Re: What Linux edition we should chose?

On 05/31/2010 01:29 AM, Michal Szymanski wrote:
> Hi,
> Currently we use Debian, but it chosen by our OS admnistrator. Now we
> can change our OS and it is question what Linux edition will be the
> best. We would like have access to new versions of Postgres as soon
> as possible, for Debian sometimes we had to wait many weeks for
> official packages.
>
Some thoughts:

If the machine is only used as a database server, consider Red Hat
Enterprise Linux/CentOS. They are great for installing and keeping
up-to-date - just add the PGDG repo into the yum repos configuration
files. It matters not if I'm on 5.1, 5.2, 5.3... The updates to the RPMs
tend to become available concurrently with source releases and the
file/directory/path settings tend to follow PostgreSQL's worldview. But
if the machine is used for multiple purposes you may be frustrated by
the long-term stable nature of RH. For example, if you plan on using PHP
on the same machine you will need to stick with the RH default version
which is a couple releases old or go through the hassle of
configuring/compiling PHP or locating third-party RPMs - PHP does not
supply RPMs.

Ubuntu, with its 6-month release cycle, tends to include more recent
versions of software. But there is a delay getting updates and it is
more of a headache installing new PostgreSQL on older Ubuntu. There
isn't a nice, neat source for PGDG vetted .debs. You will also get an
installation tailored for the Debian/Ubuntu view of where files should
go. On the other hand, this structure lends itself nicely to running
different major versions in parallel and they provide some scripts to
handle major-version upgrades. The scripts have worked for me but YMMV.
At least the old installation is still available if the upgrade fails.

Cheers,
Steve