Topic: Possible New Base OS

[Tivon Coles]

Hi Guys,
I just wanted to hear some feedback from some more advanced users, and give a little more information on the Choice of Distros.

In the forums earlier on last week I suggested the possible choice of a BSD based system as apposed to Linux. Being either OpenBSD(http://www.openbsd.org) who have the claim "Only one remote hole

in the default install, in more than 7 years!" and FreeBSD(http://www.freebsd.org) which also looks extremely secure and functional.
BSD seems to have a higher standard of security.
here are a few interesting pages
http://www.freebsd.org/features.html
http://www.freebsd.org/internet.html
http://www.freebsd.org/gallery/gallery.html

I know debian is the strongest linux candidate at the moment as it is similar to Redhat. There where some suggestions of http://whiteboxlinux.org which i think would be a rather risky move...

its currently on its 2nd release and only started in November. It sounds like a pet project with no guarantee that it will be running in 12 months or more.

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[elSpike (Patrick Tehvand]

I think it is _very_ premature for this discussion. especially as it was/is discussed on the dev list.

As some of the major contributors have outlined, an os change would be a massive undertaking, one not really worth the hassle at this time.

I think we should concentrate on getting the handover from Mitel sorted first.

elSpike

[Mark]

BSD SMP support lags Linux SMP by a fair way. I prefer BSD but on SMP machines you really need Linux to make the most of them. Until BSD SMP support improves then Linux as base OS is the only sane choice.

[Schotty]

Hello
I agree with the premature thinking of having to move from Redhat.
although Ver 5.6 is somewhat "out datet" it doesnt mean it cannot be used anymore. Forth coming is the version 6.0, which will also have to be rolled out in several locations and this wil also bring along several new problems, which have to be addressed.

Then there will be the "usual contribs" that wil be made for 6.0.
First then it wil be the right time to get moving on to a "new platform".

I am totally unsure about what distro to use for a new version. I am not totally sure that I would support a move away from Redhat. You see although that RedHat does not want to stick in there own developers on the "free Redhat" they do indeed remain the motor of this "freebee version".

If a new platform was to be found , then I would recommend Debian. Just look at Knoppix........ A bootable SME CDrom????


Calum

[Paul]

O.K. now,

Redhat has bailed ship on everyone and will stop eratta on all versions up to RH8 in about 20 days.  Yea, thats right, all SME distros including 6.0 will need to be updated and patched by some other means after 12/31.  RH 9.0 support ends in 4 1/2 months.

All of this talk about what distro to use is VERY WARRENTED.  It is not pre-mature in the least.  How long is it going to take to change distros?  Before you can get it changed to RH9, it will be outdated.  Even if redhat is still used, SME will need to be re-ported to RHEL.

OK, lets try Fedora 1.  By the time SME could release SME 6.5 based on Fedora 1, Fedora will be releasing Fedora 4.

Fedora is not the answer.  Development is too rapid and this is going to cause security problems.  If SME uses Fedora, I might as well go back to MS.

Let's not "sugar coat" the problems at hand here.  Every distro based on RH are up a creek.  This needs open discussion and LOTS of suggestions now, not down the road when we find ourselves chasing security problems.

JMHO

Paul

[Tivon Coles]

For all I know you may be right SMP may be lagging behind in BSD but just quoting from the FreeBSD Website FAQ
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/hardware.html#SMP-SUPPORT

4.31. Does FreeBSD support Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)?
Yes. SMP is not enabled in the GENERIC kernel, so you must recompile your kernel to enable SMP. Take a look at /sys/i386/conf/LINT to learn what options to put in your kernel config file.

I have to agree with Paul, its in no way premature... and I think it is foolish to not start considering other distros already.
Yes it will be a huge job to change to a new Distro and Yes there a many other things that need to be considered and worked on before we even venture down this path.
But there needs to be a plan for the big picture, If we aren't careful we are going to end up 6 months down the track with a distro thats out of date and unsupported. The sooner this is discussed and sorted the better, then we can start working on something in parallel and reduce the downtime between changing.

On another note
I think the main things that really need to be considered when the OS is selected are:
(based on the the current problems and issues)

1) How often are the the new versions of the distro released.
2) How long are the old versions going to be supported for once a new one is released
3)If there are a constant release of patches for the distro is it the right choice, the last thing we want is to be racing around all our clients every couple of weeks because they have found yet another security hole.

Whatever distro we choose to go for the main focus needs to be on security. This is the reason I suggested people take a look at BSD.
As for the flavor although OpenBSD has the claim of “Only one remote hole in the default install, in more than 7 years!” but FreeBSD seems to have the most ported Apps (9662) take a look you might be surprised http://www.freebsd.org/ports/index.html

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[Del]

Hi All,
I believe that FreeBSD would also free the community of any worries about the SCO lawsuite claiming copyright on some of the Linux code. I may be wrong here, so please correct me if I am.
Regards,
Del

[Max]

Tivon Coles wrote:

> For all I know you may be right SMP may be lagging behind in
> BSD but just quoting from the FreeBSD Website FAQ
>
> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/hardware.html#SMP-SUPPORT
>
> 4.31. Does FreeBSD support Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)?
> Yes. SMP is not enabled in the GENERIC kernel, so you must
> recompile your kernel to enable SMP. Take a look at
> /sys/i386/conf/LINT to learn what options to put in your kernel
> config file.

That gets you basic SMP support but the actual _performance_ of SMP BSD based systems is lagging behind Linux. Simple example: on equivalent SMP hardware MySQL performs better under Linux than BSD.

[Mark]

I'd be looking at Slackware.  It has remained relativley constant in it's init sequence for years.  It also has a long legacy of dedication to open source and maintaining easy to implement security updates.  Debian also has this legacy and easy to update security fixes. however, I'm not sure it's init sequence is as strightforward as Slackware.

Mark

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