Debian vs Ubuntu for a postgresql database + rails

Rails
1

I’m going to be getting a VPS at rimuhosting.com, and it’ll only run
postgresql and an app that uses AR/ActionSupport. I always use
FreeBSD, but in this case my options are limited to RHEL4, FC5, Debian
and Ubuntu. I figure Debian and Ubuntu are probably preferable…so
which one should I go with? This will not run an email, ftp, or web
server - just postgresql 8.1 plus a Ruby app of mine. Any
suggestions?

Pat

2

Pat M. wrote:

I’m going to be getting a VPS at rimuhosting.com, and it’ll only run
postgresql and an app that uses AR/ActionSupport. I always use
FreeBSD, but in this case my options are limited to RHEL4, FC5, Debian
and Ubuntu. I figure Debian and Ubuntu are probably preferable…so
which one should I go with? This will not run an email, ftp, or web
server - just postgresql 8.1 plus a Ruby app of mine. Any
suggestions?

Pat

Pat M. wrote:

I’m going to be getting a VPS at rimuhosting.com, and it’ll only run
postgresql and an app that uses AR/ActionSupport. I always use
FreeBSD, but in this case my options are limited to RHEL4, FC5, Debian
and Ubuntu. I figure Debian and Ubuntu are probably preferable…so
which one should I go with? This will not run an email, ftp, or web
server - just postgresql 8.1 plus a Ruby app of mine. Any
suggestions?

Pat

I donâ??t think you will have any troubles with either so itâ??s really what
you prefer.

I use Debian (sarge) on my production server and Ubuntu (dapper drake)
for my development box and havenâ??t ever had issues with either.

Specifically I use Apache 2.0 with fcgid which is available from the
default repositories and Postgres 8.? from optional repositories
(backports/universe) on both.

But the biggest issue will be how you want to manage ruby/gems/rails.

Your options are basicallyâ?¦

  1. Ruby/Rails from optional repository and no gems
  2. Ruby from optional repository and gems from source and rails from
    gems
  3. Ruby/Gems from source and Rails from gems

So far I’ve always opted for #3 and built them all from source. My
intention in the future is to use #2 with Ubuntu server. Iâ??d personally
recommend avoiding #1 unless youâ??re sure that all the gems you want to
use have been packaged.

My production sever only has a few low traffic apps to contend with but
this setup on a Athalon XP 2100+ with 1GB of ram provides almost exactly
150 (simple) pages a second.