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RedHatvsDebian:AdministrativePointofView

BYAVISHEKKUMARLASTUPDATED:JANUARY7,2015

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TherearehundredsofLinuxdistributionsavailable,forfree(inthe
othersense).EveryLinuxEnthusiasthasaspecialtasteforcertain
distribution,atsomepointoftime.Thetasteforspecificdistribution
largelydependsupontheintendedareaofapplication.Somethe
famousLinuxdistributionsanditsareaofapplicationarelisted
below.

RedHatvsDebian:AdministrativePointofView

Fedora:CuttingEdgeTechnologyImplementation
RedHatandDebianServer
Ubuntu:oneoftheIntroductorydistroforNewbies
KaliandBacktrack:PenetrationTesting,etc.
WellthisarticleaimstocompareRedHat(Fedora,CentOS)
andDebian(Ubuntu)fromanadministratorpointofview.RedHatisa
commercialLinuxDistribution,whichismostwidelyusedona
numberofservers,acrosstheworld.Fedoraisthetesting
laboratoryofRedHatwhichiswellknownforitsbleedingedge
technologyimplementation,whichisreleasedeverysixmonth.

HerethequestioniswhentherearehundredsofLinuxdistribution
availableforfree(ineithersense,opensourceandeconomic),why
wouldsomeoneinvesthundredsofbucksinbuyingaLinux
Distribution,makingRedHatsomuchsuccessful.Welltheanswer
isRedHatisverymuchstable.
Thelifecycleisofabouttenyearsandafterallthereissomeoneto
beblamedifsomethingdoesntwork,thecorporate
culture.CentOSisanotherdistributionwhichisRedHatminusNon
Freepackages.CentOsisastabledistributionhencelatestversion
ofallpackagesispushedintoitsRPMaftertesting,thefocus
remainsonstabilityofdistribution.

DebianontheotherhandisaLinuxdistributionwhichisverymuch
stableandcontainsverylargenumberofpackagesintoits
repository.AnyotherdistributionthatcomesclosetoDebianatthis
pointisGentoo.OnmyDebianserver(Squeeze),whichisabit
outdated.

root@localhost:/home/avi#aptcachestats
Totalpackagenames:37544(751k)
Totalpackagestructures:37544(1,802k)

Youseepackagesmorethan37.5K!Everythingyouneedis
presentintherepositoryitself.ThepackagemanagerAptistoo
smarttoresolveallthedependencyproblemitself.Veryrarely
aDebianuserrequirestodownloadandinstalldependency
manually.Debianisbuiltwithanumberofpackagemanagerwhich
makespackagemanagementacakewalk.
UbuntuwhichisaLinuxdistributionfornewbies.AnewbieLinux
EnthusiastissuggestedtostartwithUbuntuinmostoftheLinux
forum.Ubuntumaintainsasimpleanduserfriendlyinterface,which
givesafeelingofWindowslikeOStoanewuser.
DebianisthebaseofUbuntu,buttheirrepository
varies.Ubuntucontainsnewerupdatedpackagesandisstillstable.
InfactUbuntuishighlyappreciatedbynewbiesaswell
asadvancedusers.

Takingtheabovedescriptionintothenextstagebypresentingthem
inapointwisefashionforbetterunderstandingandreference,here
wego.
1.RedHatisMostWidelyusedDistributionforservers.
DebianiswidelyusedDistributionnexttoRedHat.
2.RedHatisCommercialLinuxDistribution.
DebianisNoncommercialLinuxDistribution.
3.RedHatcontainsroughly3000packages.
LatestDebianRelease(Wheezy)containswell
over38000packages.
ItmeansDebiancontainsnearly80%morepackages
thanRedHatandthisisthereasonDebiancontainspackages
likeopenoffice,Transmissionbittorrentclient,mp3codecs,etc
whichaRedHatlikedistributionlacksandisrequiredtobeinstalled
manuallyorfrom3rdpartyrepository.
4.RedHatbugfixingtakesconsiderabletime,sinceitiscontrolled
byasmallgroupofpeopleRedHatEmployee.
BugfixinginDebianisverymuchquickaspeopleallaroundthe
globefromDebiancommunity,workingfromdifferentgeographical
locationsimultaneouslyfixesit.
5.RedHatdontreleasepackageupdates,tillnextrelease,means
youhavetowaitforthenextreleasebeitminor.
Debiancommunitybelievessoftwareisacontinuousevolution
process,henceupdatesarereleasedonDailyBasis.
6.RedHatreleasesmajorupdateseverysixmonthandnothingin
between.InstallingnewupdatesinRedHatbasedSystemisatuff
task,whereyouneedtoreinstalleverything.
InstallingtheDebianupdatesbeingreleasedeverydayisapretty
easytaskbarely34clicksaway.
7.RedHatisrocksolidstabledistributionreleasedaftercontinuous
testing.
Debiancontainspackages
fromstable,unstableandtestingRepository.Stablecontains
rocksolidstablereleasepackages.Unstablecontainsmoreupdated
packagesreadytobepushedintostablerepository.Testing

