CentOS or Fedora for Virtual Dedicated Server?

[whitebread]

I am signing up for a Virtual Dedicated Server, and my two options for the OS are CentOS and Fedora. Which is better?

[medium_pimpin]

Better for what?

[whitebread]

Better for what?

I'll be using the server to send Push notifications for iOS devices. By "better" I mean easier to manage. I have limited experience with Linux

[a1ien]

I'd go with Fedora - it's advantageous to use the more popular distro so you can find support more easily.

[n_K]

CentOS is just a free repackaged red hat enterprise.

Why not download VHDs of both and see which you prefer?

Nearly everything remote management-wise will be the same.

[paulbeattie87]

Fedora? for a server! That's just crazy.

[xxxxxx.xxxxxx]

CentOS for a server system, based off RHEL and very well respected in server admin circles.

[Travelar]

It's all fun and games until the package maintainer for CentOS disappears for 3 months like he did a few years ago. Nothing like leaving your community hanging and not telling anyone that you were taking off.

[Dubravko Von?ina]

If it's an important (widely used) package, another maintainer will eventually replace the one who dissapeared :)

Fedora is a testbed for RedHat/CentOS. It contains latest releases of various software, but it is less stable and has much shorter lifecycle than CentOS. You will have to upgrade Fedora to a new version every 6-12 months.

On the other hand, CentOS is very stable and reliable, its lifecycle is about 5-7 years but you may miss some of the 'bleeding edge' features that can be found in Fedora.

If you don't have an option of choosing RedHat Enterprise Linux, I'd say that you should go for CentOS.

And regarding administration, these are very similar distributions. If you learn how to administrate CentOS, you will feel comfortable with Fedora and vice versa.

[remixedcat]

Fedora--->Desktop

CentOS--->Server

[cybertimber2008]

If it's an important (widely used) package, another maintainer will eventually replace the one who dissapeared :)

Fedora is a testbed for RedHat/CentOS. It contains latest releases of various software, but it is less stable and has much shorter lifecycle than CentOS. You will have to upgrade Fedora to a new version every 6-12 months.

On the other hand, CentOS is very stable and reliable, its lifecycle is about 5-7 years but you may miss some of the 'bleeding edge' features that can be found in Fedora.

If you don't have an option of choosing RedHat Enterprise Linux, I'd say that you should go for CentOS.

And regarding administration, these are very similar distributions. If you learn how to administrate CentOS, you will feel comfortable with Fedora and vice versa.

As far as the lifecycle goes, Fedora is supported in N+1. So the current release is 16, the supported versions are 15 and 16. 14 support was phased out 1 month after the general availability of 16, so yea, you have to upgrade about once a year... but definitely not every 6 months.

I can't vouch for it being any less stable than CentOS though. I've found it just as stable.

/RHCSA certified, so partial to the RedHat/Fedora/CentOS family.

[deactivated_]

C: Ubuntu Server. Oh wait, that's not an option. Hands down CentOS out of those two choices. Seriously, I've never run across any of our customers running Fedora......Server...... (see, I can't even put the two words together properly)