Which distro is best for a business environment?

[Alvis]

I have a small business in which I repair and build computers. Thanks to Windows I have lots of work.

A client/friend wants to eventually transition to Linux at his business. To that end I am building a dedicated Linux box for him that will need to communicate with the Windows box at his office.

I am trying to decide on the best distro for his needs. Some time ago he bought a copy of Linspire which he would like to use, but I am leaning towards Ubuntu or Open Suse.

Any suggestions or opinions?

[je_fro]

Do you mean communicate via sama?
Any distro will work, but I can't say I'd recommend Linspire, Suse, or Ubuntu.
Since business boxes are pretty much set up and left alone, I'd recommend CentOS.

[ehawk]

I don't know much about this topic (small business computing), but I can pass along what I've heard/read and give you another possibility to explore.

CentOS would probably be a good choice. It is just a free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the Red Hat trademarks removed.

Another possibility (since he was willing to pay for Linspire) is Xandros. I believe it is a decendent of Corel Linux's debian-based distribution. It is often touted as being a natural choice for business users making the transition from windows to linux. The interface is made to look similar to windows. The reviews I have read indicated that it fit right into a windows network. Another plus is the inclusion of the Crossover plugin which allows it run some windows applications such as microsoft office applications. I think OpenOffice is a pretty good replacement at this point, but it may be something to consider.

Hope this helps.

[saikee]

To be realistic I believe the business users are better to stick with the big or established distros like

OpenSuse
CentOS or Fedora (representing the Red Hat family)
Mandriva (Representing the Mandrake family)
Debian (or its modern variations like Ubuntu, Knoppix etc)
Slackware

where there are plenty supports and have a good range of ready made desktop or server software to go with them.

One can choose one for stability or one for up-to-date technology.

[loopback48]

I couldn't agree more with saikee. If your friend has a business and he's banking on his PC and OS to pay the bills, by all means go with a commercial distro. For god's sake, they're cheap when compared to Windows. At the very least he'll has some support for it when you're long gone.

It's all there: Java, Flash, DVD play back, MP3 player, etc. AND a support group he can fall back on. So he's got a year of support. He would be able to extend it wouldn't he? You have to think about what happens after you are gone. Nothing like a Linux fanboy leaving a customer high and dry. (Not that you would). What would he do? What would he do? He'd **** in his pants, that what he would do!

I'd recommend Xandros or SLED. Both make the transition smooth for the consumer and give the support business owners expect from their software companies.

Unless he's also a Linux gearhead that likes to dig into the bowels of an OS, for his sake, if not your's, recommend a commercial distro. He'll love you for it.

[crow2icedearth]

Slackware

i wouldn't recommend Slackware if you don't know much about Linux. you be spending ore time learning how Linux really works, but if thats what you want then Slackware is the distro for you slackware is a great distro and great for users that love to config stuff by hand. . I have been a Slackware fan for nearly 7 years... currently i don't use it because i am to much in love with Gentoo and Debian .

[Darkbolt]

i wouldn't recommend Slackware if you don't know much about Linux. you be spending ore time learning how Linux really works, but if thats what you want then Slackware is the distro for you slackware is a great distro and great for users that love to config stuff by hand. . I have been a Slackware fan for nearly 7 years... currently i don't use it because i am to much in love with Gentoo and Debian .

In the same respect, there are certain advantages -- he'd get a quick crash course, until it was configured properly. But then he wouldnt have to touch it, ever. Hell, I bet there are still people using 8.1 or earlier.

I also want to throw out the recommendation of FreeBSD -- its really not that hard to install & configure...as well as being very stable, secure, speedy, and pretty fun to use imho

[Alvis]

I've set up the Linux box in the client's office. Using samba it is able to see the two Windows boxes and modify files on them. It is also able to print to the printer hooked up to one of the Windows machines.

I installed Linspire since he bought it without consulting me. However, if it doesn't work out, I will recommend a different distro such as CentOS or OpenSuse.

[techwise]

Ill speak from my experience and its gonna differ from some of the other opinoins.

I work in a small commercial real estate office of 7 people. We have modest cpmputing needs that dont go far beyond the usual file sharing email and office applications.

In the last 5 years we have gone from all MSFT to all Linux on the server side and 2 of the seven desktops. We have 6 servers (that could be 2, i just have more machines than I need now so some services are on their own server). The move to Linux was without a doubt the best IT decision we ever made. All the servers run Debian or a debian offspring. The desktops are Ubuntu.

Speaking to the distro issue, I would not at all recommend a commercial distro. I have used them supported them and paid for them (SuSE and RHEL). SuSE is often buggy and RHEL is overpriced and Up2Date is flawed, not to mention that they are based on the often frusterating RPM system. When running RHEL I was often more frusterated than pleased. It ran, it stayed up but its just not for the small business user.

Debian on the other hand is so much smoother to administer, very well documented and has a package management system that is second to none. And it is free as in beer.

Unless you have a need to use and application that is commercially supported by only one of the big commercial distros there is no real need to use it.

IMHO, go with Debian Stable or Unstable or Ubuntu.

[andycrofts]

..and found it wouldn't pull my caravan, cos no-one asked me what I wanted it for.
Business Applications.
So, no need for Flash, MP3, watching video's, movies, games, part-supported 3G accelerator cards, etc.
Therefore any distro, basically, just install it straight "out of the can". No 'tweaks', no trying-to-be-clever', just load it, add users, cron auto-updates and backups to DVD(?), printers, 'region' it (language/timezone/keyboard, etc) and then just forget it!!!It's an Operating System! That's all!!! Think of it as DOS-On-Steroids!!!

Separate the vehicle (Distro) from the Apps (Evolution/thunderbird, Firefox, Java (maybe) and Open Office. Possibly Crossover, if he's got accounting software - there isn't any good commercial-strength accounting S/W for Linux, I believe) and leave it alone! No more playing around with it.

Of course, what I've recommended is anti-linux. By that, I mean most of us Linux types can't help 'playing'. But that's why we break our distro's, and meet here...

-Andy