How To Choose The Best Linux For Your Business

For IT decision makers in small and midsize businesses, Linux is all about choice. But the dizzying array of different distros, service, and support options can make the choice a challenge. This guide to understanding the differences will help you pick the distro your business needs.

For IT decision makers in small and midsize businesses, Linux is all about having choices -- and all about making choices. That includes sifting through a seemingly endless list of distros, weighing a variety of service and support options, and selecting the most appropriate software for your company's business needs.

There is no silver bullet for picking the right Linux distro or choosing the most appropriate software and support options. That said, it is possible to make these tasks more manageable by categorizing the leading Linux distros and the types of support that are available to business Linux users.

Distro Decisions

Hundreds of Linux distros are currently available. Many are designed for general-purpose desktop use; others are stripped-down models intended to run servers, while still others are tailored for use as system rescue disks, data restoration, or other specialized tasks.

Most companies, however, will want to pick a mature, respected Linux distro with a solid track record. As a rule, these distros fall into one of three categories. Two of these categories involve Linux distros that are associated, in different ways, with a specific corporate backer; the third category includes community-developed Linux distros that have stood the test of time and enjoy a stellar reputation among business IT users.

• Subscription-Based Offerings
  Companies such as Red Hat, Novell, Xandros, and Mandriva charge subscription fees that include software updates, documentation, and technical support. These fees vary quite a bit, based upon the type and number of Linux systems: For a one-year subscription for a Red Hat server OS, for example, you'll pay from around $350 to more than $2,500, depending on the product and level of technical support provided.
  
  

  Linux users looking for a free ride can still find it: All of these companies' Linux distros also are available as free, community-supported versions. In fact, the code contributed to distros like Fedora (the free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or OpenSUSE (the free version of Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) often makes its way into new versions of these companies' commercial Linux releases. For companies with stringent support and service needs, however, including many larger enterprises, the subscription-based model allows them to manage the cost, complexity, and risk of a move from Windows to Linux.

• The Ubuntu Linux Option
  Over the past few years, Ubuntu Linux has emerged from relative obscurity to join the top tier of business Linux options. Like Red Hat, SUSE, and other subscription-based distros, Ubuntu has the backing of a single, well-funded, for-profit company: Canonical.
  
  

  Yet Canonical's business model differs from its competitors in one key area: Both its desktop and server editions of Ubuntu Linux are available completely free of charge. Instead, Canonical earns revenue providing paid technical support, training and certification, migration assistance, and other custom services to businesses that require them. Many companies find this model preferable to subscription-based Linux options, as it allows them to minimize their up-front deployment costs without giving up the ability to turn to a single, authoritative source of service and technical support when they need it.

• Community-Maintained Linux Distros
  Like most open-source software, Linux owes its very existence to a community of volunteer contributors. Mature, highly regarded distros such as Debian and Knoppix continue to thrive today, even though they're not associated with a single corporate shepherd (such as Ubuntu) or a related commercial Linux distro (such as Red Hat or SUSE Linux).
  
  

  Many companies find that community-supported distros provide everything they need -- and they often repay the favor by contributing bug fixes or additional code back to the Linux community. Companies that choose these distros, however, tend to be more self-reliant when it comes to service and support; while many Linux users find free, community-based support that meets their needs, there are no guarantees this will always be the case.

There are no hard and fast rules for deciding which type of Linux distro will work best for your business. Lately, Ubuntu has worked hard to position itself as a good choice for smaller companies that want to minimize their up-front costs without sacrificing the ability to get professional service and support when they need it. Yet subscription-based distros are a solid choice for companies that expect to rely heavily upon a vendor's service and support offerings; they may also provide a good safety net for IT departments that need to "sell" a Linux deployment to risk-averse non-IT decision-makers.

Next Page: Exploring The Linux Support System

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