, isn't that the case with all distributions?

Thanks so much for all the help!!! been great, i think im going to make the ISO's tonight and buy my machine tomorrow.

thanks again!

Josh

No problem. I'll be upfront and honest: the install isn't "point and click" (yet, they're working on that) but the installation guide is INCREDIBLY detailed, explains everything. And feel free to IM me during your install (SN is in the profile) and I'd be glad to help if I'm around.

Matir:
Was just thinking. As my company uses Red Hat Enterprise Linux, how much different is the filesystem, and directory tree of GenToo compared to fedora/red hat. Is the learning curve much different than that of fedora. ??

Thanks again

It's a little different, but managable. I am of the opinion that it's good for people to know the workings of a few different distributions, so they don't become stuck on a single distro.