Should the server operating system choose Debian/ubuntu or CentOS?

Earlier, we used Debian as a server software and later turned to CentOS, mainly for the following reasons:

1, Centos/rhel life cycle is 7 years, basically can cover the life cycle of hardware, also means that a new hardware installation, do not have to install the operating system again. Be aware that it is troublesome and risky to re-toss a production machine.

[2012.2.1] just received a red Hat notification email today, RedHat 5, RedHat 6 life cycle, extended to 10, too cow fork. This is important for enterprise users.

And the Debian life cycle is not fixed, the general new version after the release, the last version of maintenance for 18 months. The release time interval of Debian is not stable and is often postponed. Combined, a version of the life cycle is typically 3-4 years.

[2014.4.24] Debian announces to Squeeze (6.0), providing 5 years of LTS long-term support.

Ubuntu's Lts edition life cycle is 5 years.

If you choose Debian or Ubuntu as a server, and when the life cycle is over, there will be no security patches, and your server will run bare or need to reinstall the system.

2, Redhat is a respectable open source company, long-term Linux kernel Redhat contribution is the most. It can be said that if a Linux problem, Redhat, then there are few other companies can be done. The company has a number of Linux kernel thunderclap piercing Daniel, such as:

Alan Cox-core Developer, numerous contributions
Ingo molnar-x86 Subsystem Maintainer
Al VIRO-VFS subsystem maintainer, Linux kernel contributes to the second most personal
David miller-sparc Port maintainer, Linux network part developer, Linux kernel most contributed individuals
Jeff Garzik-sata Subsystem Maintainer
John linville-wireless Subsystem Maintainer
Stephen TWEEDIE-EXT3 filesystem Developer
Eric Sandeen-xfs, EXT4 filesystem developer
Josef bacik-btrfs filesystem Developer
Rik Van RIEL-VM Developer
Ric Wheeler-filesystem Developer
Val Henson-filesystem Developer
Dave Jones-fedora Kernel Maintainer
Kyle Mcmartin-fedora Kernel Maintainer
Chuck Ebbert-fedora Kernel Maintainer
Eric Paris-lsm/selinux/audit/capabilities Maintainer
Eugene teo-security Response
Kay Sievers-hotplug

3, Centos/rhel hardware support is very good, mainstream hardware manufacturers have long ago to take the server to test, generally there is no hardware compatibility issues.

Debian is in trouble, due to copyright considerations and the cleanliness of the code, some hardware drivers and software has been deleted, causing problems with the installation process. For example, Dell server, a large number of use of the network card BroadCom, will not be able to drive, after installation, the network does not come.

4, a large number of commercial software, such as Oracle, are for Redhat certification, there are a large number of help documents and instructions, with good technical support. Problems, it is easy to find similar answers and experiences on the Internet.

5, CentOS is RedHat clone version, if need can be smooth switch to RedHat at any time, so as to enjoy RedHat service support. To know the vendor's service, is the last firewall, if you give a big customer plan, they generally tend to choose business services. In case of any problem, there is redhat can ask for help, or there is a redhat can take responsibility:-)

6, if you are an engineer, familiar with the centos/redhat, find a job easier. If you are a business owner, it is relatively easy to recruit engineers who are familiar with Centos/redhat. RHCE training, also relatively perfect, high degree of recognition.

7, Centos/rhel batch installation more convenient

In the room, using Kickstart + PXE installation, to customers, using customized Kickstart CD-ROM, one-click installation, generally in 5 minutes or so can be installed.

The above 3,4,5,6 points, all show that Centos/rhel relative to other Linux operating systems, there is a relatively complete ecological environment, many companies in Centos/rhel invested a lot of resources, accumulated a lot of experience, bound their own interests, this is centos/ The guarantee of long-term and good development of Rhel.

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Add a few responses to comments

1. The so-called "centos stability is very poor", do not know what you mean? Can you cite some examples of centos instability? At least we've been using CentOS for so many years, and the stability can be said to be rock solid. If you're saying that because of the confusion caused by Yum upgrades, that only means you're not familiar with CentOS.
2, Rhel/centos for some new software support, the use of SCL support, such as ruby193,python27, Python, PHP, Nodejs 0.10, mariadb55, PostgreSQL 9.2
Additionalresources/repositories/scl
3, Debian/ubuntu also exist version stability and the program is too old contradictions, such as their LTS version, generally two years updated. Squeeze was released in February 2011, Wheezy was released in May 2013, and if you use Debian in April 2013, you will find that many software is too old, such as:
Kernel: 2.6.32, same as CentOS 6
GLIBC is still used 2.11.2
MySQL used by 5.1.49
OPENJDK is using 6.
PHP is using 5.3.3.
Python is using the 2.6.6

The next version of the Deiban, at least until the second half of 2015 to release, and RHEL7/CENTOS7 official version of the release is imminent, the use of a lot of software, are more than the wheezy of the new. According to your logic, is centos more avant-garde than Debian over the next longer period?

Take a look at Rio's reply: "I've been using Debian for a long time, but it's been too slow (for years!) ) ", hehe

4, "Debian support time is very long", this has really improved recently, Debian has just announced that Debian 6.0 has 5 years of LTS long-term support. As you can say, Debian also sees the importance of LTS and learns from CentOS.
Debian--News-Long term support for Debian 6.0 announced

But Debian is not doing enough, as Debian's LTS support policy in subsequent releases, such as Debian 7 (wheezy) and Debian 8 (Jessie), is unclear:
Debian--Security information--dsa-2907-1

Debian's LTS support is not maintained by the official Debian security team, but is maintained by other volunteers, and the efficiency and quality are not yet known. Compared to Rhel's clear development strategy and security update strategy, there are 10 of years of security patch assurance, there are still many gaps.

5, "Debian This series of software packages are relatively new, Debian and his son Ubuntu many package maintenance is shared, update very fast", do not know whether you use a stable version or beta version. In the stable version of how you see the package "update very fast".

Should the server operating system choose Debian/ubuntu or CentOS?