Fedora *is* for servers! [was Re: Need advice]

[Russell Miller]

On Apr 19, 2014, at 6:21 AM, Dave Ihnat <dihnat at dminet.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm not currently running Fedora, either--it's just not in the mix for
> the five frankenstations and the server that I use for home and business
> right now.  But I've been in the field since I got my degree in '76--that's
> almost 40 years now, if you're counting--in Unix since 1980, and Linux
> since it was born.  If there's one thing I've most certainly learned
> is that no matter what it is, it's worth keeping an eye on it.  I keep
> track of software and systems I may never use--because, as a consultant,
> I never know when it'll show up.

I've been a sysadmin for nearly 20 years now.  Right now I work as a sysadmin for one
of the largest tech companies in the world.  It's a household name, you would recognize
it, in fact, you are very likely using one of its products right now.

I don't say this to brag, but as the reason why I am completely comfortable with my
qualifications.

An interesting thing I've noted is that when I first started with Linux, I loved messing with
things.  I was messing with it back when it was 0.99, and I remember when it got POSIX
compliant.  I've played with every single distro, and I used to absolutely love Fedora -
exactly BECAUSE it was something that was fun to mess around with.  I'd upgrade religiously,
and swim out from problems, and it was fun.

But as I matured in the profession, I just stopped enjoying that part of the experience.
I don't know what it was.  Maybe I became far more pragmatic and less religious about the
Linux experience.  Maybe I spent so much time playing with Linux at my job   Maybe a lot of
things.  But at some point, that just stopped being fun, and I moved on.  I kind of miss that in
a way, but it is what it is.

Fedora has its place.  For young people who want to play with Linux, or have a lot of time on
their hands to deal with the "bleeding edge", it's perfect.  I don't know of any other distributions out
there that fills the niche that Fedora does (Maybe Ubuntu's non-LTS versions fit the bill).  And I
don't begrudge that at all.  But I stand by my opinion - do not use it for server use if you're not
willing to deal with the resulting problems and, yes, data losses.  At the least, make sure you
have very good backups.

I think I'll stick around on this list for a while (subject to change without notice).  If only because
occasionally questions come up like this, and people with the experience to answer correctly
need to speak up. :)

Please. use Fedora.  I'm not saying don't use it.  I'm just saying , do it with your eyes wide open.
Know why it's there, what it's used for, what the caveats are, and then enjoy if it's still right for you.

--Russell