Selection of GNU/Linux OS
for Production Server
Stability for future security
For a stable and secure server operation, several aspects must be considered. The level of awareness among employees and the availability of knowledgeable workers in the job market is also important.
Future security
Past discontinuities have impacted popular distributions in the past. One example of this is CentOS Linux, which was widely used in server projects but was discontinued at the end of 2021 in favor of CentOS Stream, a distribution positioned upstream of RHEL.
License Changes
The major root distributions, such as Slackware, Debian, Red Hat, SUSE, Gentoo, and Arch Linux, have a history of stability and reliability. However, changes in licensing agreements can sometimes affect the future operations of the software. For example, Red Hat Linux was free to use until version 9, but the licensing changed after that.
Forks
Forks of distributions can offer both advantages and disadvantages.
Disadvantages of Forks
A common disadvantage of forks is that most users use offshoots instead of the root distributions, leading to fewer improvements being fed back into the main distribution or Linux kernel. For example, Ubuntu/Canonical, an offshoot of Debian unstable, does not prioritize improvements to the Linux kernel and instead operates its own bug-fixing portal. This tendency is also observed in other forks, leading to a lesser focus on stability and reliability.
Advantages of Forks
Forks can also promote the quality of the software. The bugs found in the offshoots are sometimes passed on to the software projects, which can then be improved and integrated into the main distributions, leading to better stability and security. Through this process, the root distributions can benefit from the feedback from the forks, leading to well-tested software versions that ensure reliable operation in production. This experience also helps make informed trade-off decisions between newer versions from backports and older stable versions in the main distribution.
Awareness and Knowledge
The more well-known the distribution and its offshoots are, the more people will have basic understanding and experience using them. This experience is often transferable to root distributions, making it easier to find people with knowledge and experience in using and managing them.
According to DistroWatch, the number of offshoots are:
- Debian: 123
- Arch Linux: 23
- Red Hat: 12
- Enoch/Gentoo: 9
- openSUSE: 5
(Distribution Map)[http://j2l.de/lgo8]
Package Management
In software management, factors such as the general availability of the software, long-term availability, package management, package distribution (mirror, caching, etc.), ease of customization, ease of creating and deploying custom packages, and stability are all important considerations.
Conclusion
In terms of choosing root distributions, Debian stands out in almost all areas, including the assurance of distribution availability under a free license, stability of packages, large community support, and customizable and flexible package management.
