Best distro to use as LAMP server

k2zs

Hello all, I am new here and have a question.

I have been playing with linux for a few years now and it's time to take it to the next level.

I am a web developer and currently host a few sites on an old Win 2k box using a IIS and a combination of ColdFusion/Access and PHP/mySql. The server is failing and I am trying to convert my ColdFusion sites to PHP and need to set up a LAMP server to take over for the Win 2k box. I have had a Kubuntu server running for the last year and a half doing mainly samba chores and I used my personal web space for some back end development. I was foolish enough to accept their 10.4 upgrade last week and it has never workes since. I get no responses in their forum either. I tried installing Suse 11.2 on another computer because their Yast application seemed to fit the bill as I know very little about .conf files and I need a GUI for server administration.

Having the Suse box all set up finally I find it will not work hosting pre-existing code and even when I try wriiting new code it won't do standard stuff. For example I made a static copy of a dynamic page by viewing source and pasting it into a new index file on the suse box. It refuses to display any of the images in the style sheet. All files ore on the server and I am using relative paths to the images. Pretty standard stuff. It works from the Win 22k Box, it works (or used to) from the Kubuntu box, why it even works from my commercial web host but I can't get it to work on Suse.

Is there a linux distro out there that works and works consistently? The biggest problem I have had with suse and kubuntu is you can install it over and over exactly the same way and each time it behaves differently.

I was considering trying fedora core again (last time I used it was 6.0) but I thought I would ask here first. All I want is a Samba / LAMP server that works and I can manage it from a GUI.

Goineasy9

Centos is Redhat minus the copyrighted branding and artwork. I couldn't think of a better distro to set up a lamp server.

http://www.centos.org/

BTW - I am a fedora user. Fedora is great for the desktop, but if you have to go through an upgrade process every year (releases happen every 6 months), it's not exactly a distro you want to use for a server. Most releases reach their end of life after 18 months.

woboyle

I would tend to agree with using CentOS for a web (LAMP) server. It is dead-bang reliable (I have been running CentOS 5 on my 8-core workstation/server for 2 1/2 years without any problems at all) and pretty much 100% compatible with RHEL - you can install any el5 and most el4 binaries on it without problems. I also run Ubuntu 9.04 on my 3 laptops, which is at this point my preferred laptop distribution. I'll wait awhile before I put 10.04 on one of them to test. As some wise person once said, "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it!".

mfillpot

I differ in my opinion. If you want a quick LAMP setup and don't require a GUI then I highly recommend Ubuntu Server, I has a LAMP setup option in the install options.

marc

mfillpot wrote:

I differ in my opinion. If you want a quick LAMP setup and don't require a GUI then I highly recommend Ubuntu Server, I has a LAMP setup option in the install options.

He *does* want a GUI...

mfillpot

Then he can choose to install Gnome during the installation process, but it seems like a waste of resources for a server.

I would recommend looking at setting the server up as an NFS or Samba server so he can mount directories on another system and make modification that way.