[CS-FSLUG] Why You Might Be Using Linux in 2009

[Stephen J. McCracken]

> does this for a living, and doesn't like the frequent upgrade cycles,
> either. He figures three years is too frequent, as does all his
> commercial clients. He wants to buy a server, install the OS, and not
> have to re-install for as long as the hardware lasts.

Just to comment on this one item, you don't need to upgrade "just
because"--especially for a server system.  That thinking comes from the
Windows world mostly.  Install a server with the minimal services
needed, and only install patches that are necessary in your environment
(admittedly this is easier in some distros than others--debian has a
separate repository for security patches).  This is especially true if
it sits behind a gateway/firewall to the Internet (which would be true
for most any business).  We've had a SUSE 6.2 box running until about
9mo ago and still have RH 7.1 systems in use here.

sjm