Which variant of UNIX do you use?

I'm kind of curious as to what variant of UNIX does those pursuing CCIE are using? I know Ubuntu is quite popular at the desktop level, but I'm interested to use it strictly as a server and emulating purpose (e.g. running dynagen, connecting them to switch, setting up web server etc ).

My experience has coincidentally always been using Solaris at the workplace. I plan to install a variant of Unix for my next PC and I'm considering mainly 3 options:

- Linux/Ubuntu
- FreeBSD
- OpenSolaris

Would like to hear what others are using.

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Comments

Mrock4

Might as well jump in on this since I'm beginning my labbing. I primarily use Ubuntu for desktop use, but have also grown somewhat attached to Backtrack 4. I mostly use BT4 for experimenting (and use the LiveCD's to act as hosts in VMware to interface with dynamips, so I can see actual traffic flowing through my network).

FWIW, I've had nothing but good experiences with ubuntu under VMware w/ Dynagen. The only reason I prefer BT4 for my labs is that I can quickly fire up many nodes with minimal configuration as opposed to ubuntu.

Forsaken_GA

I'm pretty agnostic about OS choices, though I'll say Windows is my least favorite operating system. I use it for gaming and that's about it.

My laptop is MacOS X, which is my favorite (I get my pretty GUI, and I get my favorite Unix userland tools, that's a combination that's hard to top) and I do a good majority of my work on my laptop.

When I use a workstation other than the lappy, it's almost always Ubuntu (currently, I'm using Debian Lenny because Ubuntu 8.10 has a few quirks that annoy me, we'll see if 9.04 changes my mind). My servers are, without fail, Debian. It's rock solid and easy to manage for the vast majority of uses. I do like CentOS for certain situations though.

I'm also a big fan of OpenBSD for other applications.

yuriz43

I work mainly with Linux ( and some FreeBSD ), and I believe there are distributions tailored to different needs.

Personally, I use gentoo for my workstation. It has a FreeBSD like package management system ( portage ) and allows flexible configurations with USE flags. I would say it is more on the advanced side of Linux distributions but is an excellent choice for power users. Ubuntu is good for more novice users of Linux and is also an excellent choice.

As for servers, Debian would be my number one choice for linux distributions. Well prepared, stable release cycles and secure base installs. It has in my opinion the best package management syetem ( Aptitude ). It also has a great configuration file layout and easy to use tools for updating rc scripts, initrd images etc.....

Forsaken_GA

yuriz43 wrote: »

Personally, I use gentoo for my workstation. It has a FreeBSD like package management system ( portage ) and allows flexible configurations with USE flags. I would say it is more on the advanced side of Linux distributions but is an excellent choice for power users. Ubuntu is good for more novice users of Linux and is also an excellent choice.

I don't know if I'd call Ubuntu for novice users. I mean, it certainly is the first choice for a novice user, it's nice, and it's polished. I prefer it as a workstation because it just works. Most of the work stations I use have Nvidia cards in them, and I have yet to find another distro that supports Nvidia cards as well without having to invest *alot* of time tinkering to get things right. Mostly, Ubuntu just works, and for a system I need to get work done on, that's a huge plus. gentoo is without a doubt a distro for power users. I'd place Slackware into that category as well, though Slack has gotten more friendly lately.

As for servers, Debian would be my number one choice for linux distributions. Well prepared, stable release cycles and secure base installs. It has in my opinion the best package management syetem ( Aptitude ). It also has a great configuration file layout and easy to use tools for updating rc scripts, initrd images etc.....

The only thing I don't like Debian for is LDAP, Debian's OpenLDAP is just one huge pain in the rear, especially with the latest release changing over to link to gnutls instead of openssl. That was a rude surprise. Even the OpenLDAP guys think Debian's implementation is crap. That is the one case which will make me use CentOS over Debian without even thinking about it.