FreeBSD and LAMP vs Others

[FakeOutdoorsman]

Maybe I should say FreeBSD and AMP. Case study. I would like to create a web and mail server. It will start with about about 50 virtual hosts. I want it to be easy to maintain, not bloated, secure, and fast (of course, who doesn't want those?). I looked into CentOS 5.1 since I've previously used RHEL, but the minimal command-line only install was 653 MB. A bit too fat. FreeBSD sounds like what I'm looking for with modern yet stable packages and it lets me decide what to install, however, I have no experience with BSD.

What would be some advantages and disadvantages to using FreeBSD as a web and mail server when compared to something like CentOS or Debian?

[Bachstelze]

I can only see advantages ;) It's less bloated, more stable, more secure, has a more straightforward approach to everything which makes it way easier to maintain, and the documentation is top-notch. Go with it, you won't regret it.