I would like more discussion about which distribution package is better for a Linode account and the reasons why.

I installed CentOS but I'm wondering if that was the right choice.

I could not install the Courier mail server for example because there was a list of 13 dependencies that were missing and which needed to be installed first. I tend to prefer plug and play software.

Postfix and ipop3d and Webmin are great for that.

The rpms for CentOS are somewhat limited and getting outdated.

So trying to install more programs requires compiling tars and all the headache of missing dependencies.

What is the advantage of having an "Enterprise" distribution instead of a regular one like RedHat 9?

Why would Debian or Slackware be better than Redhat?

yum install [packagename]


yum upgrade

I just upgraded this image about a week or two back, too...

-Chris

Does this mean I need to reinstall the image or does a yum upgrade do the same thing?

"yum" is an upgrade, installation and dependency management tool. It will upgrade an existing installation.

-Chris

Ok, the yum config file is currently set to point to the centos-yum.conf file. The centos-yum config file is configured to only search the mirror at http://mirror.centos.org/centos-3.

Are there other CentOS compatible repositories that I can add to search for other software packages that are not at http://mirror.centos.org/centos-3 ?

Dag Wieers maintains a large repository of packages for RHEL3/CentOS-3 (actually, pretty much any RH-based distro). It's sort of like backports.org for RH distros.

-personally-

I'm all into debian. I think it's a fantastic match. I just created a script from someones forum post here which I use to update to Sarge if/when I wipe the little bugger out.

Everything seems to just work fantastic.

But that's just me.