Our current situation is we have fedra 6 running on our server.
We also run the latest version of plesk.
The issue is there is no php-dist for fedora 6 with php 5.2.x so we cant build from source anything for php. Example is we went to install xcache and had to build from source and just cant.
Should we upgrade to fedora 7, cant go to 8 as plesk doesnt work on 8, or switch to another OS completly.
CentOS 4 or 5 should be more suited for an environment running Plesk.
I second the CentOS recommendation
We run CentOS 5, and it hasn't been giving us any problems.
I run plesk 8.3 on fedora 4 without any issues.
You can get php 5.2.5 for any fedora/plesk from Atomic Turtle (using YUM).
I build xcache from source on them (and also on a fed6 box we had).
Our current situation is we have fedra 6 running on our server.
We also run the latest version of plesk.
The issue is there is no php-dist for fedora 6 with php 5.2.x so we cant build from source anything for php. Example is we went to install xcache and had to build from source and just cant.
Should we upgrade to fedora 7, cant go to 8 as plesk doesnt work on 8, or switch to another OS completly.
Do you really need to open your server to hackers, by using Plesk and it's known SQL Inject issues? Take it off, all those "gadgets" are worthless on a server environment. You are playing russian rulette by allowing a cheap PHP interface to control your server at any level. There is nothing wrong using ONLY the terminal to achieve the same results... in a VERY secure way.
I would dump Fedora and use CentOS or Debian. Although Debian is known for it's slow upgrades, so if you are the bleeding edge type, stick with CentOS 5.1. That's what I use in all my servers. Fedora is not a real server piece of software but more a desktop OS. Even there, Ubuntu will kick Fedora's ass big time.
If you must use a control panel, use one that keeps itself up to date (cpanel / directadmin) and allows for SOURCE compilation of php, not silly rpms.
Also, move away from fedora, it's a 'test bed' for redhat. If you're happy with bugs and whatnot in your OS, then stay there. Otherwise, CentOS is a much more stable option for hosting.
I think RPMs are way better then a direct compile. They allow you to test your build, before you actually put any software on your server. I build my own RPMs for anything I install into my servers. Believe it or not, there are many mistakes you can find into public builds.
And redhat refuses to keep up with updates in packages, which forces individuals to use source.
For many, rpms are fine, but for vulnerable applications, rpms are not fine.
You are right, related to RHEL updates. That's why I started to build my own RPM's a long time ago. :)
To each his own there ;)
Personally, I've got a single shell script that I've been using to download php/apache and compile it , installing all the necessary evils while doing so. It's worked for me for a few years.
RPMs are good, but becoming dependent on them can be a bad thing. I tend to stick with rpms to manage only the core essentials any more :P