Simple yet complex question; Debian or Ubuntu for servers?

**joedeso** · September 21st, 2011

Don't really need to know about the most technical facts because the people interested in them probably have their own answers for this question.

I assume Ubuntu keeps it's packages and system more up-to-date than the debian community from what I've heard and if so does this make it a superior server for the less Linux-inclined?
Does debian require more work to get up and running versus Ubuntu? for example httpd, ircd, stuff like Ruby on Rails and nginx?

I haven't gone too deep into Linux for a while and would really appreciate some good answers and maybe a few debates on the subject to see what you all have to say

Thanks

**patryk77** · September 21st, 2011

Never ran a Debian server, but Ubuntu is a wonderful system for it.

The server guides have plenty of information, and these forums are usually a very good resource as well.
http://www.ubuntu.com/business/serve...ical-resources

I can't say "It's better than Debian"; only "I had no need to try Debian"

Have been running Ubuntu server since 9.04, which was replaced with 10.04 when I changed the hard drive, hosting a number of QEMU hosted machines, MySQL, Apache, PHP installations...

It even hosts a Windows XP machine

**joedeso** · September 21st, 2011

Thanks for the reply, I know my question is one of the worse seeing as it's super opinionated but like I said I'm definitely not pro-linux user and I'm after the least hassle with the best support while holding onto high stability, performance and security..

So far I can say the Ubuntu community is nicer, I asked the same question on the debian forums and was instantly called a troll, told how terrible my question and read Ubuntu has "silly plastic looking user interfaces and a nice sampling of the newest bugs" which is obviously stupid because the UI can be changed like all distros and everything has bugs!! At least the latest updates is likely to fix more than brake..

**WorMzy** · September 21st, 2011

Debian is considered more "stable" than Ubuntu, but Ubuntu is generally more "up-to-date" than Debian.

At the end of the day, it's for you to decide whether you want stability or extra functionality.

Of course, there are plenty of other distros out there too, each with their own pros and cons.

**patryk77** · September 21st, 2011

If you use the server edition with no GUI, it doesn't make much of a difference really.

The packages are all built to be as stable as possible, and any server application is generally very thoroughly tested.

Plus if you get the LTS edition, you get security updates for up to 5 years, making it very low maintenance.

Generally I don't recommend running a GUI on a server, as it frees up your RAM and makes it less likely that there would be exploitable bugs on the system.