Hello everyone! First of all, let me just state that i want to make a small server for my home.. which includes hosting a website and a small FTP server.

Now as far as ease, stability, use, etc.. just overall, which would be more ideal to use for this?

My top choices are FreeBSD and Ubuntu Server.

However, I do not know which of these to go with, since this is my first time setting up a server. I hear BSD is really best for web servers, but I would like to hear what the people at LQ has to say.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: I know Ubuntu Server would probably be more easy to set up, but how is it in terms of stability and speed?

The people at LQ have recently said Debian is the best server, in the 2010 survey. ;-)

Correction: As a result of that poll we know that Debian is the most popular server distro among LQ people.

That is not to say that debian is a bad choice. I'd go for Debian or CentOS or Slackware

The truth is that each of them is equally capable as a server, it's your personal preference that matters.

I've been running my home web/ftp server on slackware.

*BSD is also an excellent choice. The only reason *I* wouldn't run it is that I know my way around linux better.

Almost any of the main distributions will make a good server. The Ubuntu "server" edition can best be thought of as Ubuntu without a GUI. Many people think that servers should not have a GUI because it needlessly consumes resources and adds avenues for compromise.

I have been running Ubuntu Server edition for a couple of years on my home and small business site. The operation and stability have been excellent, better than the Ubuntu desktop edition to be honest. It is very capable, relatively easy to set up and configure.

At work, I have also been using Slackware for a server application for a few months. I chose Slackware because of the its reputation. My experience has been that it makes a very good server that is easy to customize it to do what YOU want, not what the package and distrobution maintainers THINK YOU want.

IMO, either choice is a win.

I've managed FreeBSD servers for a few years, and I adore them (as much as a man can adore an operating system concept and implementation, that is). They're stable and security focused. But it's a very different experience than a package-based Linux distro. Both the base system and third party packages (dubbed "Ports") are built from source before they're installed/upgraded. The process is not difficult, but there is a learning curve that you will need to get past, and that includes a good amount of reading.

This is one of the things that sets Slackware apart from a lot of other distributions too. I seem to recall reading that it is the most BSD like of the Linuxes.

The only experience I have with BSD is by way of OSX. I can say that Ubuntu rules and the GUI makes things pretty convenient if you plan to access this computer directly and connect a display to it.

I love debian. I typically go to howtoforge.com when I need to set something up.