containspackagesalreadytestedandmarkedsafe.
8.RedHatpackagemanagerYumislessmatureandisnotableto
solvedependenciesautomatically,manyatimes.
DebianpackagemanagerAptisverymatureandsolvedependency
automatically,mostofthetimes.
9.InstallingVLCinRedHatBetaRelease6.1,isaverydifficulttask
whichrequiresinstallingtensofpackagesmanually.
InDebianitisassimpleasaptgetinstallvlc*
10.DebianisintelligentindifferentiatingConfigurationfileswithother
files.Thismakesupgradationeasy.Thevirgin(untouched)
configurationfilesareupdatedautomaticallyandtheonemodified,
requiresusersinteractionasthepackagemanageraskwhattodo,
butthisisnotthecasewithRedHat.
11.RedHatusestherpmpackages.
Debianusesthedebpackages.
12.RedHatusestheRPMpackagemanager.
Debianusesthedpkgpackagemanager.
13.RedHatusestheyumdependencyresolver.
Debianusestheaptgetdependencyresolver.
14.Fedorausessingleglobalrepositorywhichcontainsfree
softwaresonly.
DebiancontainscontributeandNonfreerepositoryalongwithfree
softwarerepository.
15.AccordingtoWikipedia,Ubuntuisabasedontheunstable
branchofDebianbutFedoraisnotaderivativeandhasamore
directrelationshipandstaysclosetomanyupstreamprojects.
16.FedorausessuwhereasUbuntuusessudobydefault.
17.FedorashipswithSELinuxinstalledandenabledbydefault
alongwithsomeotherhardeningsoftwaretomakethingsmore
securebydefault,unlikeDebian.
18.Debianisacommunitybaseddistribution,unlikeRedHat.
19.SecurityisoneofthemostimportantissueforbothRedHatand
Debian.

20.Fedora,CentOs,OracleLinuxareamongthosedistribution
developedaroundRedHatLinuxandisavariantofRedHatLinux.
Ubuntu,Kali,etcarefewofthevariantofDebian.Debiantrulyis
amotherdistributionofanumberofLinuxDistro.
21.Installation,ofRedHatislittleeasytoinstallascompared
toDebian.InternetConnectionduringRedHatinstallationisoption.
InternetconnectionduringDebianInstallationisoptionalbut
recommended.Moreovertillsqueeze,oneneedsto
acquireWEPkey,tousewifinetwork(installation).WEPIsnotused
thesedaysandthisispainfulduringinstallationofDebian,before
wheezy.WheezysupportsbothWEPansWPA.

MyPrespective
IhaveusedRedHatEnterprise
Linux(Beta),Fedora,Centos,DebianandUbuntuforyears.Beinga
LinuxprofessionalFedorasunstabilitydidntsuitme.CentOswasa
goodoptionbutresolvingdependencymanuallyandreinstalling
everythingafterupgradewasabadideaformmeandmyteams
pointofview.
RedHatwasverystablebutafterallmycompanydidntliketheidea
ofspendingthousandsofbucksforRedHatEnterpriseEditionand
gettingoutdatedsoftware.
Ubuntuseemstoomuchchildishtometobeusedinserversofthe
Organizationhandlingcriticaldata.
Oneofmycolleaguesuggestedmewithslack,Mint,etcbutafterall
howmanyserverrunsonslackandMintintheworld?Debianmy
favoritedistributionsuitedmyorganizationverywell.Nowmostof
myserverarerunningDebianandIdidntrepentthis,Indeed
ImplementingDebianatmyworkplacewasaverycoolidea.
Youmaydisagreewithmypointofviewbutyoucantescapethe
truth,asstatedabove.Thisarticleaimstothrowlightonthe
factandnotcontroversy.Everydistributionhasitsprosandcons.
AlltheLinuxdistributionavailabletodayaresurvivingbecausethey
haveasupportivecommunityandusergroup,whichwerespect.
Thatsallfornow.Wetriedtoprovideyouwiththerelevant
information,inaniceformat.Dontforgettoprovideuswith

yourvaluablecommentsandsuggestion,whichishighly
appreciated.IwillsoonbecomingupwithanotherInterestingarticle.
TillthenstaytunedandconnectedtoTecMint.comforlatestnews
onFOSSandLinux.

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