What are the Requirements
- Well we need something that is UNIX based
- We need something that we can compile the OpenSource software tools on
- We need something with a good package manager
- We need something that will allow us to keep the system software up to date
What are the Choices
FreeBSD
Pros: Great TCP/IP stack, fast, stable, ports collection, good layout
Cons: Not as popular as Linux
Linux
Pros: Widely available, more applications that you can shake a stick at, good hardware support;
Cons: Not as stable as FreeBSD, not a fast as FreeBSD?, finding the right distro takes lots of time;
Note: I've run RedHat and SlackWare for extended periods haven't run Debian or Gentoo
Solaris
Pros: Good performance on Sun Hardware, Lots of management tools;
Cons: Expensive, package systems not as good as the other systems;
Mac OS X
Pros: FreeBSD based, good package manager in Fink, good admin tools, free video server;
Cons: Expensive, not quite as fast as the others
Preferences
Using Mac Towers and OS X would be the easiest option while giving us every thing we need. The admin interface on Linux and FreeBSD would be command line which would make it harder for some. I like the FreeBSD layout better that the Linux layout and find BSD to be faster and more stable than Linux. On the desktop use Linux. On a server us BSD.