Mint's "specialty"

[Rotting]

I noticed a list at some site (I think it was distrowatch.com) that gave a rundown of a lot of linux distributions, and it caused me to wonder about a few things. It lists ubuntu and mint as “desktop” distributions, and other distributions as “server” or “workstation” etc.

So, what about Mint makes it NOT ideal to say, run a mailserver on, or a file server, etc? I can see if some distributions don’t default install with X11 or something along those lines making it not ideal for desktop home users, but what, intrinsically, would make it more difficult to run servers with Mint?

Thanks,

Rotting

[lakehousetech]

It's like you said...Mint doesn't come with server options or the additional apps and tools that are necessary to run a server. I am sure you could setup a server for a certain purpose on Mint, but it's probably easier to just pick a distro that's primed for that purpose like CentOS. Oh, and just a heads up....Ubuntu does offer a server distribution that can be configured for any number of things...one more common type is a LAMP server. Check out they're website.

[cmost]

Why are you trying to turn a butterfly into a bee? Linux Mint is not designed to perform the role of a Server (LAMP stack.) On the other hand, there are a plethora of distributions designed just for that use. Other people have lamented Mint's lack of out-of-the-box server support in these forums. To these people I point out the wise old adage: The jack of all trades is master of none! Linux Mint is a designed and optimized for workstation use. It provides a gorgeous and powerful home or business desktop that is both easy and fun to use. Why try to force it to do something for which it was not designed? Sure, it's possible, but many things are possible that are not practical or easy! My advice would be to take a look at Distrowatch.com and evaluate the myriad of distributions that were designed for use as a server and use Mint on the workstations (desktops) where it will function best.

[Fred]

cmost,

Excellent post sir.

I agree 100%

Fred