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Novell Linux Desktop 9 Vs. Redhat Enterprise WS?
amorelock asks: "I manage a small group of 4-6 Linux software engineers / developers that are part of a larger engineering organization. Our IT department has finally, after several months of pushing-back, decided to support our Linux workstations. The have requested that we use an off the shelf distribution that will be fairly easy to manage and maintain (we're talking about Microsoft folks with practically zero Linux experience). We are evaluating both Novell Linux Desktop 9 and Redhat Enterprise WS. Have any fellow Slashdot folks had experience with either of these two distributions, and if so, what did you like or dislike about either of them?"
correction.... How many times do have to read these "shootouts" here that devolve into conversations, not about the two distributions and enterprise support and interoperability, BUT other distros that will never be seen in a production environment?
Why would he want to do that? CentOS is RedHat for free without the support. As a business that will rely on these machines, they're willing to pay money for the assurance that they'll have Red Hat's assistance if necessary. When someone is willing to pay to get what they need, it doesn't make sense to offer something that isn't what they need with the incentive that "it's free".
I rather think that most of you so far have failed to grasp what SHOULD be the question here...
he said we're talking about Microsoft folks with practically zero Linux experience
I rather think IMHO the correct question is "WHO has the best support."
If his MS folks are to feel good about this, pick the distro with the best support. phone, email, in person, or web.
His post *does* add something. It points out the fact salient that CentOS doesn't have some company behind it suporting it. If this fellow is torn between NLD9 and RHWS, it is a safe guess that the IT department where he works is looking for somewhere to get buy support. So, when there's a vunerability, it gets patched ASAP, and they're provided with easy-to-install packaeges, rather than a kernel tarball and a HOWTO. You can argue until the robotic cow overlords come home about whether or not that's something hardcore folks care about, but some people want it, and it doesn't matter why all that much to the rest of us...
/.s I've read/participated in, there's usually a lot of bickering/debate like this... And usually, the original asker isn't around to clear these things up. Which leaves us with an superthread with lots of useless, argumentative sentences... *shrug*
I imagine there are lots of business out there who use Linux without a support contract. And maybe this guy's IT dept isn't interested in one- but the facts point to a different conclusion. Maybe he could comment?
Speaking of which, it's kind of funny- on the vast majority of Ask
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
I've used Debian in the past and liked it (tho i'm currently a hardened gentoo user). I'm really just looking for a distro that is easy for non linux folks to manage / maintain.
Thanks for the reply...