Choosing a Linux Distribution

Question 1

Name usual Linux distributions used for servers?

Answer 1

RHEL / CentOS
Ubuntu Server
SLES/openSUSE
Debian

Question 2

Name usual Linux distributions used for Desktop?

Answer 2

Ubuntu
Fedora
Debian
ArchLinux

Question 3

Name usual Linux distributions used for Embedded?

Answer 3

Yocto
OpenEmbedded
Android

Question 4

What are usual questions to think about when choosing a distro?

Answer 4

• What is the main function of the system (server or desktop)?
• What types of packages are important to the organization? Web server, word processing,…
• How much storage space is required and how much is available?
• How often are packages updated?
• How long is the support cycle for each release?
• Do you need kernel customization from the vendor or a third party?
• What hardware are you running on?
• Do you need** long term stability**? Or do you need the latest software versions?