Which distro of Linux is best suited for Java web apps? [closed]

Question

There are so many Linux distributions to choose from! What is the "best" linux flavor for a web hosting environment running primarily: Apache HTTP, Tomcat or JBoss, MySQL and Alfresco (not necessarily all in the same instance).

Are there any significant differences in terms of ease of administration and configuration, performance and stability for such applications, etc.?

What would you recommend?

Thanks! Mike

Answer 1

They all use similar tools to administer things like webmin, and sshd.

What are you more familiar with. Red Hat based systems(fedora, mandriva) or Debian based systems(Ubuntu). This family divide will determine a few things. First rpm packaging vs deb packaging.

You also want to look at the level of activity of the project. Mandriva and Ubuntu are two examples of active distributions. That try to keep up with current releases of software.

Other than that most stuff performs with little difference.

Answer 2

You also might want to consider OpenSolaris, as it is from the same company which developed Java in the first place and I've heard rumours, that it supports threading better than Linux does and in Java threads are quite important.

Update: Since Oracle changed the distribution model of OpenSolaris to a more commercial one you might want to check out the open source fork OpenIndiana (thanks to sed for bringing this to my attention). Oracle seems to still be providing the non-open Solaris and does also own Java, so decide for yourself.

Answer 3

No, not really.

It is really more down to the packages you install than the distribution you run.

For stability people always recommend Cent OS because it's the poor mans RHE (as in it's basically RHE but free-as-in-beer)