I'm migrating from an old BSD server to a Linux server soon. I have some specific experience with OpenSUSE, but I'm wondering if maybe there is another flavor of Linux that might suit me better. This server is used by dozens of people and is pretty important, so I'm looking for stability or reliability as a main goal. It's going to function as a mail server and webserver and will also be used by individuals for programming work and file storage. I intend to install some good backup software (such as Bacula) in addition to using tapes as a secondary backup.

I'm having second thoughts about OpenSUSE now since I had a strange error on a test server a few days ago. Upon trying to log in, it told me "Permissions on the password database may be too restrictive". However, the permissions are perfectly normal. I reset the password which fixed the problem, however it happened again immediately. I reset again and haven't had trouble since then. So yeah, that's making me nervous about using OpenSUSE.

Can anyone cite any specific advantages? What do you think of Debian's stability and reliability compared to OpenSUSE

Debian Stable is ROCK solid..
Well in the case of a Server I would say that is a GOOD thing. I don't want to be changing, or upgrading things on a server constantly.. .


The previous version of Debian (oldstable) is supported for 1 Year past the release of the new stable version. So you should get 2.5 years from a Debian install provided the new version is relased on time in the 18 month time frame (that release date is usually missed due to the extensive bug testing done in Debian. Releases have been more commonly 2 years apart).

OpenSUSE is updated for 2 years. For longer code guarantees and update cycles, Novell provides the business-class SUSE Linux Enterprise solutions based on openSUSE.


Debian installs can be done as a Base-install giving you ONLY what is necssary to get a machine up and running, allowing you full control of what gets installed on the system. You can build a very lean server rather easily. Base install doesn't even include the ssh daemon if that gives you any clue as to how lean the system can be by default. no extra cruft and services running that you don't need or want.


OpenSuse has Yast, which many people say is a good thing.. personally I always feel like I am fighting against YAST rather than it's helping me accomplish anything.

Debian is a bit more hands on for configuring things.. yes hands on means a text editor and a config file. Most programs installed from the repositories have sane default configurations, so a lot of things will work 'out-of-the-box' when installed.

OpenSuse has the KDE Desktop by Default
Debian Base-install has NO GUI desktop.. Standard desktop is Gnome, but there are also KDE, and XFCE install disks available


Debian has one of the Largest package repositories of any Distro around.. (over 20,000 Packages) so you can get pretty much anything you need directly from the repositories, Those packages are all signed and Tested with Debian.

I'm a Debian fan, and I'm biased, which probably shows in my brief summary.

Either way you need to make your own call

Don't worry, I don't need a GUI

So, tell me more about the supported for X years situation. I'm not entirely clear on how important that is. Define support in other words (if you don't mind, and thanks for the previous information by the way).

I looked at the communities here, and it looks like there were about the same amount of people logged into the SUSE board as the Debian board. If the Debian board had had way more people, I think that would have decided for me (since more people hanging around that can help out is always a good thing). EDIT: I just took a second look and now it's 90 to 60.

I suppose I can give Debian a shot. I'll be tinkering with the new server for a few months before I migrate, so I can always change my mind later if I want.

Well when I refer to support I look at projects like Fedora, and Ubuntu which pump out a new release every 6 months and retire each release after a year.. (one of the reasons Ubuntu does LTS releases now) it's a constant upgrade cycle everything changing fast, bugs creap in too often imho..

I would refer you to the wikipedia pages for each Distro to see the release and end of support dates for each distro..

After support ends the distro maintainers no longer release updates for that version, no more bug fixes, no more security fixes.. nothing.. so if a Security exploit shows up and your distro is no longer supported your options are to backport the fix yourself, or Upgrade the Distro on your machine. I don't know about you but I don't want to upgrade my server distro every year.

OpenSuse supporting each release for 2 Years is pretty good. It's pretty close to Debians official support. I'm Not sure if they put as much effort into bug squashing before release like Debian does.


Bug and security fixes are the support I am referring to, not Community technical support.

Yeah, I'd much prefer to run this server as is for two to three years if possible.

Judging by the release cycle, it looks like Debian is due for a new release very soon, whereas OpenSUSE just had one. Does that sound right?

If a new stable release of Debian were released before I migrated the server I'd have to consider it. The last one going back to mid 2007 however, suggests that I'd be better off waiting for the next release of Debian. Unfortunately, I can't wait much longer.

Debian "Lenny" is very close to becoming the next stable release of Debian. If you install Lenny now and stay with Lenny, you should have a very stable server platform for at least two years. The only updates after it goes Stable will be serious bug fixes and security-related issues.

I just installed a new server in my office based on Lenny - I'll probably just keep it on Lenny after it goes stable.

There has been no relase date finalized for Lenny, it will be sometime in the next couple months.. Until that release there have been updates almost daily to Lenny..

Personally for a mission critical server (aren't they all ?), as much as I hate to say it, I would wait for Lenny to become stable before using it in that role.

Of course my current Linux servers have been running etch for several years, another couple months doesn't bother me. I agree I would hate to install etch only to upgrade in a couple months.

Definitely a great platform for a stable server, but your timing is a little off.
I think it would still be worth your time to look at for future projects.

Well, I was almost looking for an excuse to wait a bit longer anyway. We shall see what happens.

I was in your same situation when I setup a previous server.. Debian Sarge couldn't detect half the hardware in the new HP Server I purchased (SAS RAID Controller and Integrated Gig Network Cards) but Etch installed flawlessly on the same hardware but wasn't the stable branch yet.. I was a couple months out from etch beconming stable, so I put the project on hold until Etch was released. Nice to have that option occasionally.

There's only 109 bugs left (today at least*) before Lenny goes stable. I believe this list covers all the current bugs relevant to its release. If you're going to be doing preliminary testing anyway, unless there's some killer bug(s) in that list that will affect your use case, you should just give Lenny a shot now IMHO. If there was ever a time you're likely to get away with not waiting for the actual stable release and using testing in the interim, it's a time like now when that stable release is so imminent. The chances of any show stopping bugs are pretty slim right now I would think. I'm just guy who likes Debian though, so you should definitely try it yourself and see what you think.


* It was 124 the other day, but under 120 a few days before that.

remove the packages from that list that you wouldn't be using on your server and you might be below 10 or 20 bugs

Quite honestly I believe some other distros release with far more bugs that that open..

The last time I tried OpenSuse was 10.1 I think. Yast was terribly broken at the time. Debian FTW. Fast, stable, secure.

Ok, I'm strongly considering Debian.

That weird login bug I had with this other OpenSUSE machine worries me.

I have a Suse LINUX 10 machine which is similar to OpenSUSE 10, but perhaps more stable (it was a copy that came with the SUSE Linux 10 Bible.

I've had some weird problems even with that now that I think about it. For a while the GUI simply wouldn't work (not that I really needed it), and then one day it started working again probably due to an automatic update. Another time it simply froze up for no good reason that I could determine.

Well the # of release-critical bugs has gone up slightly since I posted that there were 109 left, but as you may have heard, Lenny is penciled-in for release on Valentine's day:So it's still a great time to install Lenny! Get in before any ISO-download rushes on/around release day..

Thanks for the heads-up:-) I've got one more Etch box at work to do a dist-upgrade on. I'll get on it next week.