Madhusudan Singh wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am working on setting up a web server with plone (content management). I
> have a fair bit (6-7 years) of Linux user and part-time admin experience,
> but want to do a good job (a very secure setup which can handle denial of
> service, etc. kind of attacks) for this latest project of mine.
>
> I am considering three alternatives - Slackware, FreeBSD and OpenBSD. From a
> security and speed point of view for my needs, which do you think is a
> better choice ? You may assume my experience with BSD, etc. to be nil,
> while with Slackware, I use it as my personal router / firewall and find
> its setup easy and secure.
>
> I am also interested in learning about the system I setup, so availability
> of good documentation and sizeable, helpful Usenet communities (like the
> good folks at comp.os.linux.misc, etc.) would be a big plus. I do not want
> too steep a learning curve, as I need to get the first version of the
> webpage up in a week or so.
>
> Thanks.

I have never set up plone on any system, so take my recommendations with
a grain of salt. Almost everything is easy to install in FreeBSD. Since
you have used Slack, you will probably find FreeBSD to be very
comfortable and easy to set up. It is very secure once you set it up
properly, and is very fast too. Linux may have some advantages in
filesystem performance but they are most likely negligible. OpenBSD is
extrememly secure, but there have been known issues with performance.

Plone is in the ports collection in FreeBSD, so it is quite likely to be
*very* easy to install. If you have physical access to the machine, and
can afford to change OS, I say definitely give FreeBSD a shot. I would
say to use FreeBSD anyway since I find everything to be way easier in
FreeBSD than with linux, with the exception of setting up X and gnome
etc., but I know people who have had different experiences.

I would recommend installing FreeBSD on an old PC and really learning
it. You can use it as a test platform, so you don't make mistakes that
can lock you out of your system so you will be well enough versed in it
to run on a production web server.