[kwlug-disc] Best Server Distribution??

[Richard Weait]

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Bill Hazelwood
<bhazelwood at delta-elevator.com> wrote:
> Good morning,
>
> We are currently running Microsoft's SBS 2003 server suite and we are
> looking to upgrade.

Hi Bill, and welcome.

You have an exciting and interesting time in front of you.  There are
dozens of opinions on this list and I expect this thread will prove
that.  ;-)  I predict that you will find a few things particularly
interesting as you progress.

0) Distro won't matter.  Eventually you'll probably find that your
choice Linux of distribution just won't matter.  Server stuff is
server stuff and you'll pick a long-term support variant and it will
work.  Some find the number of choices in Linux overwhelming.  vi or
EMACS, Redhat or Debian, postfix or sendmail.  Don't sweat it.  Pick
the favoured server distro of the person on whom you will rely for
support, and you will be all set.

1) Your greatest challenges will come where proprietary vendors have
been most successful in "Locking you in" with proprietary formats.

2) You are going to LOVE the removal of arbitrary barriers to your
success.  You've been using SBS?  It limits the number of clients that
can connect via licensing.  What is it, ten clients, or buy more
licenses?  Wave goodbye to that nonsense.

There are folks around who make their living helping companies like
yours transition to a more open, higher performance, lower maintenance
environment.  Look at this as a chance to repurpose that old licensing
budget into a transition and education budget.  You'll get expert
guidance and support, a hugely reduced learning curve and the
advantage of starting with best-practices from the first step.