Which Linux distro for this task?
 

We're looking at migrating some boxes(mixed Windows and Solaris) to Linux.
The boxes will likely be Compaq DL380 G2's, or possibly ML370 G2's.
Now, our distro choices are somewhat limited since we want good support, and can therefore only use what Compaq supports.
The candidates are:
Caldera's OpenLinux Server
RedHat' 7.2
SuSE Enterprise Server 7.x
TurboLinux

Im leaning towards either SuSE or Caldera, as I frankly don't have all that much trust in RedHat's quality(the 7.0 distro was the quite possibly the buggiest distro I've had the displeasure of dealing with).

On the other hand I've heard many good things about RedHat's educations and certifications, which is of course a big plus.
So, has anyone got any experience with these companies in the corporate market?

Im looking at software quality, the quality of their services and education, and just generally how supportive the company has been when trouble arises, and we all know it allways does.

The boxes will be tasked with various things, but one of the most important tasks will be running a clustered DB2 database.

Not sure I understand what that means, because I doubt that Compaq will actually support your migration. However, if you are talking about support of Compaq-unique hardware in Linux, there shouldn't be any problem with any of the latest Linux distributions.

I was reading in another forum about a gentleman who is documenting his efforts to convert a state goverment agency to Linux. They actually are relying in RedHat as their prime provider and apparently RedHat is willing to do a good amount of custom support fro paying customers. You will likely get good support from any of the commercial linux vendors if they know you are willing to pay at some level.

On the other hand, if you are doing a "roll your own" conversion, first :study: the RedHat, Mandrake, Suse, and Slack sites and do some research on supported hardware. I'll think you'll have good luck with any/all of them.

Good luck to you :D !!

Well what "support" means is that Compaq says it will work with their hardware.

If you look at their hardware/OS matrox, RH, SuSE, and Caldera are the only Linuxes included.
Im a Debian man myself, but I dont wanna call Compaq about a problem only to hear "Sorry we dont support Debian".

Oh and I added TurboLinux to the list.