What Distribution Does LQ.org Run On?
 

I've always wondered what Linux distribution LQ.org uses & if it's contained on one piece of equipment or spanned across multiple servers? I did a search & too much random-ness came up in the list so I thought it would be very informative / interesting to know what LQ.org uses.

Thanks for any info.

Well I can't say what distribution LQ runs, but a look at the HTTP headers sent from the web server shows that LQ uses the nginx server. And whois records and DNS NS records show that the domain name is registered with (and uses nameservers of) DynDNS.com.

DynDNS.com? Isn't that for home user's or low level servers that run off dynamic IP's and or residential networks? I would think something as big and robust as LQ would have a static IP & run from a dedicated data center somewhere. Maybe I am confusing things here but that's what I remember when I use to use DynDNS.com from my supported Linksys WRT54G router. Man those were the days...

I have never thought about this.... but then yeah even I would be like to know what does lq uses. I expect something like centos but then looking at jeremys experience I would not be surprised if he uses something as bleeding edge as fedora. Somehow I have a feeling that something like Debian make more sense.

I wouldn't go as far as to say Fedora is bleeding edge but that's a completely different discussion / thread. If I had to guess, I would say Debian or CentOS. More on the Debian side since CentOS is so so so dated.

RobTex, NetCraft DNS, NetCraft sitereport and forret confirm what's already written but disclosing exact details wrt setup and such should IMHO be left to Jeremy.

I guess I am missing what DynDNS and the rest mentioned above point to the specific Linux distribution LQ is using. I could care less about DNS records, IP, or where the server is physically hosted. Personally I don't think that information should be public but I don't see the harm in identifying the distribution.

I do not think that disclosing the location of the server (I imagine multiple servers) would be an issue. In my company we have servers that one can see through glass door - the access to the server room is heavily guarded with cameras and stuff but even if someone physically broke the server down there would be some other machine to compensate for the server. Anyway that may just be me. However, disclosing what (I think it would be many distros on many machines) should not be an issue. In this case perhaps we debian guys can probabally boast that lq uses debian :).
I really could *not* figure fedora out. With rhel the only ones I found good were scientific linux and a bit of fermi.

Again, I don't care or want to know the location of the 'server's'. I think it would just be a good piece of information to understand what specific distribution the forum runs on since I use it so many times daily for help / reference. It's an important tool in my daily arsenal as well as understanding if the entire server is self contained on one piece of hardware or multiple servers due to stress / load or redundancy. Physical location is meaningless for most...

registered through dyndns doesn't prove much, perhaps LQ in it's original incarnation was run on a computer at Jeremy's home but got moved to a dedicated service somewhere as it grew and the dyndns registration was simply retained, or maybe it still is there and he has his own dedicated servers/internet connection for lq, afterall when registering with dyndns you can specify an ip address manually when registering a domain
second, i work at a company that develops web sites and we often use dyndns addresses to showcase websites under development to our clients since they are so quick and easy to setup and take down when there is no more need for the address which is why i say a dyndns registration doesn't really prove much

I wouldn't have posted that information if it wasn't already public. Your computer queries those records every time you connect to LQ. Anyone can do an nslookup to get DNS NS records or watch HTTP headers through a web browser or even telnet or netcat.

Unless someone else has heard some news on it, only Jeremy would be able to say what distribution LQ runs on. CentOS and Debian are the most common server distributions, and personally I'd hope Debian is used here. ;)

Fedora most assuredly is bleeding edge and is designed to be such. They roll out new distro versions about once every 6 months and put updated versions of various packages on a very aggressive schedule.

With all due respect that's not the right way to put it as there may be people who may know. Like I tried to convey before disclosing details may or may not be in the interest of this sites owner. Apparently speculation is a pastime for some but I'd say better wait for him to respond.

On my side

Whats a distro? Does the server work? Is there any snakeup?


*Query took less than a second. Rest is up to your INet Connection!*

Right, that's why I said unless someone else knows. Sorry if that wasn't clear. :)