Hi!

I have a simple question:
Which one is better linux distribution (Ubuntu or CentOS)?
Which is more secure?
Which has better support?

Thank you!

"Better" is a tough nut to crack. Ubuntu and CentOS very different.

CentOS is a clone of RHEL. Ubuntu is a derivative distro of Debian. There is only community support for CentOS - people made it because they didn't want to pay RedHat for what they could do themselves. Ubuntu has community support and commercial support through Canonical Inc.

I don't know enough about CentOS to compare security. I find that I like the Debian package management system better than the rpm system, but that might just be preference.

It really depends on what you want to use your system for. CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise Linux so it is quite stable because it undergoes a lot of testing and bug fixing before release. This makes it very good for running on servers, although it works pretty well as a desktop or workstation distro. Ubuntu is geared more to desktop use although you can use it for servers as well. I don't think it undergoes the same rigorous testing as RHEL but its still pretty stable. As for package management, I don't think it matters much these days because most distros have got really good package management tools. The default for Ubuntu is dpkg and apt whereas on CentOS its rpm and yum. YUM can be a bit slower than apt, but it seems like the version in Fedora Core 7 test releases is a big improvement and is just as good as apt. You can also use apt or smart on CentOS if you wish.

Ubuntu has newer software and is less stable. Although I do agree it's hard to compare those two. Why don't you try real Debian. All you need is the first CD, and you can dl the rest over the Internet.

I would advise against Debian for an absolute Newbie, and play with SuSe or Ubuntu. Although ubuntu is derived from Debian, it tends to be slightly more user friendly and will give a new person a more positive experience. Sadly, the biggest criticism of Debian has never been the software, but that those most vocal in its community lack a certain element of tolerance towards those less knowledgeable.

There is a somewhat more lenient community for Ubuntu - more used to newbies. Ubuntu has a very active support set up (Launchpad), and a commercial company (Canonical Inc.) along with a slightly eccentric billionaire backing it. The difference in how new software is can be as much as two years here too.

Danny

I can offer several answers--all of which have some basis:

1. Yes
2. Mepis
3. It depends
4. Neither--they both use Gnome
5. Kubuntu
6. Fedora

All seriousness aside, there is no such thing as the best or most secure Linux. The real question is which one will meet your needs. If you can tell us more about what your application is, then we can be more specific.