(2013-08-29, 17:30)awp0 Wrote: [ -> ]I think Protocol77 hit the nail on the head on the whole Linux versus Windows decision. Linux is a solid choice for everyone who understands it, and for those looking to learn it. For others it can be a steep learning curve and not everyone wants that.
Ubuntu is a great and intuitive desktop OS, but I've found that it's not long before something requires you do download and compile a package from source because it's not available in any repo. That's fine with me, but it's not fine for someone who has no idea what "pwd" means. Then you encounter the unmet dependencies, etc. Before you know it, your wife is sarcastically telling you to "ask the StackOverflow guys" because the family home theater is hung during startup. Not that it hasn't happened on Windows too....
Yeah i noticed a similar issue i took my home server offline to test these linux distros i did before have them running in Virtualbox but i wanted to test them in a real deployment and see how they handle what i needed it too
however i found impatient family members did not appreciate not being able to watch anything i ended up having to wait until everyone was out of the house or asleep to do this linux testing luckily i had a spare hard drive so i could easily swap back the windows one in when they were home and leave it running doing it's thing then when i was able to i would swap out for a spare drive load up the distro and test it out
this was a lot of extra work and it would have been so much easier if i was deploying a windows server as i could have said "Right give me One hour and i will have it setup and ready to go and i could have
- Installed Windows (Win 8 Installs fast for me at least)
- Installed Updates
- Setup Shares
- Installed and Configured Mysql (for library syncing)
All in that hour
That being said I do like the idea of a Linux Server and i do run linux in my home i have Openelec Machines and i have a spare computer in my garage that currently has Linux Mint on it i use it for when i am in there working on Computers or whatever and i want to either look something up ask a question in a forum or even just have music videos playing on youtube whilst i work
Just for the specific software i needed or wanted to use it is soooo much easier to install and configure in a Windows Environment
I use Freefilesync to do my server backups but with linux i had to learn how to create windows mounts just to be able to use it also if i wanted to use it on a Debian Distro i had to compile the software from source files which is a nightmare
I also use a great Usenet Show Management software called NZBDrone it is similar but better than Sickbeard but that requires current .NET (they are working on a linux version but i am guessing won't be easy to install)
All things aside (security holes, virus risks, less stability) with windows you cannot fault it's ease of use takes seconds not minutes or tens of minutes to install software and it usually works straight away no other tweaking involved unlike sometimes on linux I can say i have honestly not had much in the way of the things i listed above i have found Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 to be very stable and secure from what i have experienced my server only makes outbound connection to check and download Usenet files so not much risk from dodgy websites and is connected through a router with a strong WPA2 Key and both windows and router firewalls enabled so i have no issues with windows
whereas with linux i basically had the server offline for about 2 days whilst i tested out Linux distro's and had to learn each simple step or install several different packages and then when i had an issue i then had to research it and read forums to figure out the issue
So I would clearly suggest a Windows OS either Server OS like Windows Home Server 2011 or Windows Server 2012
Or if it is just for a couple machines at home something like Windows 7 or Windows 8 will do just fine
Windows Home Server 2011 still has about 3 or so more years of support and can be bought for under $100 on ebay probably cheaper if you look around Windows Server 2012 is a bit expensive at the moment but from what i read is essentially just Windows 8 with a few server related apps add and some desktop stuff removed and Windows 8 is much cheaper I am running it on two machines plus server and had no issues
I know i have typed a lot but just trying to help you with the agony of indecision i had to deal with trying to decide which way to go i hope this helps