Hi

I am just starting out here on linode and of course I immediately have question 8^)

Been on normal and managed hosting for 15+ years and I DO have a computer background but am pretty much a linux/server noob - but will use this to maybe change that.

First question is whether it will be best to pick 12.04 LTS or go for the new 12.10 distro. I am aware of that "LTS releases are designed for enterprise users, which upgrade on fixed yearly cycles and tend to prefer fewer bugs over newer features". So is there any reason at all for going after 12.10?!?

edit: I am going to use my linode for 'normal' open source websites (mysql+php)

My first real Linux server is still running strong, and I've upgraded it over the years from Ubuntu 5.10 all the way to 12.04. When I first started out, I thought it'd be fun to always have the latest and greatest, but I quickly became tired of upgrades every six months. Upgrades can be a bit of a hassle and get boring after a few years, so unless there's something in 12.10 that you truly need, I'd stick with the LTS releases.

Some people absolutely hate upgrades and simply deploy a new Linode whenever they want to move to a new version of their OS. This requires you to reinstall programs, transfer over your data and configuration settings, etc., but it does keep things clean and tidy! So far, for me at least, upgrades every two years are not stressful enough that they warrant this approach.

The main reason to go with 12.10 would be if there are some new application features that you need that aren't in the LTS version. Even then, you could run 12.04 LTS and install backports of newer application versions if they are available.