I have no experience whatsoever in linux, but Ive worked quite a bit with sco-unix in the past, and currently prefer freebsd.

Is it unreasonable for me to believe that I can administer a linux machine and get everything working? Is there a distribution that is more 'freebsd' like (especially when it comes to installing software)? Is there a distribution that offers more off-the-shelf security since that will be the first issue Ill fall behind on?

I need to be able to add domains for bind, sendmail, and apache. I need to be able to configure apache for all sorts of php/mysql/logging reasons. I may need to be able to add packages or ports (is that what you call applications in linux?) in case I need apache to dynamically load them. I need to be able to stay on top of security issues, patches, etc.

And what's up with this 64MBx128Ghz stuff? I have not worked on a machine with so little RAM since my 486dx2-66 (which was a screamer by the way). Can you point me to some customer sites who use linode.com and specify which package they are using.
phpbb2 is pretty darn mysql intensive if you ask me, much busier than Id ever need. Is this forum running on a linode, and if so, how much memory does this linode have?

Thank you for your time if you get around to some of these questions. Im looking to go from a dedicated rackspace freebsd server to a small set of virtual servers at some point in the next month. linode.com seems like a pretty hip and happenin idea, congrats to a neat concept, your first year (profitable I hope), and a bright future.

-woody

i've never used a *bsd so i probably shouldn't be posting, but common sense isn't going to stop me from sharing my opinion.

i love slackware and hear its by far the most "unix-like" of the mainstream linux distrobutions. it's extremely stable by default and there are some great slack-specific resources out there that help you make it extremely secure.

as far as performance goes, it depends largely upon site traffic. you can run an awful lot of low volume sites on a Linode 64 even if they're doing 10+ MySQL queries per hit.

my company ran about a dozen low volume web sites on a Linode 96 for a while, but we're upgrading to a 128 because we're expecting to add about 100 new e-mail users in the near future (as well as spam/virus blocking).

Slacker is my middle name, and my mantra.

I shall check out slackware now. Thanks for the advice.

-woody

I would suggest Slackware or Debian i have used them both and theya re just prefect

Slackware is your friend. :)

_________________
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Ed/Bones.

I had no experience with Linux when I picked up a linode to try it out. There are incredibly supportive web-based forums all over (including this one!), and whatever your problem is, somebody else has already had it. It's just a matter of searching for the right error message.

Between this board, the forum of whatever software you're installing, and Google's search/news archives, you'll be able to figure it out given enough time. It took me about a month and a half to try out a bunch of different distributions (redhat large, redhat small, debian etc.) and get stuff more or less stable.

But yeah, I'd go for it. You'll learn a lot in a short period of time. I'd recommend taking a linode for a month, and invest a bunch of time in trying out different distributions, and then if you like it, upgrade for a year and get more space...

That's my 2 cents...
j.
p.s. read the HOWTOs on this board in the tips forum, they're great starting places.

Thanks to all of you who shared your feedback and support.

I took the dive a couple hours ago and opted for a one month trial of the linode64. Ill give it through august and hopefully I should have some faith by then to go for the full year signup with resources.

Im really kind of excited about trying this out. I like the idea of being able to mess around and then scratch the whole os in a heartbeat, (though its a scary thought too).

Once again, thank you all for your feedback. I look forward to sharing thoughts in the future. take care.
-woody

You should take a look at Gentoo also. Its portage system is very similar and in fact was more or less derived from /usr/ports in the *BSDs. The sucky(some say good) part is the mantatory compiling of everything

I have used FreeBSD for many years and love it. I have also used
Linux quite a bit and prefer Debian. The apt application installation
program is very much like the FreeBSD pkg stuff (binary installation).
Note that apt is much better.

I signed up with Linode about two weeks ago and I have to say,
"IT IS AN AMAZING SERVICE!". I was previously using a FreeBSD
Virtual Dedicated Server provider that does not ever closely match
what Linode provides. With Linode you have FULL control over you
server.

There are differences between FreeBSD and Debian but if you know
one you get comortable with the other very quickly. No worries.

All this feedback has been much appreciated.

So, I decided to go with a linode64 for a month, and the way things are going, Ill opt for the full year contract by the start of September, as well as probably ordering another linode in a separate data center. I believe mine is in dallas now. Ive stumbled on info about a fremont bayarea data center. How many others are there? any euro centers yet?

I chose to go with debian small and Im very happy. This apt-get install stuff is the type of ease Im looking for. I made a few mistakes on the first couple of installs. Its so cool to be able to trash a disk image and start all over within minutes, not to mention the 5 second reboot is refreshing.

Im still getting things configured, Im a bit slow, but Im happy so far. This whole user-mode os is a neat idea, especially when you dont have hands-on control to hardware.

thanks again for all the feedback,
-woody