I'm not sure the last time I saw this discussion, but I was somewhat curious: what would be your ideal Linux distribution for a nice solid PostgreSQL installation? We've kinda bounced back and forth between RHEL, CentOS, and Ubuntu LTS, so I was wondering what everyone else thought.
Find the one that suits *you* (or rather your employer/client) and use that ;)
We can debate the pros and cons of each and every distro, and in the end it'll be the one that suits your (or your client/employer's) needs and makes you (or your client/employer) happy that'll win the battle.
In the bigger enterprises, RHEL and SuSE typically wins.
As you go down the Centos/Fedora/Ubuntu/Debians start to become more prevalent (license costs etc.)
The questions you'll need to ask and investigate:
1) Do I want license/support that I can pay somebody to look into my OS troubles?
2) How "active" is the community for this distro?
3) Which distros are the people around you using? (ie. replacement/backups/etc.)
4) Do you want bleeding/leading/stable/old releases?
5) Can you compile from source for this?
6) What OSes are your hosting/etc. supporting? (for the servers on the net out there)
7) Am I/company/client happy with this choice?
In essence...
It is that most irritating replies a highly paid consultant can give: "It depends!"
You have to decide what are the important criteria for your situation, the above list is a good starting point. I would add 'security" & 'performance' requirements. I am well aware, that if I had attempted to provide a list, that I would have missed some of the questions Shaun raised. I am sure other people can add good questions as well.
A lot depends on your actual situation, and your intended use cases.
In a few months, I may have to go through the same exercise for real. :-(
