On Sat, Feb 18, 2006 at 04:43:00PM +1300, listmail at brentfriedman.net wrote: > I am about to set up a new venture using Linux servers. I have used > everything from slackware to debian to ubuntu for personal and non-public > server use, but I haven't set up any "live" servers with Linux since > Redhat switched to Fedora Core. The servers will be running a php web > service, with a mySQL back end. > > I will not be the main admin for these boxes, as I will be pretty busy > with the business end of the venture. I am looking for a distro that has > as automated a update/patch installation system as possible, whether free > or less than $500/server/year. Also, it would be helpful if the update > system was GUI based. Any suggestions about what you are using in a > production environment would be really helpful. > > As a follow-on question, I plan to pick up a few Dell Poweredge 2650 dual > xeon systems on ebay. Any thoughts on these systems running linux? Depending on who your main admin is, perhaps I'll take a chance on recommending an Apple server running OS X. You get a great GUI (since that is a requirement). It's BSD underneith the hood.. A lot less messing around than linux. Really, I think you should decide heavily depending on this admin that will be running it day to day. If he/she isn't a linux expert or doesn't want to be, OS X may be a great plan in my opinion. On the other hand, if this admin is chomping at the bit to dig into linux admin, I don't see why a GUI is even necessary. --drue