Best Current Linux Version

none

[balrog666]

I'm thinking of building a new mail server and/or file server from the ground up and want to know the best current version of Linux to use for that purpose.

My current mail server is a 486-20 (Ha!) running a very old version of Linux from about 1997. We had to reboot it after one guy mailed 80 Megs of archives to himself and overloaded it. Now it's a little flakey. I want to upgrade it to a P-Pro 200 w/4 Gig drive or a newer but still obsolete P2-350 or P3-500 w/10 or 20 Gigs. We have a couple of machines running some version of Red Hat (7.0 I think) but they are not configured as mail servers.

My file server, print server, and domain master is an old P1-75 running OS/2 Warp Server with a few extra (small) hard drives. We also have a copy of OS/2 Warp Server 4.0 running on another P3-500 ready for an emergency backup if the P1 fails (actually on a dual boot machine). We reboot the server once or twice a year whether it needs it not and, while it's not broken, we can see the need for expanded capabilities in the near future (particularly for large hard drive support and application sync/upgrades for everybody on our LAN). Our OS/2 gurus are still here and not particularly worried about future requirements but you never know when Microsoft will decide to kill some small but meaningful compatibility element.

Anyway, the first thing I wanted to do was to poll the resources of my (magnificent) fellow Freepers and save myself a lot of time, so thank you for any suggestions or comments. Or flame away if that's your druthers. And, yes, I do have more butter.

[Orblivion]

I say go with the latest stable version of Mandrake. It's installer is the best one I've used on any OS, including Winders. Has a huge list of packages it can install for u during installation.

[Odyssey-x]

Redhat just came out with 7.2. It's got a journaling file system built in so if you kick the plug out the system should come right back up with no long file system checks. Also, if you are running a mail server I highly suggest you use Postfix instead of sendmail. Redhat is a pretty good as a server box and is available at most computer shops. You can pick it up at most Computer Shops. If you are a Linux newbie you can get almost all of what you need out of the box via web based administration with a tool called webmin. Have fun!

[SirChas]

I can boot into linux 7.1 or windoze 2k. The 7.1 workstation appears to very stable and is much more user friendly.

Have never used the linux server, but I would stick with the newest version. Just before posting this I went to redhat.com and saw that 7.2 has just been released. I guess I'll be downloading that soon...

[gcraig]

Redhat 7.2 -- or an old version of Slakware. Hack the kernal yourself to tweak performance.

[RightOnline]

7.2's great.........feature-wise............if more than a bit unstable. Still, I'd go with either Red Hat, Mandrake, or SuSE. Probably best support will be with RH.

[SirChas]

Also, if you get a chance upgrade to the latest version of KDE. There are a lot of really good apps such as a whole office suite that is about equal to the complete ms office package. There is also a lot of good development packages as well as games. The best part is the price...free.

[SirChas]

forgot... www.kde.org

[altair]

if you get a chance upgrade to the latest version of KDE

I wouldn't put KDE or X11 on a server -- too many holes to plug to lock down the box, but I agree with upgrading to the latest version of KDE on a workstation. It is really nice.

[altair]

I'm partial to Turbolinux (latest is 7.0), but I'm also biased since I used to work at Turbolinux. :-)

[SirChas]

agree... you wouldn't need it on a server

[shadowman99]

If you're just running a mail server, you can get by with a light install and a minimal or no window manager environment. If you're using a 486, you probably don't have gobs of storage space, so scale back the packages you're installing. I'm not a zealot for one distro over another. Mandrake is nice for desktop users, but that's overkill for a mail server. The new Red Hat 7.2 is in stores this week, but I would recommend going with 7.1. You don't need the latest and greatest. You need stable. RH 7.1 has an established track record.

And to the guy who emailed 80 meg to himself: Tell him to go buy a zip disk.

[spycatcher]

Go with the spanking new Mandrake 8.1