[nflug] Red Hat vs. SUSE on Servers

[Brad Bartram]

"Which do you prefer and why?"

I prefer RedHat in the Linux Realm.  Since I'm mostly a command line guy,
and thus do most configs through file editing, I've grown accustom to the
RedHat file layouts and nuances of doing things.  For me, there's really no
religious reason for preferring it, just familiarity - kind of like slipping
into an old shoe.  I know how it feels and does things.

"Any benefits you feel one has over the other."

The main benefit that RedHat brings to the table is really name recognition
in the purely Linux realm.  Suse, by itself, is known in geek circles, but
not necessarily in the management suites.  When coupled with the Novell
brand however, then it takes on the stigma of the Novell suit, which I know
from my personal experience, tends to be thought of as outdated or
antiquated in many places.  For management, when they think of Linux (if
they think of linux), their experience in the trades is usually thought of
in conjunction with Oracle and the RedHat partnerships.  This lends a
certain strength to the RedHat brand.  Not to mention the various offerings
for certifications and other industry involvement.  For those "in the know"
about Linux systems, it really tends to be a matter of flavor - do you like
chocolate or strawberry?  In the end, it's all ice cream, so it's all good!

"Do you feel SUSE is growing at all compared to Red Hat?"

I'm not directly involved with this type of thing at this time, so it's
purely speculation, but it seems that Suse has made inroads on the desktop
and workstation market over RedHat.  RedHat seems to be pretty firm on the
server.

"Do you think Novell's Microsoft deal will inspire more companies to adopt
for interoperability and safety or are companies less likely to use it since
it is kind of against the spirit of the GPL and Open Source in general?"

Most businesses could care less about the "Spirit of the GPL and Open Source
in general".  The ones with a stake in OSS care, but other lines of business
only care about two things - getting the job complete and doing it at the
lowest cost.  If management can look at the TCO of Linux and have it come
out less than other offerings, then the choice is obvious.  Of course, that
decision will be influenced by Line of Business, Existing infrastructure,
existing human resource pool, existing knowledge base, compatibility with
internal applications and external customers / clients, new capital
expenditures that would have to be made in order to accomodate the solution,
and finally the FUD and snazzy presentations of the consultants trying to
get their foot in the door (read:  piece of the pie).

"Other distros you feel are growing (CentOS/Ubuntu) etc."

I really like CentOS on my servers.  It has the convenience of RHEL without
the expense of a service contract, which I don't need for my projects.  I
think it fills a niche.  In the enterprise space, it's very important to
fill the specific niche and do it well.  Microsoft is a swiss army knife -
it does a lot of things to varying degrees of "well", that tended to be the
old paradigm.  When offices first automated, they needed anything they could
use.  Now, things need to be done in a little more intelligent manner - do
certain things well so they can move into defined business roles.  If Ubuntu
is a good desktop OS, then focus on it.  If RedHat is good on the enterprise
server, focus on it.  Stop trying to be all things for all roles.  But now
I'm beginning to rant.

Hope my $.02 helps.  If not, at least it kept me busy for a little while.
;-)

Brad

On 6/13/07, Jesse Jarzynka <denisesballs at thecybersource.com> wrote:
>
> Last night I talked to Dave for a while getting his opinions on
> administering Red Hat and SUSE in the enterprise realm. I wanted to get
> everyone else's opinions as well. This is for a presentation/training I'm
> doing on Linux here at Ingram. If anyone has any thoughts or experience
> with the two distros in the enterprise please let me know. Some areas of
> concern are:
>
> Which do you prefer and why?
> Any benefits you feel one has over the other.
> Do you feel SUSE is growing at all compared to Red Hat?
> Do you think Novell's Microsoft deal will inspire more companies to adopt
> for interoperability and safety or are companies less likely to use it
> since it is kind of against the spirit of the GPL and Open Source in
> general?
> Other distros you feel are growing (CentOS/Ubuntu) etc.
>
> Any input is greatly appreciated. -Jesse
> _______________________________________________
> nflug mailing list
> nflug at nflug.org
> http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug
>
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