Re: ?linux distro?

<operationsengineer1(at)yahoo(dot)com> writes:
> Randy, i saw the gentoo recommendation. my
> understanding of gentoo is that it can take a long
> time to compile (i think this term is used correctly)
> programs, but when they are compiled, the programs are
> optimized and noticeably faster than on comparable
> systems.

The real problem with Gentoo is their orientation towards "bleeding
edge" rather than "stable". The idea of building your own version with
your own weird combination of compiler flags that perhaps has never been
tested by anybody else (certainly not the upstream developers of the
software) is just one facet of this. Another is that Gentoo positively
encourages you to put in poorly-tested hacks ... such as that CONNECT BY
patch that they were still pushing for Postgres last I heard.

Now "bleeding edge" is fine for a lot of purposes, but most people who
are running a database server are probably more interested in "stable".
If you'd like to think that somebody other than you has tested the
combination of software that you are entrusting your valuable data to,
then you should stay away from Gentoo.

I think most people in the Postgres community who use Linux run
Red Hat/CentOS/Fedora or Debian or SUSE.

(ObDisclaimer: I work for Red Hat, so obviously I have a bias in
this matter.)

regards, tom lane