TurboLinux,OpenBSD,Debian....r they on right path...

[healtheworld]

Hello friends,
The questions that i m asking from u experts are not technical issues.
Few of friends are planning to open a Service Company which will provide help and support in installation ,and configuration of Linux/Unix Based Networks for various segments (Home Users, Schools and Small Home Business ). After a long research on the topics .They hv finalized three operating systems for various segments.

1. Home User .. OpenBSD (for home Firewalls and NAT)
2. Debian Linux for Schools and Govt. Organisation
3. TurboLinux for Business Segment

When i asked them about the reasons behind their selections of these operating systems. They just avoid telling the secrets...


Now If i may ask u , Why they hav chosen TurboLinux when there are lot of other vendors (REDHAT ,SUSE,CALDERA).

(a)Can any one explain how TurboLinux is different from others,
(b)Is Debian Linux reliable enough to move to practical business.
(c)Why to select OpenBSD as a firewall..


Plz help to grasp these concepts better....

[OOPS!]

Hi,

Good luck to your Friends with their bussiness!

As to their choices, well I don't know. The BSD's are better than most anything out there for firewall/NAT useage. They allow very fine control and are super stable. But not many are conversant with them. I probably wouldn't use them for home firewalling. In bussiness or institutions it would be the cats' meow. Anywhere you would need extreme reliability.

Debian, (wait a moment, let me don my sackcloth and ashes) Would be a good choice for bussiness useage I think. Better perhaps than TurboLinux. More stable and easier to maintain. Plus, it would work just fine on the oldest boxen with out much complaint. Apt-get is one of the best package management tools out there (though you can hose a system with it as fast as anything else. I speak from personal expirience). The biggest problem with Deb is that it lags a looong way behind everything else. That is what gives it it's stablility. The biggest drawback for home users is the install. You gotta be able to read AND comprehend AND think at the same time. A feat beyond most home users. But once set up and locked down, it would be almost impossible for them to break. Though the same could be said for any distro.

I've no expirience with TurboLinux, so I would think they must like it for bussiness apps that are included. I think it might be based on Debian so it would have Debs' stability. But easier install.

Their choices would seem to based on their personal likes and familiarity. Nothing wrong with that. In fact that's a good thing. But I don't see them getting much bussiness from home users, they're too wedded to Windows. Institutions maybe, schools are always looking to cut costs. Businesses', well maybe a server or two. I don't see much for desktop useage yet. Not that almost any Linux distro couldn't do as good a job as Windows with business apps, but they, like home users, are stuck on Windows.

I truely wish your friends the best of luck, but I think they have a long row to hoe.

HTH,
OOPS!

[mairving]

TurboLinux strength is in clustering, or connecting many computers together to act as one. This offers some tremendous processing power. It is what Google uses in their search engines. Other than that, I can't really think of any other reason.

As far as the other choices, I have never been a big fan of either Debian or OpenBSD. Nothing personal, it's just that I was used to something else. It does seem odd that they chose the hardest one to work with for Home Users. As Oops says, it is the best choice for a firewall.

[Xayd]

OpenBSD's strength as a firewall is all about it's packet filter.

http://www.inebriated.demon.nl/pf-howto/ if you wanna read up on it.

[LocoCoyote]

Ah Ha! Got something to work with here!

My 2 cents worth...

I don't know what the other Gov agencies are going to, but the DOD is using RedHat (secure)
OpenBSD is stable and very good about security, but I see it more as a server OS. Now if they wish to use a BSD distro, I recommend FreeBSD for the desktop. Better yet would be SuSE Linux or RedHat (redHat has become nearly as easy as Windows to use..OK OK SuSE too). You know, just about all the *nix distros can be set up to be darn good firewalls. They might be better off just picking a good Linux distro and maybe a BSD (FreeBSD) and concentrate on them.
One thing for sure..no matter what they go with, there will be issues and one size don't fit all!

Done rambling now...

[Blakhart]

The NSA has their own distro, very secure. Go look for it. Don't tell them I told you tho.

[LocoCoyote]

I hear the NSA's distro is so secure that even they can't get into it. (makes for a frustrating work week! ;)